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As a parent of a young person on the autism spectrum and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, it was very frustrating for me to see the current state of services. Families and individuals receiving services have had to deal with a variety of situations, from turn over in providers, to lack of focus on important goals, and to providers not treating the family as a whole, I knew that there was a huge need for improvements in how families and individuals receive services!
As an employee of other agencies, I also knew why there was so much turnover in the field of ABA - oftentimes companies are concerned first and foremost on profit - they did not seem to care at all about the people doing the work in this field. That leads people to feel undervalued, and that results in turnover - which translates in families and individuals receiving inconsistent services - which leads to poor treatment results!
In addition, so many of the companies out there provide cookie-cutter services, and do not fully understand the individuals and families with whom they are working. They do not appreciate the need to think long distance - as a parent of a child on the spectrum, I understand that parents start to think about what happens to their child after they die the moment they get their diagnosis. I understand the hopelessness that parents can feel after given dismal reports by educators and health care providers. I also understand how important it is to create hope and positive growth for families - to help them alleviate their fears for the future and embrace their child's unique potential - because I went through those experiences as a parent myself.
When my daughter was first diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, I feared for the future. I didn't know what to expect. I received so much negative feedback from providers, educators, the media and others that it really put my into a dark place where I felt hopeless for our situation. But then I started to learn, grow, and connect with adults on the spectrum, learned about therapeutic approaches that would serve my daughter and teach her in a way that way meaningful and helpful. As I was learning and growing, I went back to school and focused everything I could on acquiring the skills and experiences to help my daughter grow and achieve.
In my journey, I also connected with hundreds of young adults on the autism spectrum who taught me what was helpful and hurtful from their educational and therapeutic experiences as the director of the Hussman Center for Adults on the Autism Spectrum at Towson University. In that role, I created programs that provided meaningful programming that provided opportunities for learning and growing that were fun and captivating! I became a professor and trained young clinicians, teaching them how to empower people on the spectrum to grow and achieve. I was a fellow for the United States Department of State's Empowerment Project, working internationally on disability-related issues. All of these experiences have led me to creating My Time 2 Launch to empower individuals and their families to empower people to achieve and grow in ways they find meaningful.
As our organization thoughtfully grows, we will conduct services with best practices, develop providers who are passionate about fulfilling our mission, and aim to deliver high-quality, meaningful services for the neurodiverse populations we serve. Our values embrace the uniqueness of the individual, presuming competence, interacting respectfully, and helping people fulfill their dreams. We thank you for trusting us to join you in your journey.
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