Written by Sedrick Bolton III, March 14th, 2024
Original article: https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/caravel-autism-health-opens-in-hiawatha-to-boost-early-intervention-services-for-kids
HIAWATHA — A new therapy clinic in Hiawatha is now open with a goal of helping kids on the autism spectrum.
According to the CDC, 1 in 36 children have an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.
Now at Caravel Autism Health, kids can get therapy to help develop their skills and gain confidence.
Officials say the Cedar Rapids metro area only has a hand full of providers that do diagnostic and applied behavior analysis services.
But early intervention is key and waitlists for those resources can sometimes take years.
“There’s definitely a need, so coming in with caravel we do diagnostics and we do treatment services and right now we’ve got limited to no wait lists we’re getting kids in the door within about a month, month and a half,” said clinical director Emily Harriott.
The clinic provides evaluations, diagnosis, customized treatment, and family counseling to help create a plan to help little ones with autism thrive.
“If we’re thinking about that importance of the early intervention get them in as quickly as possible,” said Harriott, “We’ll hopefully get kids into the system a little bit quicker so that they can get those services earlier and make those growths as they can.”
The center is still looking for more workers and offering training for people that are new to the field.
“We provide tuition reimbursement, we provide mentoring, and we really rely on our teammates to grow with us and to serve the clients in this community so love to have new teammates join join care bell as well here,” said Chief Executive Officer Mike Miller.
