The South Okanagan Assessment Program is a new, collaborative and multidisciplinary autism assessment program that first launched in August 2024. The first program of its kind, SOAP works directly with School-Based Teams within School Districts 53 and 67 to triage the highest-needs children first and provide cost-free autism assessments to those families. This 12-month pilot project aims to significantly improve equity of access to assessment, time to assessment, quality of assessment, the volume of assessments, and reduce the cost of assessment in the South Okanagan.
We are non-profit program being overseen by our local Child Development Centre, the OSNS. Because our program provides cost-free assessments to families, we depend on public support to cover the cost of an autism assessment. One assessment costs $550 but any donation helps! Donations are tax deductable and tax receipts will be issued for donations.
Meet The Team!
We are a team that includes both Health Care and Education-based professionals who are passionate about the issues facing children with autism.
Dr. Miriam Oliver is a pediatrician whose daughter has autism and who is committed to ongoing Quality Improvement programming. She feels passionately about ensuring that all children have equitable access to timely autism assessments and to autism-specific treatments. In addition to her training as a paediatrician, she has a Master’s of Science, has completed additional training to be able to complete autism assessments (is a BCAAN Qualified Specialist), and has completed several Physician Quality Improvement Courses through Doctors of BC (currently in PQI level 3).
Janette Grant graduated with MSLP from the University of Alberta in 1998. Janette has spent her career in Penticton, with 12 years working for the Penticton Health Center and the OSNS Child Development Centre in the birth-5 population. In 2011, Janette took a position with School district 67 (Okanagan-Skaha). Janette has served on the BC Speech and Hearing Provincial Council, facilitated many professional development collaborations with school district professionals, and is a passionate advocate for equity and inclusion of all students and a supporter of educators.
Maureen Wourms Larson graduated from Minot State University in North Dakota in 1989 and began her career with the BC Ministry of Health in the community of Princeton servicing the gamut of birth to adult clientele. She moved onto Penticton School District #67 in 1992 and enjoyed a long career supporting school-aged students. Recently retired, this program is an inspiration to continue to provide children access to deserved services and interventions to change the trajectory of the lives of for them and their families.
What We Need!
The program is looking for funding to complete its 12-month pilot project, which will cost a total of $30,000. We hope that a year of data showing improved outcomes as well as stories from the children and families whose lives have been improved by earlier interventions will help to make this program permanently available in the South Okanagan
We have been humbled by the kindness of our community and hope to continue to provide these assessments free of cost to these at-risk children and families. Let’s work together to get every child the help they need to
succeed.