General Info

The Verdugo Hills Autism Project is a private, nonsectarian agency that provides psychological services to toddlers, children and teenagers. It was originally established as a division of Verdugo Hills Psychotherapy Center in the early 1990s, as our therapy practice with children began to involve larger numbers of children with the diagnosis of Autism. After many years of practice working with autistic children, Dr. Goldenberg created an agency which focuses specifically on the treatment of children with Autistic Spectrum and other related disorders. The Verdugo Hills Autism Project is designed to serve children and their family members. Services are funded by parents, school districts and regional centers. We are a State-certified nonpublic agency, allowing us to provide services to public school districts, and we are vendored by the Southern California Regional Centers. Services funded by school districts are always provided pursuant to an individualized education plan ( IEP ), and are coordinated through the local Director of Special Education or the Director of the Special Education local plan area ( SELPA ). Services provided to clients referred by the school district usually are provided at public school sites and/or in the homes of the families we serve. Services provided by the regional centers are generally served in their homes and neighborhood. We provide services to children struggling with emotional, developmental and psychological disorders which prevent them from learning skills and befriending peers. Dr. Goldenberg, Ph.D., Clinical Director of Verdugo Hills Autism Project, has been working with autistic children and their families since the early 1990's. His expertise is in assessing and implementing behavioral intervention and play-based programs for autistic children. Dr. Goldenberg is involved in the formation of the staff teams and ensuring that they receive ongoing, quality supervision. Our Senior Therapists have a Masters Degree or special education credential and have from 2 to 10 years experience working directly with autistic children. They monitor the behavioral and social goals of each child. They train the behavioral aides to implement the child's program, which could involve promoting school readiness, and functioning more independently with peers. Our Behavioral Aides have backgrounds working with a variety of disabilities. Many have Bachelor's degrees in psychology and education, but most importantly these individuals have demonstrated skills in effectively relating to and working with children. Our staff receives ongoing training in behavioral intervention, play-based therapy and crisis management.