Child autism therapy, built around your child.
NorthStar Day is a pediatric day-treatment program where autism is the central reason most families find us. One care plan, an integrated team in one building, and your family on that plan from day one. For school-age children ages 5–12 in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
What sets our autism program apart.
Autism care at NorthStar Day happens in one building, on one day, under one care plan. Speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, individual and family work, and psychiatry when it is part of the picture are all delivered by clinicians who meet as a team every week about your child.
The clinical core of our autism work isn't one named method. It's the whole team. Adapted CBT, Floortime, expressive arts, family systems work, OT, and speech, woven into a single plan that meets your child where they actually are, not where the calendar says they should be. Behavioral practice is part of the toolkit, not the whole approach.
"We don't deliver verdicts. We make decisions together."
What one plan actually means.
Every discipline your child needs works from the same plan. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, adapted for how autistic children actually think and learn. Expressive arts for everything a child expresses beyond language. Family systems work, so home and program pull in the same direction. Occupational therapy and speech-language therapy in the same building, on the same goals: shared attention, two-way communication, problem-solving, flexible thinking.
What this looks like in our program:
- Therapists trained to adapt CBT for autistic learners: concrete, visual, paced to your child
- Sessions structured around what your child brings into the room that day
- Parent training and family therapy built in, so the work transfers home
- Progress tracked across functional capacities, not just diagnostic checkboxes
No single modality carries the work alone. Social Skills Training, sensory integration, and behavioral practice are all in the toolkit. The plan is what holds the rest together. One team, one set of goals, reviewed together every week.
Autism rarely arrives alone.
Most children come to us with autism plus co-occurring conditions: anxiety, ADHD, sensory processing differences, early trauma, or some combination of these. Our team holds the whole presentation, and the care plan reflects it.
What a day looks like.
The day starts with regulation, not demands. Soft arrival, sensory check-in, then a therapy block. Lunch and time in the outdoor nature space midday. Afternoons are skill-building (social, executive function, expressive arts), matched to your child's care plan. Wind-down before pickup.
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at our Palm Beach Gardens, FL facility. PHP for children needing intensive daily care; IOP after school for children stepping down or starting at lower acuity. Both run in the same building, on the same care plan.
Where to start.
NorthStar Day is built for children whose autism shows up alongside other things, who need more than weekly outpatient therapy can offer, and whose families want one coordinated team.
The first call is a 15-minute conversation with our admissions specialists. We listen first, then point you toward the right next step for your child.
Tell us what's going on with your child.
A 15-minute call. We'll listen first, then help you figure out the right next step.