Center for Autism and Related Disorders

Center for Autism and Related Disorders

Type	Incorporation
Founded	1990
Founder	Doreen Granpeesheh, Ph.D., B.C.B.A.-D.
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Services	ABA-based therapies, including early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) and social skills training
Divisions	Autism Care and Treatment (ACT) Today! CARD Academy
Website	centerforautism.com

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD) is among the largest autism treatment organizations in the world. Founded in 1990 by Doreen Granpeesheh, CARD provides a range of services for children and adults on the autism spectrum. These services include home-based, early intensive behavioral interventions based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), as well as diagnostic and psychological assessments.^{[citation needed]}

The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, acquired CARD in 2018. Granpeesheh and the management at CARD invested in the company alongside Blackstone, and Granpeesheh remains the CEO of CARD.^[1][2]

Theoretical assumptions[]

CARDs philosophy and behavioral approach summarized:

• Recovery from autism exists but there is currently no guarantee.
• All people within the autism spectrum are capable of learning.
• Everything a person says or does is considered behavior.
• Behavior can be improved and enhanced via learning opportunities.^[3]

While Granpeesheh believes that all people with ASDs are capable of learning and recovery, she states there is currently no way to predict the outcome of treatment for any individual. She claims that over the years, “several hundred” clients -- out of many thousands treated -- have progressed to the point that they no longer meet the criteria for an autism diagnosis, ^[4]

Behavioral treatment[]

CARD applies Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), as a form of autism intervention therapy pioneered by Ivar Lovaas called the Lovaas technique that focuses on encouraging appropriate behaviors while discouraging destructive behaviors.

CARDs treatment is commonly referred to as early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI). Most of the clients treated at CARD enter the program at the age of two and receive intensive services over the course of four years, with the ultimate goal of recovery at age six. For these children, the first year of treatment consists of intensive work on language and behavior with progression into social skills in the second year, more abstract cognitive and executive functioning skills in the third, and a gradual fade-out of services in the final year. The intensive services are usually provided initially in the child's home, with a transition to the child's school and community as the child's age allows. For older clients, aged ten to twenty-one, CARD focuses on independent living skills, successful employment, development of leisure activities, friendships and attending school.^{[citation needed]}

The content of CARDs curriculum addresses all areas of human functioning across the following eight domains: language, play, social skills, motor, academic, adaptive skills, cognition and executive functioning.^{[citation needed]}

Documentary[]

Staff members at CARD, as well as four families whose children received treatment from them, were featured in the documentary Recovered: Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back. It was directed and edited by Michele Jaquis in collaboration with Granpeesheh. The film won the Best Documentary award at the 2008 Director's Chair Film Festival.^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• Association for Behavior Analysis Newsletter - Volume 28, 2005, Number 1
• RECOVERED Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back
• IMDB page for RECOVERED Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back