UpFront.Health.Autism.588x248The Scott Center for Autism Treatment Offers Resources for Local Parents and Children

About 1 in 68 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from Center for Disease Control’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. If you Google “Autism treatment,” 71 million results are available. Where do parents go for help? Locally, The Scott Center for Autism Treatment is a tremendous resource for parents and caregivers.

The Scott Center specializes in working with children with autism and other related disorders by implementing procedures based on the science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA.) Executive Director Dr. Michael E. Kelley leads the center and staff in helping families learn to overcome many of the behaviors associated with ASD.

“Everything we do here is based on science of applied behavior analysis,” Dr. Kelley said. “You can make dramatic improvements with the right therapies.”

ABA has become widely accepted among healthcare professionals and used in many schools and treatment clinics. ABA encourages positive behaviors and discourages negative behaviors in order to improve a variety of skills. Studies have proven the dramatic improvements when children begin therapies early. Typically, children will receive treatment every day, similar to how they would go to school.

The center also includes experts in the areas of the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviors, early intervention, intensive toilet training, pediatric feeding, and parent and teacher training. Early intervention has been proven to produce better outcomes for children with autism and their families. Early intervention services at the Scott Center teach new skills, improve children’s behavior, and address areas of difficulty.

Social skills are an important, and often overlooked, element of personal growth for children with ASD. At social skills groups, appropriate and adaptive methods to interact with peers are taught. The center is located on the campus of Florida Tech so it integrates an academic component into the facility’s activities. As a united component of Florida Tech’s School of Psychology and Applied Behavior, graduate students receive state-of-the-art training and supervision from doctoral level faculty.

Family involvement is integral in the implementation, evaluation, and ongoing revision of treatment plans. This emphasis on caregiver training helps to prevent and address problem behaviors that might arise later. Families have access to other counseling resources to help them manage the challenges of raising a child with a disability.

Parents and children from around the world come to the Scott Center for the most advanced treatment methods available.

For more information, visit TheScottCenter.org or call (321) 674-8106.