Linked was created by Ashley McClain, who is the mother of a child with Autism. The program builds a relationship between emergency responders and the members of the Autism and special needs community. This project was created as a collaborative effort with a network of public safety professionals, autism professionals and autism parents.

Caregivers of the East Haven Autism and special needs community can register by following the Instructions at the bottom of this page.

Upon completing the registration form, this information will be made available to first responders with important individualized information about the person with autism and within the special needs community. This will allow the responder to create a pre-arrival plan to best assist those within the community. All registrations are secure and confidential and used only for the response of East Haven first responders.

Each family that registers for the Linked program will receive a Family Emergency Planning Folder with individualized instructions and a guide that includes tips and tools to navigate this program in an emergency situation. Additionally, the Family Emergency Planning Folders provide an emergency preparedness social story, created by professionals, which is a personalized learning tool containing text and illustration that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people within the special needs community of all ages.

Patrol vehicles are equipped with sensory kits that contain a variety of sensory products recommended by professionals in the field. To accompany the sensory kits, Linked - Autism Safety Project has provided the Emergency Picture Exchange Communication System, which is a picture communication tool for non-verbal residents developed by professionals to assist in the dialogue between the individual and emergency responders.

The East Haven Police Department is committed to the Autism and special needs community and developing best practices and increasing the quality of services to all our residents. We will continue to provide training to our officers and are always seeking new, innovative platforms to enhance our services to the community.

This program is free and available to all East Haven residents.

There are 3 ways to sign up for this free program:

Thank you for the thoughtful gestures shown towards the Deer Run team members. We appreciate the notes, hand drawn pictures, and thoughtful surprises brought into school.

Thank you for the volunteers that have made the Deer Run staff feel so loved and appreciated!

Keep an eye out for grade level announcements, permission slips and communication from your classroom teachers.

Second Grade Field Trip

District Art Show @ East Haven High School (Full Day PreK, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade)

Second Grade Field Trip to Ferrara Elementary School or East Haven Academy

Second Grade Insect Expo (an event for families)

Bounce House (Sponsored by the PTA)-an event for students

Field Day (PreK, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade)-Volunteer Sign Ups coming soon

End of Year Kindergarten Event (an event for families)

Second Grade "Fun Day" (an event for students)

SEL/Family Engagement Specialist

East Haven Public Schools

Each prompt is designed to be simple, reflective, and flexible to use any day of the week, promoting meaningful discussion about school, feelings, and experiences.

This year, prompts are aligned to VOG Attributes. Attribute descriptions for families & how questions are aligned (to be posted alongside weekly prompts):

Thank you to our many PTA volunteers that made our school dance a success!! Please reach out to the PTA if you are interested in becoming involved in future events.