University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, First Signs, Inc., Autism Society of Alabama, and the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network jointly sponsored a CME-certified course, “Improving Developmental Screening Practices for Young Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disorders”, in Montevallo and Birmingham on August 12 and 13, 2005. The program was hosted by UAB School of Public Health and University of Montevallo.

The Alabama First Signs Training was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number UR3/CCU423236-02 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Additional support for this activity was provided by grants from:

• Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
• National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
  of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Alabama First Signs training was targeted to Pediatricians, family physicians, internists with specialty in pediatrics, pediatric nurse practitioners, pediatric physician assistants, pediatric specialists (i.e., developmental pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists), public health physicians and nurses, clinicians, and early childhood educators and providers.

The purpose of the Alabama First Signs training was to:

• Educate healthcare providers and other professionals about the importance of early identification and intervention of young children at risk for autism and other developmental disorders.
• Improve upon the pediatric practice of screening and referral.
• Lower the age at which young children are diagnosed.

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