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State-Of-The-Art Space for Children with Autism
Now Open! The first of its kind, state-of-the-art space for children with Autism.
The clinic located in Dunwoody, Atlanta, Georgia officially opened on November 30th, 2016. This special clinic is the first of it’s kind in the Atlanta metro area, and one of five total in Georgia. Here, the project team members of Early Autism Project (EAP) along with Senator John Albers, R-District 56, and other community members celebrate the clinic’s grand opening.
Early Autism Project (EAP)
Working in close collaboration with parents and education professionals, Early Autism Project (EAP), develops customized ABA therapy programs and equips each child’s home, clinic or school team with the training and supervision necessary for high-quality, consistent teaching and behavioral intervention. For more than 10 years, EAP has offered intensive, research-based behavioral treatment that yields best outcomes for children.
EAP is a leading provider of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which is widely recognized as an effective, evidence-based treatment for autism and is endorsed by the U.S. Surgeon General and American Academy of Pediatrics as the treatment of choice for autism. ABA therapy is covered by many private and government insurance providers.
About the Clinic
The clinic will provide children between 20 months and 21-years-old with high-quality intensive, research based treatment for those with autism or with related disorders, according to a press release.
The new facility includes a large therapeutic play area with a trampoline, slide and other items used during therapy as well as smaller therapy rooms with skill-building games, books and computers.
Life Changing
“This will be life changing for families who work or for whom it is not viable to have someone come to their home,” said Anna Bullard with the Early Autism Project “This [clinic] symbolizes all the progress Georgia has made.”
Creating Options
Bullard’s daughter, Ava, was diagnosed with autism as an infant, at a time when Bullard said the options in Georgia were simply not there for those on the autistic spectrum.
“We were told to leave Georgia because there was no access to meaningful treatment,” Bullard said. “But for me, my family is in Georgia, and if Ava needed her family here, so did many other kids across the state.”
In 2015, Sen. Albers helped to pass Ava’s law, making Georgia the 41st state to mandate insurance for children six years and younger with autism.
“Providing therapy to children with autism is an important investment in their futures and the future of our community because early intervention helps children become more independent and and dramatically reduces the cost of lifelong care,” Albers said.
Bullard said early intervention helped Ava progress from a two-year old who they were told would never speak to being in a seventh grader in a general education classroom this year.
Albers said he hopes to see a larger network of clinics like the one in Dunwoody open across the state, giving easy access to families living all over. Read more…
