My son has been a client at the AEC for ten months and has completely turned around as a result of the care he has received there. When he first started going there for therapy, he was very difficult to engage, did not seek or reciprocate social interaction, had stopped babbling and was rapidly losing his last three words. Now, he seeks interaction; reciprocates freely; can ID numbers, letters, colors and shapes; has a functional vocabulary of 300+ words; asks questions about his environment; is working on sorting and sequencing tasks; and so much more... It has been amazing to watch his transformation, and so much of that progress has been due to the diligence, knowledge, patience, and caring of the folks at the AEC. They are amazing!!
When the director, Helen Ezell told me about her plans about opening the Autism Education Center, I didn't believe it would be successful at first. After meeting with her periodically, I knew she would succeed. She had poured so much money and time into it, and we have been operational for over 3 years. All the staff who work there do not get a salary. We have seen children and young adults grow with some of them who have never spoken now speaking and socializing. I teach computer and I.T. skills in my class, and one of my students has his own computer repair and consulting service. The Center offers social skills class, play groups, listening therapy, instruction, and diet therapies.
I have been to the Autism Education Center here in Panama City, Florida. The employees are very caring and have wonderful knowledge of each of the students that they care for. They would greatly benefit from any help they could received as they are a very new organization and every bit helps them.
The Autism Education Center is the only place I have found here in Panama City, Florida that has an afterschool care for children who are on the Autism Spectrum and they are greatly needed in this area. They are also the only facility to have Therapeutic Listening. Again, a much needed asset to our Autism Education community here in Panama City Florida.
I am a grandmother of a 2 year old boy, who has been being helped by the fine people at the Autism Education Center. When Aidan stopped verbalizing shortly after his first birthday, and began doing some things that my daughter thought might be early signs of autism, she looked around and found this organization, where her son was observed, and began receiving counseling several times a week. We felt he was slipping away from the bright, energetic, and chatty little boy he had been, and since we have a couple of kids with autism in the family, early intervention seemed to be the way to go, to overcome the regression we were seeing. My daughter's confidence has been well-placed in the AEC staff, and Aidan has surprised all of us in the advancements he's made under their tutelage. He had improved so much in just about every way imaginable, thanks to these hard working and caring people! And this is a non-profit organization, in need of funding to move forward in the cause, and to enable them to reach so many more! They have worked what is tantamount to miracles with so little, how much more could be achieved with better funding to acquire better equipment and programs to help these children? The staff works side by side with the parents, in many cases, to come up with creative ideas to use in capturing the children's interest, and they succeed in making the learning and work fun for the kids. I know Aidan truly looks forward to going to his lessons there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again, AEC, for what you are doing for us and our family, and for all the others you are helping, and will help in the future!