An upcoming Public Television feature explores how connection, relationships, and family partnership help children with autism grow and thrive.
NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A new educational feature on All Access hosted by Andy Garcia explores how individualized, relationship-based care can help children with autism build meaningful connections and develop skills that extend far beyond the therapy setting. The segment, filmed at Liberty POST, the early childhood division of Liberty Resources and comprehensive provider of pediatric developmental and therapy services across New York State, offers a firsthand look at how clinicians, families, caregivers, and educators work together to understand and support each child as a whole person.
At Liberty POST, effective autism support begins with recognizing that no two children experience or interact with the world in exactly the same way. Rather than focusing solely on a diagnosis or a set of developmental challenges, Liberty POST’s multidisciplinary teams seek to understand each child’s individual strengths, needs, interests, relationships, and environment. Areas of difficulty become opportunities to better understand the child and discover how they learn, communicate, engage, and connect with others.
Central to Liberty POST’s approach is the belief that relationships provide the foundation for development. For children with autism, the ways in which connection is experienced or expressed may look different. The work begins by understanding what connection means for each individual child and finding ways to build trust and meaningful relationships that make sense to them. From that foundation, clinicians can support social-emotional development, communication, independence, and skill building in ways that are meaningful to the child.
“We are incredibly proud to share Liberty POST’s work with a national audience,” said Kelli Harris, CEO of Liberty Resources. “Through this feature, we hope to deepen understanding of neurodiversity, celebrate the strengths and potential of every child, and highlight the importance of creating communities where every child feels understood, valued, and supported.”
“Connection is fundamental to the human experience, but how a child experiences and expresses that connection can look very different from one child to another,” said Laura Zaferakis, Vice President of Liberty POST. “At Liberty POST, our job is to meet children where they are, understand how they experience the world, and build the relationships that allow them to feel safe, connected, and ready to grow. We don’t see a child as a diagnosis or a collection of deficits. We see the whole child, and we work alongside their family to turn challenges into opportunities for connection, development, and greater independence.”
Family partnership is at the heart of Liberty POST’s model, and no single clinician or discipline is expected to understand a child in isolation. Clinical information and data help inform treatment, but they represent only one part of understanding a child. Parents and caregivers bring invaluable knowledge of who their child is, while clinicians, educators, and other members of the care team bring their own expertise and perspective. Together, they develop an individualized approach built around the whole child, helping ensure that progress made in therapy translates into meaningful changes in daily life. By creating consistency across home, school, therapy, and other environments, the team can equip families with practical strategies that become part of everyday routines and relationships.
The All Access feature provides an opportunity to broaden public understanding of autism and neurodiversity while sharing a message that extends well beyond the Liberty POST story: meaningful support begins with seeing the child first. Differences in communication, social interaction, or behavior do not define a child’s potential. When families and professionals work together, prioritize relationships, and seek to understand how an individual child experiences and connects with the world, challenges can become opportunities for connection, confidence, independence, and growth.
About “All Access hosted by Andy Garcia”: “All Access hosted by Andy Garcia” is an award-winning educational series distributed to Public Television stations nationwide. The short-form documentary program highlights groundbreaking organizations, industry innovations, and cultural trends shaping the modern world, offering viewers insightful perspectives on technology, health, and industry. To learn more about the series, visit allaccessptv.com.
About Liberty POST: Liberty POST provides comprehensive pediatric developmental and therapy services designed to support children and families through every stage of development. Through a multidisciplinary, family-centered approach, Liberty POST professionals partner with children, caregivers, educators, and communities to provide individualized supports that foster connection, development, independence, and meaningful participation in everyday life.
Liberty POST is part of Liberty Resources, a nonprofit health and human services organization serving children, adults, and families across New York State and beyond. To learn more, visit www.liberty-resources.org and www.liberty-post.com.
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