DASI offering autism services in new facility

Nov. 20--GREENSBURG -- Decatur County now has a top-of-the-line facility with the official opening of the new Disability and Autism Services of Indiana (DASI) location.

DASI has been providing services to children with autism for a decade, said executive director Libby Caswell. She said DASI's goal is to increase awareness about autism and the benefits of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for autism symptoms.

"We have been in business 10 years, so we're excited and celebrating about that. We were located in a small house on Broadway Street, and then recently built this 9,000 square foot facility for our clients," Caswell said.

The new location, 1314 N. Liberty Circle Drive West, also serves as DASI's corporate office. The large facility also boasts a gymnasium set up for half-court basketball, numerous sensory items for the children, a sensory room, a full kitchen, classrooms, and private therapy rooms.

Caswell said DASI offers ABA therapy and speech therapy, both at the new building and at outreach locations throughout the community. Therapy through DASI is largely done with private insurance, though Caswell said they do accept some forms of Medicaid.

She encouraged anyone with a child diagnosed with autism to call the office and find out if help is available. To get started, fill out an enrollment form on the DASI website, www.dasikids.com.

ABA therapy is "the systematic approach of influencing socially important behaviors" and is changing lives. While this style of therapy can be used to treat a number of disorders, it is considered the gold standard when it comes to autism.

Individualized therapy programs focus on issues specific to each client, which fall into multiple areas, such as organizational function, skill deficits, and problem behavior, among other things. Through ABA therapy, long-term goals are broken down into manageable steps and progress is reinforced with each new milestone.

"ABA therapy is the number one, gold standard treatment for the symptoms of autism," Caswell said. "It's not a cure, but it does treat the symptoms of autism and makes a huge difference in the kids' lives."

With issues like autism, early intervention is key to a future productive life. Therapy could cover anything from teaching a non-verbal child sign language to communicate their needs to helping a child improve their hygiene skills to creating reasonable coping strategies to deal with overwhelming situations, and so much more.

The longer a child has therapies to help learn ways to interact with the surrounding world, the more well-adjusted and functioning they are likely to be throughout their lives.

"Play, laugh, move, learn, and grow with us!" DASI's website states.

Contact DASI at 812-663-2273 for more information about ABA therapy and autism.

Caswell said she would love to increase community awareness about the effectiveness of ABA therapy for autism symptoms.

"We're here and we're ready to help," Caswell said.

Contact: Amanda Browning 812-663-3111x7004; amanda.browning@greensburgdailynews.com.

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