West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities Story Archives

New Tool Helps West Virginians Find Autism Resources

West Virginians seeking services or resources related to autism have a new way of finding them.

April is World Autism Month and the West Virginia University (WVU) Center for Excellence in Disabilities has developed a new directory and interactive map of available autism resources across the state.

Lesley Cottrell, the center’s director and a professor in the WVU School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatric Research, said finding services like family support groups or music therapy has been the most common issue for the center’s patients and clients for years.

“We were providing that verbally when they would come see us, but then there was this larger group who was in that middle gray area who were experiencing the same challenges,” Cottrell said. “We knew over time, West Virginia was advancing in the number and variety of services for individuals with autism, neurodivergent individuals and their families. So we wanted to showcase that, we didn’t want to just list WVU services. Someone from another area of the state might have a place right next to them that they could go to.”

Now, the new website allows Cottrell and her colleagues to direct people across the state to their local services.

“We tried to tap into existing structures, but then really take a team approach, a statewide team approach with our partners to provide this,” she said.

Cottrell said the team welcomes feedback to ensure their directory is up to date both with providers and types of services needed by the community.

“We tried to be very exhaustive in our list,” she said. “And then related to that, as providers may come and go, we keep that updated, so that someone can find it in maps, the actual address, the phone number, the office hours are on there. We try to keep that as up to date as possible. If we did miss something, or if there’s a type of therapy that they’re looking for that is not on this list, to keep it going it’s really important to get that feedback.“

Program Helping Babies, Mothers With Opioid Dependence Receives More Funding

The program also works to connect mothers with addiction recovery programs, education, housing, and job opportunities. The program has expanded the follow-up care babies born with NAS receive after they are discharged from hospital.

West Virginia has continued to see a rise in babies born dependent on opioids.

To counter the problem, the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities received $1.5 million from the US Department of Health and Human Services to implement services for mothers and babies facing opioid dependence. The money will extend the five-year-old program another three years.

The center works to reduce the number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) as well as aiding in the recovery for babies and mothers by connecting families with already existing resources that help in addiction recovery, health services, and social services using a patient navigator.

Program Director D. Lesley Cottrell says the patient navigator comes from the community and can relate to the lived experience of mothers and family members and can connect them with providers and resources in the area.

“They are key to connecting all the different providers across the different settings. If they notice that there’s a need, they can reach out to find a provider that provides that service,” Cottrell said.

The program introduces patient navigators at birth in the hospital.

“The patient navigator model works best when that patient navigator is employed within the birthing hospital for a couple of reasons,” Cottrell said. “So, they’re there at the birth of the infant. They can make those pivotal connections while mom and family are there. It happens before if there is a separation of mom and baby, for any reason. And they can be there to work with mom, and even the foster parent who might come into play.”

“We really want to follow up and not just with our child health visits, but in other ways,” Cottrell said. “So, with occupational therapy, if that’s needed- with speech, if that’s needed- With nutrition. This follow-up clinic would bring in an interdisciplinary group of providers to work with the family and continue to connect them to the needs as the baby develops.”

Cottrell also said that the program does not just focus on one baby but stays in contact with mothers in between babies. It also stays in contact with mothers after they have stopped using substances in case of possible relapse.

Cottrell said that the center helps extend time periods in between giving birth again by aiding in family planning for mothers.

The program works with WVU’s Children’s Hospital, Preston Memorial’s Medication Assisted Treatment Program, Court Appointed Special Advocates Incorporated (CASAINC), WVU behavioral medicine, WVU Pediatrics, and the WVU School of Nursing as well as other national, state, and local programs.

WVU Students Research Diversity And Accessibility In Esports On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, video games have been around for decades, but in recent years esports – competitive, multiplayer video games – have exploded in popularity. Reporter Chris Schulz examines their growth.

On this West Virginia Morning, video games have been around for decades, but in recent years, esports – competitive, multiplayer video games – have exploded in popularity. But playing on a team is still out of reach for many women and lower income individuals. For their capstone project at West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media, students Gabriella Boal and Maxwell Ionno looked at diversity and accessibility in the growing esports space.

WVPB reporter Chris Schulz sat down with Boal to discuss their findings.

Also, in this show, the WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities is the only center of its type in West Virginia. As Emily Rice reports, centers like these can assist foster care placements.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Chuck Anziulewicz hosted this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning