Respite Care Added as SYNC Expands Support for Neurodiverse Families

Services include parent advocacy, a play group and a monthly meetup for parents and caregivers.

A growing local effort for families raising neurodiverse children is widening its reach with a new respite care option and a steady lineup of other support services.

SYNC, short for Supporting Young Neurodiverse Children and Caregivers, will provide stipends of $100 a month for four hours of care. The program plans to assist five families each month with the new benefit, and details will be included in an August newsletter. To qualify, families must also take part in at least one other SYNC offering.

Those services include parent advocacy, a play group and a monthly meetup for parents and caregivers. The virtual gathering runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month and is designed to give families a space to connect and share experiences.

Adriana Negron, who directs SYNC and the BIPOC Thriving Network (BTN) at the Root Social Justice Center, said the program now serves about 10 families and continues to build momentum. She said the effort began with her push to make sure local families of children with autism had a community needs assessment completed.

The program has also brought in community members already doing related work, and Negron said that approach has helped broaden its services. Educational workshops cover autism and other aspects of neurodivergence, while a parent advocate works with families of children from age 2 through middle school to help them find resources and prepare for evaluations.

For younger children, SYNC hosts a play group on the first Saturday of each month in a classroom provided by Early Education Services. Negron said the room is set up to feel calm and sensory friendly, with equipment and toys chosen for children on the spectrum, including swings and other specialized items.

She said the play sessions give children a chance to interact in ways that feel natural to them, including parallel play, while also helping parents build relationships with one another.

Negron previously launched SYNC while working with Vital Partnerships. After moving to the Root Social Justice Center, she said the organization supported bringing the initiative into its programming. Shela Linton, executive director of the Root Social Justice Center, has emphasized programming led by people who are most directly affected, Negron said, adding that everyone involved in SYNC has personal experience with the issues the program addresses.

Negron said her own experience seeking a diagnosis for her child left her feeling isolated, even as she found valuable help through the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development. That experience, along with a desire for more support, led her to build SYNC with help from several community partners.

Looking ahead, Negron hopes more families will use the services already available and that the program will eventually expand to include additional support for older children.