2025 was another successful year for the Autism Society Greater New Orleans. Each year, we strive to better serve Autistic individuals and their families across our service area, continually re-evaluating and adapting our programs based on identified community needs. Our Information and Referral Program remains a primary tool for understanding where gaps in services exist. In 2025, our Autism Festival was once again a success, welcoming more than 600 attendees and 56 vendors and tabling organizations. Altogether, we hosted or partnered on 39 events including resource events, training opportunities, and webinars, an increase from the previous year reaching more than 3,600 total attendees, more than double the attendance reported in 2024.
In 2025, we identified a growing demand for in-person social activities, as well as increased requests for information, trainings, and services offered in Spanish. In response, we partnered with The Nerd Lair and Prism Behavioral Consulting to launch Cards and Connections, a pilot in-person social group for teens and adults. This pilot served as the foundation for our expanded Games and Gatherings program, presented by the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust, which launched in January 2026 and will run throughout the year. In 2025, we also partnered with Love’s Music Therapy to become the new home of Prism Project of Greater New Orleans, we are proud to be part of the history of this impactful program and look forward to being part of bringing inclusive performing arts access to Autistic and otherwise disabled individuals in our service area. You can learn more about the Prism Project of Greater New Orleans here.
We also worked to improve language accessibility by translating high-priority website content and program forms into Spanish. In addition, we offered a free webinar on tips for incorporating Spanish into therapy sessions—even for providers who are not bilingual—and continued to host a monthly online support group for Spanish-speaking caregivers that meets entirely in Spanish. Our online social and support groups for caregivers and Autistic adults met 54 times during the year, while Cards and Connections met eight times.
In 2025, we also hosted our first collaborative advocacy event alongside other Autism Society affiliates across Louisiana. Together, we met with lawmakers and provided training on neurodiversity-affirming care and barriers to mental health provider access, amplifying the voices and needs of the Autism community at the state level.
Our Information and Referral Program provided consistent support to Autistic individuals, caregivers, community members, and professionals throughout 2025. Self-service resources on our website were accessed by more than 20,000 people, and over 181,000 individuals were reached through our social media posts. These figures continue a multi-year trend of increasing reach, with more people finding our resources, visiting our website, and learning about Autism, our programs, and those of partner organizations. Compared to 2024, we saw a substantial increase in community engagement — with website resource use up by roughly a third and social media reach nearly doubling, demonstrating broader visibility and impact.
More than 470 individuals received free, one-on-one personalized assistance via phone, email, or social media, representing approximately 100 hours of direct individualized support. While our tracking methods were updated to more accurately reflect multi-platform engagement, our response times improved compared to 2024, with an average response time of under 1.5 days and 75% of contacts assisted within one day. One caregiver who reached out told us, “These resources have been so helpful as I began sorting through everything for my child’s new diagnosis.”
The most common concerns included finding service providers, adult and child diagnosis, and events and social activities for all ages. Nearly 70% of Information and Referral contacts came from Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, though we received inquiries from every parish in our service area. Caregivers and professionals were the most common individuals reaching out. If you or someone you know has questions or needs information, you can learn how to contact us here.
We also continued to receive requests for training on Autism and how to support Autistic students in the classroom. Following strong demand for educator trainings in 2024, we continued this work in 2025. Our Executive Director, Claire Tibbetts, delivered two trainings in 2025 for more than 70 educators and school support staff across both public and private schools. These trainings focused on Autism and sensory supports in the classroom, equipping educators with practical tools to better serve their students. If you are interested in scheduling this training for your school, please contact Claire at info@asgno.org.
Claire also presented our Healthcare Accessibility Training including our Accessible Vaccination Model to an audience of more than 150 healthcare providers at the Louisiana Shots for Tots Conference. This built upon prior years of healthcare outreach and reflects our continued commitment to improving healthcare experiences for Autistic individuals statewide. Additionally, 200 Healthcare Accessibility Kits were distributed for providers to take back to their clinics and use to make healthcare encounters more comfortable and accessible for Autistic individuals and their families.
Our Mini-Grant Program, which provides direct cash grants to Autistic individuals and their families, celebrated its 15th consecutive year in 2025. As in 2024, we distributed $13,000 last year directly to local families and individuals. Maintaining this level of direct financial support remains a priority, even as demand for assistance continues to grow. Over the program’s 15-year history, more than $176,000 has been distributed to support purchases and experiences that enhance quality of life.
Through our continued partnership with Morrison Law, we helped five families obtain a free General Power of Attorney. This crucial document allows caregivers to designate someone to make decisions on their behalf during a crisis and provides adult Autistic individuals with a less restrictive alternative to interdiction, enabling trusted support while preserving their rights. We are grateful for Morrison Law’s commitment to our mission and look forward to this event returning in 2026. They will also provide three webinars on future planning topics in the coming year.
The Autism Society Greater New Orleans is deeply thankful to our donors, sponsors, and community partners for being the connection that allows us to provide vital supports, programs, and services in our region. The continued year-over-year growth in engagement, attendance, and resource access underscores both the effectiveness of our work and the increasing need within our community. As responsible stewards, we remain committed to being responsive and accessible as new challenges and opportunities arise. Through our work, individuals and families can connect with resources, services, and each other supporting lives that are full, vibrant, and self-actualized. Thank you to all who play a vital role in fulfilling our mission and positively impacting so many lives. To explore our work in more detail, including testimonials, and highlights from the year, in a quick one-page format we invite you to view our full 2025 Impact Report by clicking the button below.
The connection is you.
Claire Tibbetts, RKT
Executive Director
