CARD Services

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc (C.A.R.D.) was founded in 1990 by Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh. CARD is one of the largest organizations in the world providing treatment to children with Autism, PDD and Asperger's Syndrome. Currently we have 17 offices internationally providing services to nearly 1,000 children. Since opening the doors in 1990, we have helped literally tens of thousands of families. Our team includes six doctoral level Directors and Managers, three licensed Speech Pathologists, more than 70 Supervisors, and over 350 therapists. At CARD, we strive to help children by developing unique and individualized behavioral programs based on each child's particular strengths and weaknesses. Our goal is to teach all of our children the functional skills necessary to replace previously learned maladaptive behaviors, enabling them to live independent and productive lives.

CARD provides a variety of services described below:

Supervision & Consultation:
Meeting regularly with their clients, CARD Supervisors develop and provide individualized treatment plans, demonstrate behavioral and educational interventions, and provide parents and therapists training in effective techniques for managing everything from self-stimulatory behavior to friendship development. Further, CARD Supervisors regularly attend IEP meetings, helping IEP teams develop the most appropriate goals and services for each child. With over 60 well-trained and experienced Supervisors, CARD provides supervision and consultation for hundreds of children worldwide.

Direct 1:1 Therapy:
CARD therapists work in the home and school settings, providing individual behavior therapy and school shadowing to our children. CARD therapists are some of the most fully trained and capable in the business. CARD therapists receive comprehensive training in behavioral theory, reinforcement, the application of the Discrete Trial, the nuances of Prompting and the fading prompts, Behavior Management, Generalization, Maintenance of Acquired Skills, Peer Play, School Shadowing and Social development. In addition, continuous refresher training courses and research on new techniques are provided to our therapists so that they are able to maintain the highest quality of service provision.

Workshop Consultation: Domestic & Abroad:
In order to serve those families not living near a CARD location, CARD Supervisors travel to provide families training in ABA, as applied to their children. Workshop services include lectures on the theory and implementation of ABA, specific applications for children with Autism, practical training in therapy technique with specific children, and the development and implementation of treatment plans. On-site supervision is provided for families approximately every three months, in addition to frequent phone consultations. CARD supervisors serve families all over the world, traveling frequently to locations such as South Africa and the Middle East.

Assessment:
Families suspecting that their child is showing symptoms of Autism may seek a thorough initial diagnostic evaluation. On-going Cognitive, Language and Adaptive Functioning assessments may be given as objective measures of both program evaluation and development, ensuring ongoing progress. CARD provides referrals to medical doctors for patients interested in pursuing biomedical treatment.

District Training & Consultation:
CARD provides training to school district employees in the theory and implementation of ABA and specific applications for children with Autism within the classroom setting. Teacher and aide training may focus on inclusion techniques, as well as training and Supervision in providing 1:1 therapy. CARD contracts with over 100 school districts and provides on going consultation for several Departments of Health and Education throughout the United States and abroad.

Parent Training:
CARD staff provide training in behavior management for parents who are in need of immediate guidance. Parent training allows family members to gain useful and practical knowledge which enables them to set consistent guidelines for the children to follow in their homes.

External Collaboration:
CARD receives requests for services throughout the world at a consistently escalating rate. Our Workshop Consultation services (described above) are often sufficient to meet such needs. However, it is also often the case that human service providers, such as medical doctors or educators, express interest in CARD supervising the creation of an ABA center in their local area. Such collaborations involve CARD consultants providing intensive initial training, ongoing mentorship and quality assurance, as well as continued education of local staff.

The CARD Treatment Program

The CARD Program recommends that 1:1 behavioral therapy be administered initially in the home setting, and then generalized to other settings such as school. The techniques used in teaching are based on Applied Behavior Analytic practices such as Discrete Trial Teaching and the content of instruction covers a wide range of skill areas such as speech and language skills, gross and fine motor skills, academic skills, self-care, and most importantly, socialization skills.

The CARD early intervention plan typically consists of intensive treatment in which basic skills are taught in the first years and advanced social and language skills are taught in the final years. CARD treatment is typically allocated in the following manner, allowing variance depending on each child's particular symptoms and rapidity of learning. 

The following features characterize the treatment received by all CARD clients;  

• treatment is individualized and comprehensive; all skill domains are addressed (language, social, adaptive and academic);
• the principles of behavior analysis are used to build functional skills and reduce challenging behaviors;
• individuals with experience in autism and advanced training in ABA supervise treatment;
• the learning objectives are age appropriate;
• one-to-one therapy is initially administered in the home then generalized to other settings such as school or a group format;
• treatment is intensive: 20-40 hours of therapy per week;
• children receive at least 2 years of service; and
• children start treatment between 20-59 months old.  

 Unique Characteristics of CARD

CARD strives to provide comprehensive treatment services to children with autism. While CARD excels in its basic ABA program, it also offers numerous specialty programs that add to our success: