Duluth, GA/ October 19, 2010 – ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI), a distance training institution dedicated exclusively to the child care industry, announces the addition of SPN101: Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders to its catalog of online professional development courses.

Roughly 1 out of 110 children in the United States are diagnosed with one of several conditions labeled as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Specific ASD conditions include autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Rett’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder. In nearly all cases, symptoms—which range from mild to severe across all developmental domains—appear in early childhood, before the age of three. Therefore, it is imperative that child care professionals learn the basic facts about ASD, as well as common practices for meeting individual children’s developmental needs and helping them adapt to the classroom setting.

“This new course is another example of CCEI offering relevant and current courses to our students. The more educators know about the children in their care, the better equipped they are to address their developmental needs,” said Maria Taylor, President and CEO.