Partners
Partnership is how the work moves
CBSI works with people, communities, organizations, agencies, and researchers to define meaningful challenges, connect knowledge with practice, build local capacity, and improve systems over time.
A Foundation of Partnership
Learning from the HANDS network
HANDS has grown through sustained relationships at international, national, state, and community levels and through the contributions of people with lived experience, families, practitioners, advisors, funders, and implementation partners. Those relationships helped the team test ideas in authentic settings, listen to different forms of expertise, extend training and supports, and learn what is required for practices to take hold. CBSI honors and continues this foundation rather than replacing it.
Explore HANDS partnersThe CBSI Partnership Model
More than a list of collaborators
A CBSI partnership begins with a shared question, need, or opportunity. Together, partners clarify the purpose and people affected; bring research, practice, lived experience, and local knowledge into the work; identify strengths, readiness, and barriers; select or co-design a practical response; establish roles, learning supports, data, and feedback routines; and build the capacity needed for improvement and sustainability. The form of the partnership may change as the work develops, but shared learning and clear communication remain central.
Who We Partner With
- People with lived experience, families, caregivers, advocates, and community members.
- General and special education systems, early learning programs, schools, districts, and higher education.
- Behavioral health, healthcare, disability, and human-service organizations.
- Public agencies, statewide initiatives, policymakers, and cross-agency groups.
- Employers, workforce partners, professional associations, and community organizations.
- University colleagues, students, researchers, evaluators, funders, and dissemination partners.
Ways to Work With CBSI
Training and Education
Develop shared knowledge and practical skills through workshops, learning series, intensive training, and customized instruction.
Programming and Facilitation
Co-design initiatives, convene partners, strengthen coordination, and support the routines that move work forward.
Implementation Support
Assess fit and readiness, prepare teams and infrastructure, provide coaching, and use feedback to strengthen quality and sustainability.
Research and Evaluation
Define questions together, support engagement and recruitment, test approaches in context, evaluate outcomes, and translate findings for use.
Mentoring and Workforce Development
Create learning pathways, develop local leaders and trainers, and connect students and professionals with applied experience.
Engagement and Navigation
Connect people, expertise, programs, and resources when a question crosses centers, sectors, or service systems.
From HANDS Partnerships to Broader CBSI Collaboration
HANDS partnerships continue to support autism- and disability-focused training, practice, research, and community work. CBSI provides an additional pathway when a partner's question reaches across populations, settings, workforces, organizations, or systems. This makes it possible to build from established trust and tested methods while inviting new disciplines and partners into the work.
Check out HANDS partnerships →Connected Initiatives and Centers
| HANDS in Autism® | CBSI's signature applied model and training initiative, with more than two decades of research-to-practice development and partnership. |
| Indiana Resource Center for Autism | Indiana's statewide autism resource center and a close collaborator in training, information, navigation, community support, and cross-system learning. |
| Autism Engagement Network | A HANDS-facilitated bridge connecting autistic people, families, practitioners, researchers, agencies, and community partners to inform priorities, participation, and coordinated action. |
| Indiana Institute on Disability and Community | CBSI's institutional home and a network of centers with complementary expertise, relationships, and statewide reach. |
How a Partnership May Begin
You do not need to know which CBSI core area or team member is the perfect fit before reaching out. Tell us about the question, the people and settings involved, what has already been tried, and what you hope will change. A Navigator will help identify a useful starting point and connect the right mix of CBSI, HANDS, IRCA, IIDC, or external expertise.