The Florida Autism Center recently opened an office in Gainesville for children 5 and under who have difficulty with social skills and other developmental milestones.
The center, which opened on June 2, had only one patient during its first week. Behavioral therapists are working to improve the patient’s living skills, and as the center grows, therapists will work to improve language, social skills, academics and other various tasks for children with autism.
The FAC, located at 6224 NW 43rd St., will see five more children this week and is scheduled to host an open house for parents interested in its services. There are also plans to run a specialized school for kids ages 5 to 13.
Each week a craft or activity will be introduced with themes. FAC behavioral therapists are planning a summer safety theme. Kids will be able to make suns out of paper plates. They will also play “Red Light, Green Light,” a game that will teach them to stop when instructed to.
“I am a huge Harry Potter fan, so we are going to incorporate a Harry Potter theme,” said FAC behavioral therapist Brandon Perez. “We have a basketball hoop that we can use to make the game of Quidditch, and we will have crafts such as making ties, Harry Potter glasses and a Marauder’s Map of the clinic.”
The FAC accepts major insurance carriers and the McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program for Florida students with special needs. It will be working in partnership with the UF’s Behavioral Analysis Research Clinic.
BARC associate director Sarah Slocum said the FAC wanted to make sure it had a research component. UF will have master’s and doctoral students conduct their research studies at the FAC.
Additionally, any individual who is referred to the FAC with problematic behaviors, self-injurious behaviors or aggression will be sent to BARC where an assessment or treatment of those behaviors will be conducted before he or she goes into a day program.
“All of the treatments are behavioral analytics so they all have a focus in (applied behavior analysis),” Slocum said. “What we’ll be bringing to the table is not just the ability for parents to receive services for their own kids but also to have their kids participate in research that could further the development of the field in order to help more kids.”
Undergraduate students can get involved with the FAC by either applying to work as a volunteer or a research assistant through UF’s BARC. The research assistant application can be found on BARC supervisor Timothy Vollmer’s website.
UF also has a student-led non-profit organization called IMPACT Autism, which offers opportunities to get involved with different groups of people affected by autism spectrum disorders in the Gainesville area.
IMPACT Autism’s most notable event is its monthly Kid’s Day Out, where volunteers are paired with a child on the autism spectrum and spend the afternoon in a local park playing games and making crafts.
IMPACT Autism has not yet contacted the FAC, but the organization’s president Michael Lattanzi said it will certainly be a topic of conversation when the officer team meets in the Fall semester.
“Autism became a part of my life 11 years ago when my younger brother was diagnosed with the disorder,” Lattanzi said. “Throughout this journey, autism has frustrated, confused, saddened and angered me, but most importantly, it has taught me more than any other person or experience in my life has and it continues to teach me every day.”
