CARE Alliance was established in May of 2004 as a non-profit, donor funded corporation dedicated to providing young children with autism, their families, caregivers and service providers intervention opportunities, as well as information, and materials needed to develop, maintain and manage successful intensive, intervention programs.
Autism is considered to be at epidemic proportions in the United States. In fact the Center for Disease control estimates that 1 in 166 children born today will soon be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. This means approximately 25,000 children in the United States will be diagnosed each year with an autism spectrum disorder. Currently autism is more prevalent than childhood cancer, childhood diabetes and down syndrome, combined.
Thankfully, millions in federal and private funding is dedicated to autism research. Unfortunately, the millions of dollars currently being spent to try and determine the causes of autism through scientific research will likely not result in a definitive conclusion for years. And there is a fair chance that those already diagnosed, or soon to be diagnosed, with autism spectrum disorder will not benefit from the research currently being conducted. The only thing we can be sure of today, using on evidence-based research, is that intensive, extensive intervention can significantly improve the lives and futures of many young children affected by this disorder. In fact, children receiving intensive, well structured, programs consisting of proven therapies are overcoming many of the symptoms of this complex and mysterious disorder. Effective programs require a significant short-term investment, but often result in significant long-term savings to taxpayers, families, federal, state and local governments as well as insurance providers. Providing the funding for educational opportunities for young children with autism spectrum disorder and training for parents, caregivers and service providers in intensive, extensive autism intervention methods are the primary goals of CARE Alliance.
What Drives Us
CARE Alliance is committed to greatly improving the lives of as many young children diagnosed with autism as we can by providing them with the best educational opportunities available and by providing their families and services providers the tools and training needed to develop and maintain an effective intervention program.
A Glimpse into the Future
CARE Alliance will be the most innovative resource for families and organizations providing young children with autism early, intensive, extensive intervention programs.
History
In the fall of 2002 the founder, Margaret Jordan, began to receive phone calls from parents of young children diagnosed with autism. These parents had heard of the remarkable gains the Jordan’s son, who had been diagnosed with autism a year earlier, had been making through an intensive, extensive intervention program developed specifically for their son. These parents were contacting Margaret to find out what could be done to get a similar program up and running for their own children. It was in the phone calls and subsequent meetings with these parents that Margaret recognized the overwhelming sense of confusion and desperation she and her husband had felt when they had heard the news that autism was the cause of their own son's developmental delays. There is a tremendous amount of information on the Internet and in numerous books and reference manuals related to the topic of autism and autism intervention. But, the information is scattered throughout the web and is not always user-friendly. There is little one can find that would give a roadmap to take a parent or caregiver from the devastating diagnosis to early, comprehensive, effective treatment in a user friendly and comprehensive format. As many as 1.5 million people are thought to suffer from autism in the United States today. When one considers the disorder was first described in 1943, it seems implausible that each family of a young child diagnosed with this disorder would have to forge a new path into the world of autism intervention and program development. But, still so many have to. It was in this thought that the idea for CARE Alliance was formed.
CARE Alliance is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.
© CARE Alliance 2004 (Latest website update 1/26/2006). All Rights reserved
