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AMERICAN FORK — After only a few weeks of individualized autism care, the owner of a new autism care facility said a mom told him her daughter was doing things she had never done before, and she could see a difference.
Corey Astill said progress is incremental, but the behavioral health services provided at Success on the Spectrum in American Fork is scientifically based and "it works." He said because it works, he thinks the practice should be spread as far as possible.
Success on the Spectrum hosted a fall festival, or Autism Play Day on Saturday where they held a ribbon cutting ceremony and invited the neighborhood to see what their facility has to offer.
They have various rooms to help children with autism learn to be independent, calm down in sensory rooms or isolation and rooms and play — with different areas geared towards older and younger children.
Astill, owner of the American Fork franchise, said although they provide a medical service they don't want it to seem like a doctor's office, they want to create a "play environment."
"Our kids love coming here, they like it — that doesn't mean that they don't scream sometimes," he said.
Astill said the goal of the company is to help the children be as successful as possible, so they work on skills that are harder for people with autism like communicating their feelings. He said people with autism can be six years old before they talk, but that's not because they don't know how they just need some help to start.
They help with other delayed behaviors too, like the alphabet, potty training, cooking and accessing community resources.
Astill said one of the largest roadblocks in autism care right now is getting diagnosed especially with a shortage in therapists with that specialty. An official diagnosis is so important because one-on-one care is expensive and insurance will not cover it without an official diagnosis, he said.
He said they accept children as young as 18 months old, but realistically most children will not be diagnosed until age 4 or 5 — despite the increased effectiveness of early intervention for autism.
At Saturday's event, multiple parents came up to the desk at Success on the Spectrum to ask if the company is able to help diagnose their children. Astill said they don't provide that services yet, but hope to in the future.
The company is based out of Houston, Texas and he said the company is pretty new with only a few franchises. This is the first location in Utah, but Astill said he hopes to open more.
While there are options available in Utah to help care for the specific needs of children with autism, Astill said the business model of Success on the Spectrum is unique — they are a for-profit company and the first applied behavior analysis therapy franchise in the U.S.
Astill said they opened the doors in June and already have a few clients who come in regularly.
For most children, regularly means daily — although the amount of hours each day depends on the child's need. Astill said it can be thought of similarly to physical therapy, each child has a plan for how to help them improve and they are working towards goals that fit where they are on the autism spectrum.
Leslie Lilino is the location's board certified behavioral analyst, said that although some children do come to Success on the Spectrum instead of school, that is not the goal. She creates plans to help children go back to their schools but without some of the behaviors that made it harder for them to fit into a normal classroom in the past.
She said she does not recommend children come to their facility instead of school unless they are multiple years behind and need to be taken out of school in order to learn behaviors that will help them catch up. Lilino said some students with autism learn coping behaviors, like flipping a desk to get people to leave them alone. She can work on their attention, behavior and coping strategies so they develop the skills to be in a classroom.
"We always want them to go back, that's my goal," she said.
Astill explained that each child has one-on-one care while they are the facility from someone who is trained, but does not need any specialized degrees, and Lilino creates treatment plans for each child and oversees those plans.
He said care like this for children with autism is becoming more available, but there is still much more need than there is resources, especially since Utah has a higher rate of autism than the national average.
"It's such a tremendous need, and it's not being satisfied at all," he said.
