ImPACT Therapy Program

For all requests:

What Is ImPACT?

Improving Parents As Communication Teachers (ImPACT) is a therapy program for young children with autism and their caregivers. The ImPACT program teaches and coaches caregivers to support their child’s social engagement, communication, imitation, and play skills. ImPACT therapists use naturalistic, developmental, and behavioral techniques. Studies show these techniques work.

ImPACT works best for children ages 1-6 who are not yet talking in sentences. The program welcomes all types of caregivers, such as mothers, fathers, grandparents, and foster parents.

How Does the Program Work?

In a series of weekly sessions, caregivers will work with a therapist to set individualized therapy goals, learn and practice skills, and problem solve challenges.

In most cases, caregivers first learn the strategies in a group that includes their therapist, other therapists and other caregivers. Children do not attend these sessions.
Then, on opposite weeks, they meet individually with their therapist to practice the strategies and get feedback. Their child attends these meetings with them.

Typically, the program takes about 3-4 months to complete. In some cases, caregivers may attend an accelerated program in the summer. This requires two appointments per week for approximately 2 months. At least one caregiver needs to regularly attend all the sessions.

What Can Caregivers Expect?

ImPACT is not a parenting class.

It does not focus directly on challenging behavior, such as hitting.
It does show caregivers how to interact in a different way with their child, since their child may be learning in a different way than some other children.

Each participating family will need to purchase or borrow the ImPACT parent manual.

How to Be Referred to ImPACT

Ask your child’s University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC) provider to refer your child to the ImPACT Therapy Program. They should use a Child Psychiatry psychotherapy order and specify ImPACT.

The Autism Center providers, from three different departments, work together on ImPACT. Your child may or may not do ImPACT with someone from Child Psychiatry. Your child will be matched with an appropriate ImPACT therapist as availability permits.

If you do not have a provider at UIHC, if you have more questions about the ImPACT Therapy Program, or to check on the status of a referral, please contact Dr. Kelly Pelzel by email or phone.