Latino Community of Practice

Since 2018, we shifted our focus to work directly for and with Spanish-speaking families with children and youth with IDD and ASD.

We design and enhance innovative bilingual and culturally and linguistically competent programming that includes informal and formal advocacy, community-based outreach, psycho-educational sessions, social media marketing, professional and technical interpreting and translation, and a dedicated Spanish track in both our signature Autism Conference & Expo, and Positive Behavior Parent Academy.

In addition, the LCPR continues to invest in developing family- and community-based leaders through a participatory action research (PAR) model and engages families in co-creating and co-implementing the cadre of services, opportunities, and supports they need the most.

Our LCPR core services, opportunities, and supports for Spanish-Speaking families are the following:

• Adelante Autismo – a monthly psycho-educational meeting, in collaboration with SPECTRUM Autism Support Services (non-profit in Gwinnett County), that delivers culturally and linguistically responsive information on navigating on systems of care (educational and healthcare), and emotional support, in Spanish.
• Bilingual Community Education and Outreach – a collaboration with Latino Community Fund of Georgia and the General Consulate of Mexico in Atlanta, our LCPR Team utilizes the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Learn The Signs And Act Early (LTSAE) campaign to disseminate information, in Spanish about healthy child development. Our LCPR team also attends community and school-based educational and health fairs across the state of Georgia.
• Mental Health First Aid Training in Spanish and English – a culturally and linguistically responsive Spanish, and English, Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid Training from the internationally recognized Mental Health First Aid of USA curriculum. Our LCPR Team are nationally certified to facilitate in-person, and virtual, trainings for families, community-based, and professional participants that leads to a three-year Mental Health First Aid certification.
• Professional and Technical Interpretation and Translation – an initiative to provide language access through certified, and experienced, interpreters and translators working with and for Spanish-speaking individuals, families, and communities across the state of Georgia.

In tandem, we have co-developed the Latino/a Mentoring Pipeline in partnership with colleagues at Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development. This initiative allows for Hispanic/Latinx undergraduate and graduate students at Georgia State to intern at the CLD and work towards learning how to best serve Spanish-speaking communities in public health and educational spheres.