UPDATE:
When Little Star first began looking at the South Bend/Mishawaka area last fall, it was because we had heard from several parents in this community that there were not enough services for the children with autism who lived there. It was with this information that we began to explore the needs of South Bend, Mishawaka and surrounding cities. Since our Community Interest Meetings in early November, another center has opened in the area and an existing service provider has stated their interest in increasing their current ABA services into a center setting. Additionally, a former Little Star Center Board member has announced his own plans to open up a center in Mishawaka, independent from Little Star.
As our intent has always been to serve areas that did not have enough resources, we have decided to put our plans for a Little Star Center in this area on hold. We do not feel that it is in the best interest of the South Bend/Mishawaka community to flood the area with services, as it puts all providers in jeopardy and creates an atmosphere of unnecessary competition. We will continue to monitor the services provided in the area and will revisit the community in the summer of 2012. If, at this time, there continues to be a lack of services in the area, we will again explore the possibility of a Little Star Center in South Bend/Mishawaka.
This has been very disappointing for us, as we have spent considerable time getting to know the community; however, we truly feel that putting the proposed center on hold for now is the best decision given the current circumstances.
I would like to thank everybody who expressed an interest in Little Star. We found the people in the area to be lovely and extremely supportive.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Mary Rosswurm
Executive Director
317-249-2242
Founded in 2002, Little Star Center is an award-winning, state-of-the-art treatment center assisting the community with year-round therapeutic intervention, which is available on a part- or full-time basis. The center offers a flexible approach to working with children who live with autism, allowing them to benefit from home, center, and community-based programs that help with daily integration tasks.
Little Star Center bases its therapeutic programs on applied behavior analysis (ABA), which examines how a person's environment affects their behavior. Developed in the 1930s by author and behaviorist B.F. Skinner, ABA is considered by the American Academy of Pediatrics to be the standard of care for children on the autism spectrum. ABA techniques can be used to affect behavioral change, ideally resulting in socially-integrated children with a developed skill set that will act as a foundation for their everyday lives. Started by parents of a child with autism, Little Star Center is Indiana's first ABA center.
Little Star Center assists families in Lafayette and Carmel. The centers' one-on-one therapy provides children on the autism spectrum with individualized attention, allowing plenty of time for them to work towards the realization of their individual goals. Interactivity with a team of specialists and daily collaboration with peers encourage each child to reach his/her full potential.
Little Star Center's more than 70 employees assist children as they work towards independence and seamless social interaction. In addition to working with therapists, children also interact with their peers and have the option of receiving assistance with their academic development. All of the work at Little Star Center is based upon helping children develop an appropriate mode of interaction with the world at large.
Children who utilize Little Star Center's center-based programs have access to individual work spaces and social group areas. Likewise, Little Star Center aims to help children with autism develop their communication and behavioral abilities, focusing on appropriate social behavior. One-on-one therapy engages these members of the autism South Bend community with concentrated attention and the necessary interaction that will aid them as they grow into adolescents and adults.
Children who come to the center for help with structuring their day benefit from therapeutic practices, which include programs about music and sports/fitness. Families who turn to Little Star Center for interventionary assistance can rest easy, knowing that the center's staff handles insurance and billing paperwork so that parents may focus on their children and the goals they are diligently working to achieve.
In August 2011, Little Star Center received the Excellence in Direct Care Award, which is presented to providers demonstrating excellence in a therapeutic setting, specifically those providing direct care services to those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The center is proud to be the first facility to receive the award, which has been solely presented to individual providers in the past.