Katie Ruiz is a cheerful five-year-old who enjoys playing chase and blowing bubbles. In many ways, she is just like any other child. When Katie first came to ATC at three-years-old, however, she had stopped speaking and making eye contact. This was a difficult time for Katie and her family. As her mother, Terrie, shares, “When Katie was first diagnosed with autism we saw part of our little girl slipping away. Katie went into her own world.”
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Wyatt is an All-American guy you’d love to have for a best friend. He is very outgoing with good looks, a wonderful personality, and enough charisma and charm for anyone. Wyatt is also a 25 year old adult with autism.
Wyatt came to the Autism Treatment Center when he was 5 years old. He and his 2 siblings were removed from their parent’s home and were placed in foster homes. Ultimately, Wyatt’s siblings were adopted by another family; because of Wyatt’s challenges brought on by autism, he was left behind in the foster home. |
Lisa Little first arrived at ATC’s Adult Service program in 1990 when she was 20 years old. Lisa has autism and the symptoms were affecting her family’s everyday life. Leaving the house to run errands, go to a doctor’s appointment, or have a family outing became difficult because of Lisa’s challenging behaviors. She had trouble interacting socially and communicating with other people. ATC’s Residential Coordinator, Cynthia Fox, recalls that the only words Lisa used when she first arrived at ATC were “don’t know” or “sure”.
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At age 4 and 6, Guilia and Loren already know what it means to have a community invested in their future. Both siblings (pictured above) have autism and have been receiving behavioral therapy with ATC since 2017. Thanks to community funding for renovations that allowed ATC to turn administrative offices into additional therapy rooms, Guilia and Loren were able to start treatment shortly after their autism diagnosis.
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Michael DeKunder first came to the Autism Treatment Center as a student when we opened our San Antonio school in 1978. Now 52, Michael has been an ATC resident since 1991 and attends our weekday Meaningful Living, Meaningful Work program. While our long-time staff know Michael very well, no one, not even his own family, knew what a talented artist he was.
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When he first arrived at ATC in 2014, Garrett was 13 and needed to work on controlling his aggressive behaviors before he could make progress toward his academic goals. ATC takes a team approach across all our programs. For students like Garrett, this means that whether he is at school, in therapy, or in his group home, he is getting consistent messaging and reinforcement from his teachers, therapists, and caregivers.
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