Just a year ago, four-year-old Niko Wasiela couldn’t tell his family what he needed.
“He would just scream until we figured out what he wanted,” said his mother, Madelynn Sutterluety.
Now, after months of therapy, Niko — who was diagnosed with Level 3 autism spectrum disorder at age 3 — is beginning to communicate using words.
Niko is one of the children receiving care at the Tom and Jill Zidian Family Autism Center, which Akron Children’s hospital opened in November to expand evaluation and therapy services for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. The facility helps bring expanded services together in one place.
New center focuses on early autism care
The center offers families like Niko’s diagnostic assessments, behavioral therapy, social skills programs and parent support services designed to help at different stages of their child’s development.
One of those programs is the Early Start Denver Model, an early childhood intervention based on applied behavior analysis, or ABA.
“We bring children into a classroom setting and teach them skills in a natural environment,” said Dr. Jessica Foster, the director of the program. “The goal is to help them learn how to interact with peers, manage their behavior and participate in a classroom.”
The intervention typically runs for about the same length of time as a preschool day. Some children attend the program while remaining enrolled in their regular preschool, allowing them to receive specialized therapy while continuing to socialize and learn with other children.
Foster said the model is relatively new to the region and may be the only program of its kind in the area.
Niko attends two-hour therapy sessions twice a week through the program.
Over time, his mother began noticing changes.
“He’s communicating now. He’s talking now,” Sutterluety said. “It kind of just flipped a switch in him.”
Just a year ago, she said, he would panic if another child came near him. Now he participates in activities with another young patient during part of his therapy sessions.
His progress has also changed daily life at home.
“We used to just have to play the guessing game constantly,” she said. “Now if he wants something to drink, he’ll bring us his cup.”
Addressing a growing need for autism services
Before the autism center opened, Akron Children’s provided developmental pediatric care but lacked dedicated behavioral health and social skills programming for children with autism.
“That was a real gap,” Foster said.
The center was designed to offer what Foster describes as a “menu of services” that support children and families at different stages of development.
“We didn’t want to create something where we were serving a couple of kids for 40 hours every week,” Foster said.
On a typical day, about 35 children move through the center for evaluations, therapy sessions and group programs.
Detecting autism at an earlier age
A major focus of the center is identifying autism as early as possible.
National guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend screening children for autism at 18 and 24 months of age, reflecting growing evidence that early intervention can significantly improve long-term outcomes.
At Akron Children’s, clinicians are diagnosing children as young as 18 months and have trained primary care pediatricians to help identify early signs.
Early intervention can lead to measurable gains in communication, social development and behavior, Foster said. Just as importantly, it helps parents understand how to support their child.
“When parents understand how to interpret their child’s behavior and how to communicate with them, that can make a very big difference in the pathway and the journey,” she said.
Creating a family-friendly space
The center was designed to make visits easier for children with autism and their families.
The waiting area is intentionally small so children can be moved to therapy rooms quickly, as long waiting times can trigger stress and sensory overload.
The space includes soft lighting and interactive elements such as bubble walls that many children are drawn to when they arrive.
A motor room allows children who need movement to run, climb, slide or swing while therapists work with them and speak with parents.
The center also includes family restrooms with large adult-sized changing tables. “That’s something that’s often missing for families of children with developmental disabilities,” Foster said. “Kids with autism or intellectual disabilities can sometimes have a hard time with toilet training.”
For Niko’s mother, programs like this have made a difference.
Watching her son begin to communicate and interact with other children has changed what she believes is possible.
“When you finally get help and see your child learning new skills, it gives you hope,” Sutterluety said.