Life Skills Autism Academy Opening in Plano Plans to Provide One-on-one Therapy

One in 59 children is born with autism spectrum disorder in the U.S. and many go through their early years without personalized therapy that studies show sets them up to thrive.Life Skills Autism Academy, a new center for children with autism, is opening its flagship location in Plano next week with plans to bridge that gap by providing one-on-one therapy and classroom learning environments for every child."Every child that comes through our door has a therapist that works with them," said Executive Clinical Director Kim Gorham, who is also a Plano mother of two boys with autism.In order for the academy to provide individualized therapy for each child, it can accommodate a maximum of 65 clients at a time. Life Skills plans to hire 100 staffers, inluding behavioral technicians and therapists.In the academy's classroom environment, kids will spend a portion of their day interacting with one another and applying skills learned with therapists in a group setting. It'll also include a sensory-friendly space built to allow children to decompress.Children between 18 months and 5 years of age can attend the academy 35 to 40 hours a week, or up to 10 hours a day. It plans to offer flexible schedules for families."We can also help parents with school support, understanding their child's individual education plan and school advocacy," Gorham said. "We're all about getting our kids in, getting them the skills they need so they can be successful when they leave us and go on to traditional school."In addition, Life Skills offers diagnosis services to parents experiencing long wait times."If we have a parent that has concerns but they're not sure their child has an autism spectrum disorder, we do work with some licensed psychologists to help get that diagnosis done a little bit quicker," Gorham said.In just two decades, the prevalence of autism in children has grown from 1 in 150 to 1 in 59, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Studies foundthe prevalence of autism creates an economic burden in the U.S. of up to $60.9 billion from medical costs and loss of parental productivity.Individualized therapy can be expensive and Texas Medicaid hasn't covered it in the past.Gov. Greg Abbott signed a budget bill this year that requires Texas Medicaid to cover all medically necessary care for children, including Applied Behavior Analysis therapy. Implementation is expected in the coming months, but is not yet available.Parents who enroll their children at Life Skills will have to use their insurance or pay out of pocket until then, said vice president Treva Fairman.The academy is an operating division of Michigan-based Centria Healthcare, which has traditionally provided in-home autism therapy services in 11 states, including Texas. Life Skills plans to open more centers like its Plano location in the future.  Continue reading...

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