About Us

Autism Nova Scotia (formerly The Provincial Autism Centre) is a non-profit association located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We are a professionally run Centre that provides programs and services to the autism community while helping families and professionals across the province access resources and quality information about autism spectrum disorders (autism). We provide respectful, understanding and confidential services to individuals and families as needed.
 

The Provincial Autism Centre was founded in October of 2002, and was the vision of Joan and Jack Craig, parents of an adult son with autism. The prior year, the Craig Foundation endowed a medical research Chair in Autism at Dalhousie University in Halifax, the first of its kind in Canada. The establishment of the Jack and Joan Craig Research Chair in Autism was a vital first step towards fostering new knowledge, better treatment practices, improved diagnosis and improved outcomes for people with autism spectrum disorders in Nova Scotia and beyond.
 

The vision that fostered the Provincial Autism Centre is a personal one. It was based on the sense of helplessness and isolation that many individuals and parents, including the Craigs, experience as they try to understand what autism will mean for their child, and for themselves. The Craigs wanted to reach out to parents and families in a practical way to help address their need for information, and equally important, to provide a supportive environment where parents and people with autism may go to find information on autism as well as connect with others facing a similar diagnosis.
 

Autism Nova Scotia supports individuals with autism, their families, educators, healthcare professionals and researchers. We provide information materials, research assistance and a friendly atmosphere to support our members in their desire to understand autism. With an improved understanding, they can make informed decisions for a positive impact on their own lives or the person in their care with autism. By providing parents and people with autism with information that can help them seek more effective therapy and support options, a teacher with a strategy that can foster better inclusion in the classroom, or an autistic adult with leads to an employment opportunity, greater successes for individuals with autism and their caregivers can be achieved. That is why, at Autism Nova Scotia, we believe that support means success.