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Howard Intervention Center brings autism services for children to Munster

Times - 1/15/2021

Jan. 15—MUNSTER — An Illinois therapy and developmental center for children diagnosed with autism is opening a location in Northwest Indiana next month.

Cara Wilson and Ca'Shawn Morris co-founded Howard Intervention Center in Matteson, Illinois, three years ago and plan to open a center practicing Applied Behavior Analysis in the Region in February.

Wilson, a speech therapist and educator for more than 20 years, was inspired to start the business by what she saw as a lack of results-driven services for the whole family after her son Alonzo missed developmental milestones and displayed autistic tendencies.

"I have spent my entire career working with children who have various challenges, so I am very familiar with what works and what doesn't, on both the developmental and interpersonal sides," she said. "With HIC, we set out to correct those. And let me tell you, there is no greater motivator than the love of vulnerable children, especially your own."

Wilson and Morris plan to soon open Howard Intervention Center's second location in the White Oak Professional Building at 1630 45th Ave. in Munster.

Howard International Center, an affiliate of Resource Center for Autism and Developmental Delays, South Suburban Special Recreation Association and Purdue Global University, offers Applied Behavior Analysis to children with autism up to the age of 21 and their families. Each child works with a registered behavior technician to receive individualized therapy to improve communication, learning and social skills in a calm setting.

They are taught motor skills, language enrichment, vocabulary, comprehensive and pretend play. It also offers home services and transportation to school by drivers who have been trained to work with children with special needs.

"HIC was named for our dad, created for my son, and is today staffed by a team that is not only highly trained and credentialed, but many have an immediate family member or loved one with autism," Wilson said.

Parents also can get both in-person and video conference training.

"Howard has been a godsend to our family and my grandson, who has shown vast improvement in accomplishing new skills. He has grown leaps and bounds since he has been attending Howard over the past 10 months," said Joyce Novak, the grandmother of a student at the Matteson facility.

The new Munster location will allow Howard Intervention Center to accommodate more children. It will feature a virtual playground and Fun Factory Sensory Gym.

Both the Matteson and Munster locations now are adding children to the waiting list.

For more information, call 708-794-6509 or visit www.howardinterventioncenter.org.

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