YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – When her daughter was diagnosed on the autism spectrum, Stacie Bacorn did not know where to turn.
“We were handed a half sheet of paper and that was it,” says Bacorn, now the executive director of the Autism Society of the Mahoning Valley, Boardman, Ohio. “There was no road map. There were no resources. There was no support on ‘where do we go from there?’”
She considers the Autism Society of the Mahoning Valley an umbrella organization, which helps new parents find support and that roadmap to help their child be successful.
The organization hosts specially geared community events and sponsored family outings. Camp Friend weeks held each summer at the Jewish Community Center give youngsters a chance to have fun, while participating in traditional camp activities with their peers.
ASMV serves 3,500 a year, between about 1,800 people a year participating in its programs and those it connects with the services. For instance, the society has connections to speech and occupational therapists.
“Being able to educate the community and understand that autism is not a one size fits all diagnosis,” Bacorn says. “It is a spectrum. Autism looks different in every different case.”
Statistics say one in 36 children born will be determined to be on the autism spectrum. April is National Autism Acceptance Month.
“I look at the spectrum component – it exists for a reason,” says Mike Latessa, executive director of The Rich Center for Autism. “There are different levels of autism… I think most people that don’t have a full exposure… don’t realize how different each individual is on the autism spectrum.”
Latessa points out people may need more support and others less, but they all still want to be as independent as possible.
“You want to participate in all the things that everyone else does, but sometimes we just need to do it a little bit differently,” Latessa says.
He notes business owners need to recognize as numbers grow, they are more likely to have an employee or a retail customer on the autism spectrum, and each is able to function with different amounts of patience, understanding and support.
Several organizations are offering services for children diagnosed on the autism spectrum, but wait lists are prevalent and more services are needed.
Easter Seals Diagnosis Clinic
Jody Klase, CEO of Easter Seals of Northeast Ohio, Youngstown, points out there can be a waitlist of 18 to 24 months for diagnosis, so Easter Seals has opened a new autism diagnosis clinic, employing an independently licensed therapist. The diagnosis is a multi-step process and requires three appointments to complete.
“So, we are now able to provide that important first step for families in what’s a very tough journey,” Klase says, adding a social worker then helps the family connect with interventions and treatments.
Additionally, Easter Seals offers a free kindergarten readiness program for children ages 2½ to 5, a playgroup that focuses on social and motor skills and is led by occupational therapists.
Easter Seals provides speech and occupational therapy, which Klase says benefits many families who are helping autistic children.
Potential Development
Potential Development in Youngstown, which serves students in pre-K through high school, also has a waitlist, which concerns Paul Garchar, CEO. Potential Development is in the process of seeking both a short-term and possible long-term options for additional space within the Youngstown City School District.
Potential Development will graduate 11 seniors this year, including one Garchar is proud to say has been accepted to Youngstown State University. Those 11 bring the total number of alumni to over 100.
Students can start Potential Development at the preschool level and the school serves more than 300 children. Some of the classes have 25 to 30 students.
“The bigger we’ve gotten, the easier it is to set those classrooms by age and ability,” Garchar says. “We’re able to do that just based on the sheer numbers we have. It’s worked well for us.”
Finding additional space to create classrooms is imperative for Potential Development to continue serving more children, but Garchar says that alone will not solve the problem. More teachers and assistants are needed at a time when competition is intense for new graduates because fewer are choosing teaching as a profession.
Potential Development offers employees an opportunity for tuition assistance to become special education teachers, Garchar says, adding about four existing staff members have taken advantage of the program.
More teachers mean more opportunities for students, not just to thrive in classroom settings geared toward their abilities, but also to participate in other activities, allowing a well-rounded childhood.
“We do well with the students academically and we try to make their experience here as typical as possible,” Garchar says.
That means sports teams, eSports, the YSU English Festival, music and arts programs through Smarts and workforce preparedness. Like most high schools, a committee is planning a junior-senior prom.
The Rich Center
Serving 59 students, the Rich Center for Autism also has a wait list. Latessa says getting the right mix and match of students for open teaching positions is “probably one of our biggest challenges.”
The Rich Center is located in Fedor Hall on YSU’s campus, where the majority, 54 of the school’s students, receive not only an education, but benefit from positive connections with the university.
Both undergraduate and graduate YSU students gain valuable experience and insight on autism as well. Some students in the master’s level counseling and psychology programs partner with the Rich Center, as well as undergraduate students in the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services. Future dental hygienists gain experience working with children on the autism spectrum though a program there.
The YSU STEM college is working through a grant with both the Rich Center and Potential Development to help those on the autism spectrum learn to code. The Rich Center also works with students from the Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences and Education. Both the Sokolov Honors College and Williamson College of Business Administration send volunteers to the Rich Center.
Latessa says Rich Center employees are YSU employees and those connections have made it easier to connect with the campus in meaningful ways.
“The campus community has embraced us and sometimes I think a lot of people don’t realize [The Rich Center] is externally funded,” Latessa says.
There are several awareness events planned the next couple of months, including the Rock the Rich Center concert in May. The Rich Center partners with the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber, local organizations and businesses. Through private donations and $550,000 it received through the state of Ohio, The Rich Center is about one year into a two-year renovation project within the building.