What is the Kalamazoo Autism Center?
Thursday, January 1, 2015 at 6:16PM 
What
A special daycare/autism program for children with autism, developmental delays, and other special needs. This program will be coordinated with and supplement the specific training your child may already receive in school.
Why
Because it is so difficult to find services for children with special needs. And because the Kalamazoo Autism Center, working with the Child Development Center will provide up to 50 hours of behavioral-based instruction to improve your child’s skills in daily living (such as toileting), pre-academic and academic areas, communication, play, anger management, and getting along with others.
When
The Kalamazoo Autism Center started this pilot project October 27th, 2008, 
with two children, and has expanded considerably since then. The day care center is open from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday, all year round. ABA services are available from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday, during WMU's school year.
Where
The Kalamazoo Autism Center is housed in a well-established daycare center, the Child Development Center, located at 110 West Cork St, between S Westnedge Ave and Burdick St. As with any daycare center, you will be able to take your child to the Center and pick him or her up at your convenience.
Cost
Our goal is to keep your costs as low as possible, about $600 for a 40 hour week, proportionally less for fewer hours. Typically early, intensive behavioral services of this sort cost about $1,500 per week.
Curriculum
The behavioral training in our center will be coordinated with the training your child may currently be receiving in school. This should increase the speed with which he or she learns the pre-academic, academic, social, play, language, and everyday-living skills being taught at school. With this added time, we will also be able to concentrate more on extra social skills, friendship skills, fine-motor skills, toilet training, anger management, and other areas you may want help with.
Who
I am Professor Richard Malott, a psychologist and part of the faculty of 
Western Michigan University’s Psychology Department’s Behavior Analysis Program. In 1996, I helped develop Croyden Avenue School’s Discrete-Trial Early Childhood Developmental Delay classroom. Since then, essentially all the tutors and tutor supervisors in that classroom are my practicum students, whom my grad students and I continue to train and supervise. WMU’s Psychology Department, of which we are an integral part, has an international reputation as a source of outstanding professionals working with autistic children. The staff in the Kalamazoo Autism Center will also be students from this program.
I am starting the Kalamazoo Autism Center because I think it will greatly improve the quality of life of special-needs children and their families while those children are enrolled in this Autism Center and long after they have graduated.
Contact
Please feel free to contact me by phone, email, or mail to discuss your child’s participation in our program.
Dick Malott
Richard W. Malott, PhD, BCBA
Behavior Analysis Program
Department of Psychology
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
DickMalott@DickMalott.com
(269) 372-1268
Or, feel free to contact my graduate assistants:
Jessica Korneder, MA, BCBA
Doctoral Student
KAC Practicum Coordinator
jessica.a.korneder@wmich.edu
Kelly Stone, MA, BCBA
Doctoral Student
KAC Practicum Coordinator
kelly.t.stone@wmich.edu
Reader Comments (1)
Terrific! Congratulations and best of luck.