HIAWATHA, Iowa- Parents of children diagnosed with autism will soon have some new treatment options. A well-known, Des Moines-area program is opening up a first-ever facility in eastern Iowa.
The Homestead will operate a Childrens Autism Project office at 1661 Boyson Square Dr. in Hiawatha. Organizers expect up to 30 children will take part in the intensive programming when actual clinical work starts in about three weeks.
Steve Muller, executive director of The Homestead, said the treatment services they offer are geared specifically to people diagnosed with autism. The program began in 1994 in central Iowa and treats about 150 people on a regular basis now. In central Iowa, the programs are offered both for children and adults and include a residential facility.
In Hiawatha, the focus will be strictly on children on an outpatient basis at first.
Agustin Ernie, 4, will be one of the first clients. He attends special preschool classes now. But when The Homesteads program opens next month, hell spend at least half the day at the Hiawatha facility. The center uses a treatment technique called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). And Brad Bezilla, clinic director, said some of the goals for parents of the children ages 3-8 will be pretty basic at first.
Parents want their children able to tell them, hey Im hurt or Im frustrated. A lot of the challenging behavior we see in the children is a lack of communications skills and the frustration they have, Bezilla said.
Those diagnosed on the autism spectrum might not respond to their name by an appropriate age, may avoid eye contact and want to be left alone, have delayed speech and language skills and repeat words or phrases over and over. Autism is considered a developmental disability.
Veronica Ernie said the local schools and providers who work with children diagnosed with autism do a good job on the whole. But she is hoping a program that specializes only in the needs of those children can get even better results.
What I want for him (Agustin) is he can function better in lifemore independent and get the social skills he needs, Ernie said.
Muller said while the central Iowa programs treat all ages, he wanted to start with the younger children in eastern Iowa first.
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New Program Specializing in Autism-Only Kids Coming to Eastern Iowa