Program Principles

Following are the core values and educational principles of TEACCH that are emphasized in FITT:

  • Helping families to better understand autism and how autism may influence how their toddler thinks, learns, understands, communicates, and interacts with others
  • Recognizing the expertise of families and respecting their roles as partners in working with and understanding their toddlers
  • Conducting ongoing informal assessment with families to better understand their toddler’s strengths, interests, and emerging skills
  • Highlighting the strengths of toddlers with autism and teaching families how those strengths can be used to facilitate interactions with their toddlers on the spectrum
  • Using structured teaching principles, adapted to be developmentally appropriate for toddlers, as a vehicle in which a number of skill areas can be taught, including initiating and responding to coordinated attention, imitation, expressive communication, and play skills