Thursday night Bloomington mayor Mboka Mwilambwe and the community came to The Place for Children with Autism for its official ribbon cutting.
Open to the public, the event showcased TPCA’s facilities, their staff and what they are doing for the community. Working with children from 2-6 TPCA looks to help children with autistic by using applied behavioral analysis.
“We strongly feel that focusing on early intervention is the best opportunity for the kids to gain the skills they need to have greater independence in their life and find success and readiness for school,” said Allison O’Neil Chief Executive Office for TPCA.
ABA focuses on teaching communication skills, improving social skills and developing independent skills.
The event garnered good community support with tours of the facilities with explanations with the function of each room. After the tours, O’Neil introduced Bloomington’s staff before giving way to Mwilambwe.
Before officially cutting the ribbon Mwilambwe gave a speech reflecting on the impact that he anticipates that TPCA will provide the community.
“You know one of the things Bloomington is known for is that it is very welcoming and open to families,” Mwilambwe said. “One of the reasons is places like this. One place we always look for in a town is what is there for the kids, so I think having a place like this is very comforting for parents.”
Besides the ABA training TPCA focuses on getting children with autism acquainted with a normal classroom setting where they will be paired with children of similar age and learning level. The facility boasts six classrooms, a variety of playrooms and an exercise room with trampolines and structures for the children to climb on.
The center has been open since January but held off on a grand opening until they were established in the community.
“When we opened, we were completely new to the area, so we wanted to build our presence and our brand before we did a formal opening,” Chief Operating Officer Marisol Remoquillo said. “Everything has gone well in terms of every area we go to being completely different. Learning the lay of the land and learning the community has been big for us before we opened.”
TPCA is enrolling now accepting children ages 2-6. The office is located on 301 S Prospect Avenue just off of Veteran’s Parkway. They are open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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