Autism Services Center

Last updated

Autism Services Center
Founded1979;46 years ago (1979)
Founder Ruth C. Sullivan
Type Community mental health service
55-0603326
Location
  • 10 6th Ave W, Huntington, West Virginia, United States
Coordinates 38°24′57″N82°27′26″W / 38.415696°N 82.4571654°W / 38.415696; -82.4571654
Services
Revenue$14.3 million (2024)
Expenses$16.1 million (2024)
Employees609 (2023)
Website autismservicescenter.org OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Autism Services Center (ASC) is a behavioral health center in Huntington, West Virginia that focuses on autism services.

Contents

History

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

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]

References

  1. ↑ "History". Autism Services Center. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ Roth, Kristyn (September 17, 2021). "Passing of the Autism Society's co-founder and first elected president Ruth Sullivan". Autism Society of America. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Seaton, Carter Taylor (September 27, 2018). "The Pioneer". Huntington Quarterly. Vol. 79. pp. 68–71. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilcox, Laura (March 11, 2009). "Autism Services has grown significantly" . The Herald-Dispatch. Archived from the original on August 8, 2025.
  5. ↑ Bourgea, Ron, ed. (1981). "Autism hotline". Notes on the Margin. American Rehabilitation. 6 (6). Washington, DC: United States Rehabilitation Services Administration: 17 – via Google Books. A national autism hotline has been funded recently by the Maryland DD Law Project under a one year contract with Autism Services Center of Huntington West Virginia. The purpose of the new service is to assist in providing advocacy technical assistance and case management to parents and professionals face with the difficult and often unique needs of people with autism. The two major goals of the project are to assist in the advocacy activities of parents and professionals who work with autistic people and to give technical assistance in autism to protection and advocacy systems.
  6. ↑ Smith, Harrison (September 21, 2021). "Ruth Christ Sullivan, pioneering advocate for people with autism, dies at 97" . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 8, 2025. Dr. Sullivan later ran an autism information and referral service out of her home in Huntington, responding to phone calls, letters and faxes from desperate families in search of information and support. Through the Autism Services Center in Huntington, which she founded in 1979, she also created the first West Virginia group homes for people with autism, offering an alternative to state-run institutions at a time when few existed.
  7. ↑ Treffert, David (August 3, 2021). "Rain Man, the Movie. Rain Man, Real Life". SSM Health. Archived from the original on February 7, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Joseph's Story". Autism Services Center. Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  9. ↑ DiCristofaro, Joesph (May 28, 2025). "New autism therapy center opens in St. Albans, addressing regional need for local services". WCHS. Archived from the original on July 26, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Autism services lacking for West Virginia families". Appalachia Health News. West Virginia Public Broadcasting. April 6, 2016. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  11. ↑ Stuck, Taylor (May 19, 2016). "Autism Services Center helps Argentine moms" . The Herald-Dispatch. Archived from the original on August 8, 2025.
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