Navicent Health

FOUNDATION EVENTS EXPANDING AUTISM TREATMENT OPPORTUNITIES Navicent Health developed Autism Center, Navicent Health (ACNH) to provide families of children aected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) access to diagnosis, treatment and support services right here in central Georgia. "Outside of metro Atlanta, we are the most comprehensive autism center in Georgia," says Tripp Ritchie, Director of the Autism Center, Navicent Health. "We saw a great need in this community and took steps to ll it. As soon as this resource existed, families from the area began seeking our services." Comprehensive pediatric rehabilitation available at ACNH includes occupational, speech and language, art, and physical therapies, as well as applied behavior analysis. ACNH also oers the erapeutic Learning Center—a pre-academic, early childhood development curriculum that incorporates these therapies with a continuum of learning in a classroom setting for 2- to 5-year-olds. "Our ocial open house was on November 16. We actually started on September 21 in a conference room with a cellphone and a laptop, and by that Friday we were supporting ve patients," Ritchie says. "is was all made possible by Navicent Health Foundation, which provided a grant of $100,000 for family support services and community outreach." As of early 2016, ACNH supports nearly 700 patients and has reduced the wait time for a diagnostic assessment from 18 months to ve weeks. ey also do free ASD assessments once a month for children without insurance. "We can make the biggest dierence in a child's neurodevelopment during the ages of 18 months to 3 years," Ritchie says. "e average age ASD is diagnosed in children is 4 years and 8 months. It can be as high as 6 years and 4 months outside of metro Atlanta. In order to improve outcomes for children, we're working to get them diagnosed earlier." ACNH has also partnered with the Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta as a research trial site for cutting-edge eye tracking technolog y research. "Every child with ASD deserves a chance to reach his or her full potential," Ritchie adds. "It's important to us that we continue to support these children and their families in the broader community." To learn how you can support the Navicent Health Foundation and programs like this, contact us at 478-633-GIVE (4483) or visit www.navicenthealth.org/foundation. NAVICENTHEALTH.ORG/FOUNDATION | Impact | 5 EVENTS

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