A child diagnosed with autism can put a great emotional and financial strain on a family. Because of the great costs associated with educating an autistic child, some families simply have no place to turn.
The Foundation for Autism Care, Education and Services (FACES), headquartered in Cypress, is doing their part to change this.
FACES is a 501c3 foundation founded by Cypress residents Larry and Pat Wallace. Their mission is It is to raise funds to directly support and promote education, service and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for families faced with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Funding comes from both public and private party donations, as well as fundraisers involving private individuals and organizations.
ABA is a treatment approach that focuses on increasing appropriate behaviors and celebrating successes and minimizing attention and energy wasted in inappropriate behavior. It has recently been the most studied and proven method of therapy because it is based on positive reinforcement. It works by teaching new skills by coordinating them with tasks the child already knows. This in effect teaches then not facts and tasks they have trouble remembering, but instead “how to learn”, which can continue to be built upon.
From this foundation autistic children can learn previously difficult concepts such as understanding facial expressions and remembering days of the week. The problem with this great program is the cost, usually around $5,000 a month.
FACES offers scholarships to cover these costs with money from fundraisers and donations. They have so far raised more than $150,000 for Texas children on the autistic spectrum and remains the only foundation in the Houston area that gives 100 percent of its money back to families. Their board members are volunteers and they keep overhead and costs low enough that they can cover them out of pocket to ensure every penny of donations helps those in need.
Today 1 out of every 110 children is diagnosed with autism. If you are interested in donating or inquiring into a scholarship, visit faceaustism.
