Celia Litman, BCEA
Autism Nanny™
Celia serves on the Advisory Board of NSEAI.
Celia Litman is an Autism Nanny™ - Autism Parenting Specialist, Behavioral Consultant and Board Certified Education Advocate™ at the Fellow Level.
She is a nationally recognized Autism Consultant. She specializes in the realm of Early Interventions (EI) and serves families with children with Autism from ages 2-6 years old. She has been a effective pioneer in EI advocacy in PA, having changed regulations to benefit parents and their children. She has taken her vast education and Fortune 500 work experience skills and uses them to translates the complex information in special education and the multi faceted needs of children with Autism into practical terms for the parents of children with Autism. Celia is a model of what child focused advocacy is and has spoken at national special education advocacy.conferences.
Celia has personally traveled the roads of Autism successfully with her sons into adulthood! As the mother of two sons with Autism and many other associated diagnosis’s that complicated their access to their education she has experienced the emotional exhaustion that parents of children with autism experience!
Celia is able to take her sense of commitment and knowledge she gained navigating through the multiple special education systems, and use that to teach parents to advocate for their child and to think outside the boxes that do not address their child’s needs! She knows that parents have no idea that when they enter the world of Autism, it means they have to learn to be Behavior Analyst, Occupational Therapy, Sensory Integration, Physical Therapy, Social Cognition and Speech Therapy savvy as well as having to be expert educational advocates. She focuses her efforts with a child focused AND Family focused approach so that Moms & Dads of children with disabilities can maybe get to be,”just a Mom or Dad”!
- Celia was the President and Co-Founder of CMK Development Inc., (Creating More Knowledge)
- She is an author of customized, research based and effective social skill books
- She developed a nationally distributed Medical and Educational (ME) organizational binder that has parents ready at a moment’s notice for school and medical meetings!
- She was the founder of Autism Resource Connection (ARC) which continues to provide advocacy services to parents of children with learning differences through the Litman Law Office.
- Celia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) with a BA in Communications
- She has spent 15+ years of “battling” agencies for services for her children and clients
- To help parents nationally she has a blog - The Autism Nanny that will help even more children and their families!!
- She uses her experiences and knowledge to promote parent advocacy training, so they learn from her modeling of how to:
- Predict and prevent behaviors
- Adapt for EVERYTHING! by being creative and always a step ahead
- Keep their child motivated to learn. (This is essential because students work so hard and motivation is the key to getting children with autism to learn.)
- Be prepared for the sad truth about the friendships (related to social cognition and pragmatic language defcits)
- Facilitate authentic inclusion
- Not miss the opportunity for progress since intensive early interventions are the key to ALL future progress and the closing of the educational gap.
- Make it ok to express their grief and mourn when they receive a new diagnosis or when they read a new evaluation of your child.
- Prevent critical mistakes and learn to equip themselves with knowledge so less mistakes are made.
Celia provides expert assistance to families in dealing and coping with Autism as well as the skills necessary to supoort them in the constant need to advocate for their child so they receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as mandated by law.
She provides:
- Intensive individual support working with the entire family and the child's team
- Facilitates receipt of appropriate intensive early intervention treatment
- Training to benefit the children with autism and their families that builds a strong skill foundation during childhood so that they can also be successful later in life.
- Assistance addressing specific educational, behavioral, social, recreational, family and pre-transition to school age programing needs
- Help accessing services and supports that maximize independence and secure the highest quality of life.
According to the Autism Society of America, the cost of lifelong care can be reduced by two-thirds with early diagnosis and appropriate early and intensive intervention. Without early intensive intervention, the symptoms of autism can worsen, resulting in more costly treatment over the course of a lifetime and the development of significant mental health issues.
MOTTO: Celia's goal is to make parents walk a less bumpy road and to get them a direct route to appropriate services that result in positive outcomes!!
