Friendship House Announces Construction Project for New $1.65 Million Autism Center
Friendship House will expand services for children with autism with construction of a new facility on East Mountain which began this week, March 23, according to announcement by Robert H. Angeloni, president. Estimated cost of the total project is $1.65 million.
“The Northeast Regional Autism Center ” at Friendship House will be relocated from the 50-year-old Warren Building, on Derby Avenue, a former residential unit, to new quarters which will provide modern facilities for therapeutic autism services for children with autism. Future plans for the new Center include the establishment of a community resource center, a training wing and also pre-vocational opportunities for older children, and after-school programs for young people with autism.
The new Center will be nestled within the existing 52,000 sq. ft. Friendship House Administration Building at 1509 Maple Street, with its own separate entrance at the eastern end of the building.
The project manager, Brian Doran of Hemmler and Camayd, is the parent of a child with autism and has intimate knowledge of the issues that must be considered when designing a space for children with this neurological disorder.
The entire building renovation is funded with private dollars with major funding from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Substantial gifts were also received from numerous local foundations, corporations and businesses.
The PA Department of Public Welfare funded the Center as a demonstration project based on the principles of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, and the Pennsylvania Autism Task Force.
“Friendship House has responsively served children in our community since it was founded 138 years ago,” said Mr. Angeloni, Friendship House president. “The Autism Center is just another example of our commitment to children. Friendship House autism services have been extremely well-received by the parents of children in our care, and also by Nina Wall-Cote, Pennsylvania public affairs director for autism affairs, who has visited the center several times,” he added.
Friendship House has offered autism services since 2003, beginning with early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for toddlers from 18 months-old. Today, the Autism Center provides state of the art, comprehensive therapy, for pre-school children to young adults, with services offered in the home, school and community setting. The primary modality is Applied Behavior Analysis which is individualized for each child by clinical and curriculum specialists. Services are also provided to parents and educators.
The goal of the autism program, according to Christine Remick, autism clinical director, is to maximize young children’s abilities at a critical stage in their development, when their brains are most responsive to acquiring and generalizing adaptive skills.
“At Friendship House, we offer treatment that is based upon positive approaches and research-based 'best practices' to meet the needs of our children with autism spectrum disorders. We also do community trainings, brief respite and educational consultation. With our new Center, we also plan to add collaborative programs and offer more supports and resources to the broader autism community, “ said Ms. Remick.
According to the Nation Institute of Neurological Disorders, ‘Autism is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females.
The Autism Center has been based in the Warren Building, a two-story wooden structure constructed in 1960. Originally known as the “Warren Administration and Clinical Building,” it was named in memory of Marion Margery Warren, a charter member of the Society of the Home for the Friendless, the former Friendship House. The building was also used as a children’s residential unit in recent years prior to the establishment of the Autism Center.
Details of the Construction Project:
The architects of Hemmler and Camayd worked closely with the autism staff as well as conducted research during the development of the design in order to best execute a project that addresses as many needs as possible.
The project consists of renovations to an administration building on Maple Street, site of the former Herf-Jones Printing plant. The existing structure was built into the side of a hill. To create a new entrance for the Center, a one-story glass tower will be constructed to make way for a new entrance from a newly reconfigured parking lot. The parking lot is configured for cueing for client drop-off and spaces to accommodate the expanded use of the building.
The entrance volume consists of a glass tower that marks the entry and gives identity to the Center and acts as the symbolic beacon as well with a covered drop off where all clients are greeted by staff. Upon entry, users will descend into the main floor and enter a reception area. Open and adjacent to the reception space is an area that is designated as a resource center. The resource center is a critical component as it will act as a public outreach. The hope is that the general public can use this as a means to help them figure out the process of getting help and understanding the required steps to acquire it.
A major challenge was the room layout relative to access to natural light. Six of the nine therapy rooms are buried in the middle of the existing building footprint. This need for natural light was addressed by cutting skylights into a roofed courtyard thus using it as an organizing principle to configure the room layout in conjunction with the existing structural grid.
All of the rooms will have clerestory window bands that allow the natural light into each of the spaces. Clerestory windows, placed at ceiling level around the edge of a room are like skylights. The clerestory windows also limit the view outward. This aspect helps to enable better inward focus on the child’s task at hand. As part of the autism disorder, many contend with ‘attention to task’ abilities and while a large percentage of the therapy rooms are buried, they are not deprived of natural light. Each room will also have doors with one-way vision panels for parents or guardians to observer their children’s treatment and therapies from the corridor.
Other features in the program are an indoor courtyard that serves as a year round play area where social and interaction skills can be developed as well as a place where recreation can occur, corridors wide enough for Big Wheels and a dining room with a full residential kitchen where children can learn to cook or work in a kitchen, and achieve a sense of independence and self reliance. The hope is that the courtyard becomes a recognizable node to foster engagement and activity participation.
Support spaces include offices that are strategically placed to create interaction between the administrators, therapists, staff and the children; work areas for the creation of projects for therapy and a place where staff can ‘touch-down’ briefly. Other spaces include a family conference room for small seminars, meetings and a large dining room that has a full residential kitchen for children for learn to become self reliant and self sufficient. A child that can achieve self reliance can live a more independent life.
The use of environmentally friendly materials with low VOC content is important. The exact determination of the reasons behind what causes autism is still under research and there are a number of theories that exist. Some theories include toxins in the environment in combination with other elements may lead to a cause so the use of ‘green’ materials with a low VOC content throughout the interior is appropriate.
There are many challenges that individuals with autism face along with their families. These challenges include a broad range of issues that the autistic individual contends with including social interaction with peers, verbal communication skills, repetitive behavior patterns as well as receiving help and understanding where to find it. The Northeast Regional Autism Center at Friendship House will address a number of the issues in a many ways thru the execution of their program by their dedicated staff and hopefully the architecture and the environment will create a framework that will support and reinforce their efforts.
> Click to see photos from the construction
