Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Rethink Autism: FREE ABA for Tri-State Children

At this point, this organization is recruiting families to test their service model and develop training and demonstration materials for the program. Hence, they are offering ABA services free of charge to area families with children aged 4 - 12. This is an intriguing model and possibly worth trying out if you have lost ABA services in the transition to preschool or kindergarden. -- LD




Our Mission
The mission of Rethink Autism is empowering parents, caregivers and schools with access to effective and affordable treatment delivery options for the growing population affected by autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Our Focus
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1 in 150 new born children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is widely recognized as the leading intervention methodology and has been endorsed by a number of federal and state agencies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the New York State Department of Health, and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Our Services
While the effectiveness of ABA is widely recognized, the controlled availability of credentialed providers and high cost of this intervention, as much as $70,000 to $100,000 per year for the prescribed 25-40 hours/week of therapy, limit its potential benefit for the growing population affected by ASD. The absence of insurance coverage and limited public support services amplify this challenge for typical families caring for an affected child.

Rethink Autism is creating a unique online service providing caregivers with training for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)-based interventions, tools for evaluating an individual child’s needs, a comprehensive video-based curriculum with hundreds of exercises, tracking systems for measuring a child’s progress, information on ASD and a 24-hour support system wherever the caregiver is located. Using structured video training segments featuring ABA principles and techniques, parents and caregivers will be instructed on how to teach their children academic, social, emotional, language and play skills. Online support for subscribers will be provided through a combination of curriculum planning tools, reporting functions and 24/7 online customer service and the Company plans to develop its services in both English and Spanish.

Rethink Autism will donate a share of the Company’s profits to support autism awareness and research. In addition, the company will develop a subscription assistance program for qualified low-income families. Rethink Autism also believes over time that its real-time collection of user data can be appropriately shared with the autism research community to significantly aid in the understanding of ASD at the grassroots level.

For more information, contact:
info@rethinkautism.com or (646) 257-2919, x202
Rethink Autism Inc.
19 W. 21st St., Ste. 403
New York, NY 10010

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