Community Corner

Groundbreaking: ABA Center Construction Underway

Caldwell College's research, treatment facility expected to be completed this fall.

As Ken and Sharon Reeve walk around the lower level of Caldwell College's Mother Joseph Residence Hall, they see the piles of debris and unfinished construction but also the steel framework that will soon be the foundation for the 5,000-square-foot Center for Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis.

The husband-and-wife psychologists implemented New Jersey's first master's degree program in applied behavior analysis at the college in 2004 and began the state's only doctorate program in that area last year.

Now the Chatham residents await the opening of the new research, clinical service and infant screening facility, which is only months away from completion.

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"It's primarily a research facility, because that's what we do in a doctoral program. We investigate additional ways in which to teach kids with autism and I think a nice side effect to that though is the community service," Dr. Sharon Reeve said.

"I think that's going to be tremendous. So far, I have more inquires than we will be able to fill in the first year. I think there's definitely a need out there and I think it's great that we're able to fill some of that need."

Find out what's happening in Caldwellswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Reeve, construction is about a month ahead of schedule and is expected to be completed in October and the center will begin offering full services in January.

While the upper floors will remain a residence hall, the former auditorium and adjacent space on the lower level will be converted into six offices, treatment rooms, bathroom facilities and research laboratories.

"The center's trained experts will provide a level of specialized intervention that enables each student with autism to make significant and ongoing improvements in behavior, communication and social skills," Caldwell College President Dr. Nancy Blattner said in a statement.

"The college views this center and its doctoral program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as a critical component of its service mission to the greater community. We are very proud to offer the first doctoral program in ABA in New Jersey and to offer services to families and service providers throughout the state in our center."

The construction, which began the first week of July, is expected to cost more than $700,000 with 85 percent already raised through fundraising events like the 5K Run/Walk for Autism, concerts and private and local organization donors, Reeve said.

In addition, State Sen. Frank Lautenberg has secured a total of more than $1 million in federal funding over the last two years to assist Caldwell College's initial expense of nearly $2 million to start the PhD program. The federal dollars, however, cannot be allocated toward the cost of construction, Reeve said.

"Autism is really well known now," Reeve said. "I started in the field 20 years ago and we really didn't talk about it. It's really well known now and a lot of parents are nervous, because of it's very high prevalence and it's highest here [in New Jersey]."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Jersey has the highest rate of autism with 1 in 94 children diagnosed with the disorder compared to the national average of 1 in 110 children.

In what Reeve calls a "unique service that no one has really ever done before," Caldwell College's facility will routinely screen infants for potential signs of autism.

"I have a lot of people who were nervous about their babies. For people who don't have a history with autism, but wonder what some of the warning signs are and what to look for. So we're going to be doing some infant screenings as well," Reeve said.

"For anybody who wants to bring their infants from newborn on up, they can bring them to us and we can start screening them. We'll monitor them on an ongoing basis, so if there are potential difficulties, we'll see them right away. That's something that's going to put a lot of parents at ease."

While Reeve said the facility's services will begin slow with about 20 to 40 overall clients in the first six months, her husband pointed out that there will be plenty of ongoing research conducted in the laboratories.

"In addition to providing intervention services, we're also going to be doing a lot of pretty cutting-edge research in evaluating the best methods to teach kids with autism," Dr. Ken Reeve said.

"In the past year, our grad program has generated about a dozen publications and research journals. We really think that's going to contribute a lot to what people are going to be able to do in terms of working with kids with autism."

The Neighborhood Files series is sponsored by the Pepsi Refresh Project. Pepsi did not write this article or have any influence on its reporting, editing or production.


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