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Advancing Training and Affecting Lives of Autistic Children
Fondren Foundation Supports the Work of Bridges
By Heather McLean Wiederhoeft

	The Fondren Foundation gave $150,000 in support of the Bridges Preschool Program for Children with Autism at Texas Children's Hospital. Giving Giving home page Hospital priorities Benefits of giving Corporate partnerships Children's Miracle Network Leaders in giving Shine magazine

“Each child with an autistic spectrum disorder has a unique
profile of strengths and weaknesses,” said Judith Z. Feigin,
Ed.D., executive director of the Bridges Preschool Program for Children with Autism at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Now, thanks to a $150,000 gift from the Fondren Foundation, Texas Children’s will have essential resources to better address the unique needs of each autistic child the hospital treats.

“While autism is characterized by a deficit of social reciprocity, each child has unique biological differences that require their therapeutic and educational programs to be tailored to their individual needs. The Developmental, Individual-difference, Relationship-based (DIR®) Model in use at the Bridges program is individualized and tailored to each child’s unique profile,” said Feigin, also director of Texas Children’s Learning Support Center.

Recognizing the groundbreaking work Bridges is doing with the DIR model, the Fondren Foundation’s gift will support the advanced training of Bridges therapists that leads to DIR certification.

Since 1948, the Fondren Foundation has been a leader in supporting numerous causes throughout the Greater Houston area, including Texas Children’s. The foundation has given more than $2 million to the hospital, contributing significantly to the expansion of Texas Children’s facilities over the years.

“The unique model that Bridges uses to treat and teach kids with autistic spectrum disorder is an amazing program,” said Mark A. Wallace, president and chief executive officer of Texas Children’s. “With the Fondren Foundation’s generous support, we can advance the training necessary to ensure this program reaches even more families and truly impacts the future of children in our community.”

DIR was developed by psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan, M.D., and psychologist Serena Wieder, Ph.D., to assist children with autism and other developmental disorders. Both Greenspan and Wieder oversee implementation of the program’s model at Bridges through the nationwide Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders.

To achieve certification as a DIR clinician, a therapist must go through rigorous training, both by attending Interdisciplinary Council conferences and through day-to-day work with children with autism. It generally takes two to three years to achieve DIR clinician status.

Feigin is determined that every member of the Bridges staff will become certified as a DIR clinician. The training gift from the Fondren Foundation will help ensure Texas Children’s
achieves this goal.

Bridges was the first program for autism in the Greater Houston area to embrace the DIR model. Since the hospital’s commitment to it, Feigin has noticed greater interest in this
model in the Houston community.

She said, “With the generous support of the Fondren Foundation in our initial years of the DIR program, we’ll not only be able to implement an exemplary DIR program for children with autism, but we’ll be able to serve as a model for other programs in Houston and throughout the nation.”

Make a gift now or pledge a contribution to be matched by Texas Children's Hospital. For questions, please email jsclem@texaschildrenshospital.org or call 832-824-2107.

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