DFW Center for Autism

About

In August of 1999, HOPE worldwide an international faith-based nonprofit organization started the DFW Center for Autism to meet the need of families within the community. The program directors solicited volunteer support from the Department of Behavior Analsis at the University of North Texas, and Dr. Shahla A'lai-Rosales answered their call. agreeing to help start their endeavor with a program for three school-aged children with Aspergers Syndrome. In the year that followed (September 2000), an early childhood program was soon born to provide early intervention in an inclusive setting. After three successful years of operation, the HOPE worldwide was forced to close many of its programs including the autism center in July 2003. At that time, a new nonprofit organization was formed by existing local directors and the services of the DFW Center for Autism's mission were continued. Now the mission of the DFW Center for Autism has since been extended to encompass five main goals.

1) To operate a center-based treatment program in an inclusionary preschool setting
2) To provide outreach consultative services for children in in-home treatment programs
3) To continue research in autism treatment efficacy
4) To provide effective training for staff, parents, and professionals
5) To serve as a resource of support and information for families and professionals

As many as 1.5 million Americans today are believed to have some form of autism, and that number is on the rise. Based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and other governmental agencies, autism is growing at a rate of 10-17 percent per year. At these rates, the prevalence of autism could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade. As many as 1 in 150 children, 1 in 80 boys, have been diagnosed with autism, compared with 1 in 2,000 ten years ago. That is one of every 300 children in Texas. It is more prevalent than juvenile diabetes, childhood cancers, Down’s syndrome, and Cystic Fibrosis and is the third most common developmental disorder. Children with autism are characterized by profound language, social, and behavioral difficulties. Evidence indicates that autism is a lifelong neurological development disorder. Without intervention, the effects of autism can be devastating to a child, their family, and our society. Autism is not specific to any economic or ethnic population and affects children all over the world.

What is ABA ?
Research clearly indicates that intensive Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) efforts in early childhood (at least 25 hours of high quality ABA therapy) will produce gains for ALL children. Previous studies have indicated as much as 47% of the children involved in such therapy can achieve functioning levels equal to that of their same age, non-disabled peers.

ABA , or applied behavior analysis, is the application of empirically derived techniques based on the interaction between behavior and its environment. Being that behavior analysis is a data driven science, it relies heavily on objective information, direct observation and measurement, and the systematic arrangement of events to obtain desirable behavior. Specific to the treatment of developmental disabilities, these evidence-based procedures are implemented to acquire and maintain functional skills such as communication and social skill development. ABA focuses on breaking down complex skills into prerequisite and component steps, and teaching in a systematic and individualized manner, whether the targeted behavior is simple (such as increasing frequency of eye contact) or complex (maintaining social interactions).

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