St. Joseph’s Villa has been at the forefront of serving students with autism in Central Virginia for more than 40 years. Reaching 26 localities, our Sarah Dooley Center for Autism (SDCA) is one of the Villa’s largest and fastest growing programs.
Despite tremendous efforts, our public schools are overwhelmed by the growing number of children appearing on the autism spectrum. The Virginia Department of Education reports that the number of students with autism has increased by an average of 12.1% each year over the past decade, totaling nearly 22,000 today. In order to meet this deepening need, we have a bold idea.
By redeveloping our 24,000 sq. ft. Dooley School building as the Villa’s new Sarah Dooley Center for Autism, we will create an environment that marries education, therapy, research, and community partnership. The new Center will be the hub for our pioneering model of autism education, designed to achieve the behavioral and communications outcomes of an elite clinic, while reaching the academic goals of a top school, and maximizing independence for 100 students and their families at a time.
SDCA will also serve as a model for autism-specific classrooms, designed to be replicable in public school systems with existing resources. The new space will allow us to host robust in-service and embedded teacher trainings to meet the growing need for training in autism-specific teaching and communication techniques, applied behavior skills, and outcome measures. By training teachers, SDCA will impact the lives of thousands of children across the Commonwealth and beyond.
St. Joseph’s Villa is committed to providing first-class education and care to all children with developmental disabilities. Our programs, delivered at no cost to families, include
We empower parents to be partners and advocates in their children’s education.
We work with families to create a bridge between school, home, and community. SDCA is part of a unique continuum of care at St. Joseph’s Villa, with wraparound support services to help students reach their goals and prepare for life after school.
“My son wants to come to school. He will greet you now, look at your eye-to-eye and try to engage. Without places like St. Joseph’s Villa, I think a lot of us parents would be lost. They not only help your child, they help you.” – Paula Knight, Parent
We are proud to partner with public schools. Our goal is to give our students the skills they need to successfully transition back to their zoned public schools, where they can be in their community with neighbors and siblings.
How will a Center for 100 students change the lives of 10,000?
More than 98% of all children with an autism diagnosis will be exclusively educated by public schools. A specialized placement can take years of advocacy and legal battles for families, but without one, parents face cost prohibitive private school tuition. These hurdles are especially hard on the low-income families we serve.
Our new SDCA will be a model and training hub for teachers, aides, bus drivers, parents, pediatricians, and others who are part of the lives of these students. The renovated building will house a Campus Center that will provide a flexible space where we will train up to 1,000 professionals each year. Over time, the ripple effect will touch the lives of tens of thousands of students. Our pioneering model is designed to be replicable in a public school setting with existing resources and infrastructure, and to help prepare our schools and communities to educate and welcome the rapidly increasing number of students with an autism diagnosis.
Quality of life and independence matter most. The top expense for adults with moderate to severe developmental disabilities is personal care. According to the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, autism care costs totaled $268 billion in the United States in 2015. If the prevalence of autism continues to increase as it has in the last decade, the cost will exceed $1 trillion in 2025.
Education is the only known way to mitigate and reverse the presenting symptoms of autism. Improving communication and behaviors can lead to a higher degree of self-care and freedom, in addition to millions of dollars in cost savings over our students’ lifetimes. Children can remain in their homes for longer or qualify for less restrictive group home placement, increasing their independence and quality of life, while decreasing crippling cost of one-on-one adult care.
SDCA will be a state-of-the-art venue for attracting new community partners and experts in autism to the Greater Richmond region. By collecting more than 2 million data points a year on our students’ success and educational outcomes, we are positioned to pilot promising educational interventions with our university and research partners.
Autism Center | Capital Priorities | Current Funds | Endowment
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