Educational Services
The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism
The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism was established in 2006 through a joint venture between St. Joseph’s Villa and Commonwealth Autism Service. The Villa has been working with children with autism and developmental disabilities for the past twenty years. For the couple of years prior to 2006, the Villa worked with Commonwealth Autism Service to develop a new program that would serve children with autism and complement other programs in Central Virginia. In November 2006, this work resulted in the creation of The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism.
The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism prepares students with autism for the fullest possible life as adults. The Center’s emphasis is on teaching students vocational and life skills so that, as adults, they can have the greatest degree of self-sufficiency and self-esteem possible.
The staff at The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism uses systematic instruction based on Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) to teach the students. This instruction is complemented by other important ingredients: individualized supports, structured environments, comprehensive programming, functional methodologies to address challenging behaviors and working with the family to integrate school work into daily living.
Students are placed into The Sarah Dooley Center by their local school systems. Students attending the Center come from the city of Richmond and all major localities in the Central Virginia region.
For a detailed fact sheet on The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism, please click here.
For current rates, please click here.
To visit The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism website, please click here.
To visit the Commonwealth Autism Service website, please click here.
