The Mifne Center early intervention for the Treatment of Autism

The Mifne Center for Therapy Training and Research (1987) treats families with babies up to 24M diagnosed with suspected autism from Israel and abroad. Research in collaboration with worldwide universities is groundbreaking. Time Is of The Essence! The Mifne Center established in 1987, is located in Rosh Pinna, Galilee, Israel. The Center specializes in the treatment of infants up to age two, diagnosed on the autism spectrum. It is the first and only such enterprise worldwide, which treats autism in infancy, encompassing the entire nuclear family, from all over Israel and the world. The Treatment Program focuses on the entire range of the infant's developmental components: physical - sensory – motor – emotional - cognitive aspects through the use of Reciprocal Play Therapy, which was developed at the Mifne Center, to motivate the infant and improve his capabilities to engage and communicate with the environment out of curiosity and pleasure. Parents are fully involved and gain therapeutic perspectives in order to implement and sustain them in their daily life. The Three-stage Treatment Framework - 1. Intensive family system treatment for three weeks at the Mifne Center 2. Aftercare treatment at home under the supervision of The Mifne Team 3. Integration in kindergarten with accompanying supervision of the Mifne therapists. 88.3% of the infants treated at the Center are fully functioning in mainstream schools. The Therapeutic Staff includes experts from the fields of medicine, psychology, psychotherapy, and infant development, trained according to the Mifne approach. Research is conducted in collaboration with academic institutions in Israel and overseas. including Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, and UCLA. Following groundbreaking research conducted in 1997-2007, the Center developed a tool for detecting predictive autism in infants ESPASSI©, which has been studied worldwide. Training - The first school for therapists’ training in autism was established by the Mifne Center in cooperation with the School of Social Science, Bar Ilan University in 2001. Mifne Overseas – There are two Centers which work according to the Mifne program, in Switzerland and in Romania. Funding for Treatment - The Mifne non-profit Association treats all strata of population without distinction between families of different religious or socio-economic means. Funding for Israeli families varies according to criteria stipulated in the organization's regulations. Mifne has been supported by the Mifne Swiss Foundation since 1990, and by private funds in Israel and abroad. Founder and Head of the Mifne Center – Dr. Hanna Alonim, expert in Development Disorders of the ASD and mental health in infancy. Member of the ICF committee, the WHO Organization.