Area served Worldwide Founder Doreen Granpeesheh Owner Doreen Granpeesheh | Website centerforautism.com Founded 1990 Type Corporation | |
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Services ABA-based therapies, including Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) and Social Skills Training | ||
The Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD), founded in 1990 by Doreen Granpeesheh, is among the largest autism treatment organizations in the world. CARD's stated mission is to provide the highest quality ABA therapies to children with autism around the world. CARD provides a range of services for children and adults with autism, pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger's disorder and other disabilities within the autism spectrum. These services include home-based, intensive behavioral interventions based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), as well as diagnostic and psychological assessments.
Contents
Learn about the center for autism and related disorders
Theoretical Assumptions
CARD researchers have published over fifty research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and have contributed over twenty chapters to edited scientific texts. CARDs philosophy and behavioral approach assumes the following to be true:
While Dr. Granpeesheh believes that all people with ASDs are capable of learning and recovery, she states there is currently no way to predict the outcome of treatment for any individual.
Behavioral treatment
CARD uses Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI), a form of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) that focuses on encouraging appropriate behaviors and replacing destructive behaviors while also teaching the child all the skills they are lacking for as long as 20–40 hours per week. Subsequent studies replicated the general findings of Lovaas and indicate that treatment should begin as early as possible. Also children that receive more treatment hours per week have better outcomes than those who receive fewer.
Most of the clients treated at CARD enter the program at the age of two and receive intensive services over the course of four years, with the ultimate goal of recovery at age six. For these children, the first year of treatment consists of intensive work on language and behavior with progression into social skills in the second year, more abstract cognitive and executive functioning skills in the third, and a gradual fade-out of services in the final year. The intensive services are usually provided initially in the child's home, with a transition to the child's school and community as the child's age allows. For older clients, aged ten to twenty-one, CARD focuses on independent living skills, successful employment, development of leisure activities, friendships and attending school.
The content of CARDs curriculum addresses all areas of human functioning across the following eight domains: language, play, social skills, motor, academic, adaptive skills, cognition and executive functioning.
Clinical outcomes
A study conducted by Dr. Granpeesheh, the founder of CARD, and her colleagues on the effects of CARD treatment found that greater intensity of treatment and beginning treatment at a younger age both contribute to faster learning rates during CARD therapy. Of note is a finding that 96 percent of the group studied met criteria for ASD according to the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule at intake, while only 64 percent still met the ASD criteria after two years of CARD treatment. Studies on the outcome of CARD treatment have replicated the general findings in the published literature, which is that intensive twenty-five or more hours per week of treatment, beginning at a young age, optimizes positive outcomes, even resulting in recovery for some children.
Documentary
Staff members at CARD as well as four families whose children received treatment from them were featured in the documentary Recovered: Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back. It was directed and edited by Michele Jaquis in collaboration with Granpeesheh. The film had earned the Best Documentary award at the 2008 Director's Chair Film Festival, and was an official selection at the 2008 Victoria Independent Film Festival. Moreover, it received an award at the 2009 ReelHeART International Film Festival.