Autism Services Center
| File:Autism Services Center in 2025.png The Autism Services Center in 2025. | |
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| Founded | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ruth C. Sullivan |
| Type | Community mental health service |
| 55-0603326 | |
| Location |
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| Services | |
| Revenue | $14.3 million (2024) |
| Expenses | $16.1 million (2024) |
| Employees | 609 (2023) |
Autism Services Center (ASC) is a behavioral health center in Huntington, West Virginia that focuses on autism services.
History
[edit | edit source]Ruth C. Sullivan founded ASC in 1979 after serving as the co-founder and first president of the Autism Society of America.[1][2][3] The organization was initially founded as a local referral service,[4] and in 1981 provided telephone-based technical assistance and case management to caregivers and professionals.[5] Sullivan sought to provide an alternative to state-run institutional care for autistic people, and the center opened the first group homes for autistic people in the state.[6] In 1983, the organization took on their first client, a 12-year-old girl, who the state institutions found unmanageable.[4] By 2009, the organization had grown to have 400 employees treating 260 clients and is one of the largest employers in Huntington.[4]
Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man, Raymond Babbitt, was heavily influenced by Joseph Sullivan, a patient of ASC and the son of Ruth C. Sullivan.[7][self-published source][8] In 1988, the premiere of Rain Man was held in Huntington, with some proceeds going to ASC; the organization used the funds to buy a group home.[3]
In 2025, ASC opened an applied behavior analysis therapy center in St. Albans, West Virginia.[9]
Services
[edit | edit source]For patients, the center provides physical therapy, speech therapy, and applied behavior analysis,[10] in addition to supported employment and a limited residential program for adults who are unable to live independently.[4]
The center provides training and education for caregivers and professionals, and sometimes receives visitors from across the United States.[4] In 2016, two Argentinian caregivers of autistic children spent a week in Huntington to learn about its residential program in the hopes of replicating it in Argentina.[11]
External links
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References
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