This past weekend Lighthouse Autism Center held it’s third Annual Christmas Party. The theme for the party was holiday movies and the night was filled with good food, good, drink and fantastic company. With a little over 100 guests, it is incredible to see just how much Lighthouse has grown over the last year. The picture on the left is the all staff photo taken at the first Christmas party in 2012, and the photo on the right is this years Christmas party. Wow!

Staff were also asked to bring non-perishable food items as their “admission” to the party, and we collected over 100 items for Hope Ministries! It is so wonderful to see our staff wanting to give back to the community and we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful group who give back through their work all year long. Staff are able to see just how big of an impact they have on LAC families when they read the letters written by parents to staff during the holiday season. We concluded our Christmas party by asking several staff to read these letters. It was a wonderful way to end the evening, with staff being able to see just how much they change the lives of the families we serve.

Lighthouse Autism Center Weather & Emergency Closing

In order to best support our families, at Lighthouse Autism Center, we believe that being open allows our parents who must go to work is truly putting our children and their families first. We also do not close for weather related reasons on the same schedule as the local schools, as we do not have the concerns of children waiting for buses, walking to school, etc.

We also realize that all Lighthouse Autism Center facilities feel the effects of inclement weather differently, based on locations weather differently, based on location, so we developed the following guidelines for weather related closings at each autism center.

If your building is closed, you will receive an automatic text message and email from our system by 6:30 a.m. that morning. All closings and delays will also be posted to the Lighthouse Autism Center Facebook page and website.

Do not rely on the local news for alerts of our autism center closings and delays.

Previous closing memo example:

There is no weather delay this morning for Lighthouse Autism Center – Mishawaka.

Please use you best judgement if you are driving from areas that are impacted by the weather.

As a result of changes from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Open Enrollment period for insurance is now occurring only once per year. For coverage starting in 2015, the Open Enrollment period is November 15, 2014- February 15, 2015. Individuals may also qualify for Special Enrollment periods outside of Open Enrollment if they experience certain events. So, unless parents of a child with autism have a qualifying event, they will need to take advantage of the Open Enrollment period to make sure they can obtain autism therapy coverage for their child in 2015.

Why parents cannot afford to wait an entire year to enroll

Lighthouse Autism Center typically sees an uptick in clients in the August and September timeframes, when kids go back to school. This increase in numbers stems from parents getting repeat calls from school to pick up a “problematic” child. It is critical for parents with children evaluated and diagnosed with autism to take advantage of Open Enrollment so coverage for therapy can begin promptly in 2015, as needed.

Waiting until the next Open Enrollment period in November 2015 will delay needed therapy for an entire year and can have a negative impact on a child’s development. A child having to delay full-time autism therapy for one year loses out on 2,040 hours of therapy which could have been spent teaching them new skills. One year in the development of a child, depending on the child’s age, can mean the difference between being potty trained, learning to talk, and learning to play well with others. The earlier a child receives services, the better their chances of reaching his/her full potential. Some behavior analysts actually say that one year of a learned inappropriate behavior will result in six months to “unlearn” the behavior and learn a more appropriate one. If undesirable behaviors are compounded, this could essentially add a need for more therapy time than originally necessary.

To read the entire October issue of The Autism Beacon, click here.

Second Autism Center Opens in Mishawaka, Indiana

As you know, the prevalence of Autism and need for Autism care in our community is significant and overwhelmingly underserved. Because of the growing need
throughout the Michiana area, Lighthouse will open its second center, located in Mishawaka, in April – in honor of National Autism Awareness Month. “Opening a new center in Mishawaka has allowed us to create the Early Learner Program – a program aimed at even more focused therapy for our youngest age group – the two- to six year-old group that’s so crucial to reach,” said Gregg Maggioli, Executive Director. “This program is 100% designed to best meet the needs of our children and help facilitate transition into a school program. We see the goals of the new Mishawaka center and the ELP program as one in the same – to help children reach their full potential.” The ELP program is completely individualized and targets the youngest age groups because of
the documented studies that show a higher success rate. “The earlier we can provide therapy for this age group, the best chance we have of helping them reach their full potential,” said Maggioli. “There’s a danger in waiting. You can never get that time back. Parents and physicians should never take a wait-and-see approach. What is a limitation later on could have been an obstacle avoided if we could only have intervened with therapy.”

Want to read more? To view the entire April 2014 edition of The Lighthouse Beacon click here.

Welcome to Lighthouse – the Autism treatment leader in Indiana. We’re pleased to provide you with The Autism Beacon newsletter – a quarterly publication dedicated
to keeping you up to date with relevant news on Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders
and extending information on the available resources at our Mishawaka and Warsaw centers for your patients in need. Lighthouse is 100% focused on Autism and, specifically, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) – the only therapy that has been vetted by the medical and higher education communities. ABA therapy is endorsed by the U.S. Surgeon General as an approach to teaching social, motor, and verbal behaviors as well as reasoning skills. Over 30 years of research has proven ABA to result in very positive outcomes when used as an early-intervention tool for Autism. Lighthouse is the only center in Michiana with an award-winning management team who are also parents to a child with Autism. Gregg Maggioli, Executive Director, and wife, Sandy, founded Lighthouse because they understand the frustration and feeling of helplessness when parents are told their child has Autism. “Lighthouse cares for children and their parents as though they are part of its extended family – this is the type of environment we experienced with our son in Carmel, Indiana. As time went on, we discovered an unmet need in this area and are now exceedingly proud and fulfilled to provide the same foundation for kids in this community,” said Gregg Maggioli, Executive Director. “Our therapists love, care for, and find joy in each one of the children. No one cares about the kids and their families as much as Lighthouse. We are dedicated to providing the best therapy while addressing the needs of the family as well.”

Want to read more? To view the entire April 2014 edition of The Lighthouse Beacon click here.

On Saturday, April 26 from 10:00am-12:00pm, ADEC will be hosting an Autism Awareness event in downtown Elkhart. There will activities for children, a sensory table, coffee and donuts. The ADEC bell choir will also be there to perform. This event is a great opportunity for families to meet, network, and explore community resources. Lighthouse will also have a table there so stop on by and say hello!  For more information on the event you can click here to see the Light the Way 2014 flyer.

April 2014- As stated in our mission, and evidenced by the many successes and heartfelt testimonials of our parents, it is our privilege and calling to provide quality ABA therapy where it is needed. As the only center in Michiana for Autism with an award-winning management team, we know it is our child-focused and family-focused philosophy that helps us achieve enduring success. It is our understanding, having been in their shoes, that helps them stay strong and positive amidst daily challenges. We make every effort to help families of children with Autism through the use of Verbal Behavior ABA Therapy – and I know it works when I can see, with my own eyes, transformations like that of an 11-year-old child who used the restroom on their own for the first time, or transitioning a 5-year old back to school after getting behaviors under control. As a father of an Autistic child, I know how marvelous and longed for these moments are for parents. Please keep us in mind when your patients and parents are in need of our services – we can’t wait to help them achieve these incredibly memorable steps in their children’s lives.

Want to read more? To view the entire April 2014 edition of The Lighthouse Beacon click here.

On Saturday, April 16 from 10:00am to 12:00pm ADEC  will be holding an autism awareness event at 319 S. Main St in downtown Elkhart. There will be materials there for you to decorate your own balloon to hang along the downtown sidewalk. These balloons will honor our loved one’s who are on the autism spectrum. There will also be activities for children, a sensory table with ideas, coffee and donuts. The ADEC bell choir will perform and representatives from local groups will be available to answer questions. ! This is a great opportunity for families to meet, network, exchange information and explore community resources.

Lighthouse Autism Center will also have a table there so please stop by and see us!

For more information call 574-294-6197 x 3104 or e-mail blakesleev@adecinc.com.

If there is one thing at Lighthouse that we are most proud of it is our continued effort to reach further to ensure that we are constantly and consistently providing the best therapy to our kids, we are excited to announce our partnership with Western Michigan University’s graduate program in behavior analysis.

The reason we decided to work with Western Michigan University is because they are known worldwide as one of the best ABA universities producing world class practitioners. Again, this allows us to be confident in our pursuit of helping each child achieve his or her fullest potential.

We are working closely with Dr. Richard Malott, a professor of psychology and member of the behavior analysis faculty at WMU. Dr. Malott is considered a leader in the field of ABA. He has won 2 Fulbright Senior Scholar Awards as well as the ABAI’s Award for Public Service in Behavior Analysis. His active involvement in the Association for Behavior Analysis International ensures that he stays in touch with ABA best practices. Dr. Malott is also responsible for developing the Behavior Analysis Training System at WMU. The BATS system is considered one of the most prominent ABA graduate programs in the United States and we are thankful to consider him part of our team.

If you have any questions about WMU, Dr. Malott or how Lighthouse can help you please give us a call. We will continue to strive to exceed expectations and offer Lighthouse families and the community the best ABA therapy available.