Autism therapy center opens in Hermantown

A program that offers intensive therapy for children diagnosed with autism will have a home in the Twin Ports beginning Monday.
The Minnetonka-based Minnesota Autism Center, which already has seven locations across the state, will be able to serve 20 to 25 children in its local center at 5155 Miller Trunk Highway in Hermantown, said Kathryn Marshall, CEO of the nonprofit. The building, which is about 4,000 square feet, formerly housed the Kanuit & Bray law firm.
“They’re still laying carpet and bringing in some toys, and all sorts of things are going on,” Marshall said in an interview earlier this week. “We’re very excited.”
The agency already serves more than 30 children in the region with in-home programming, Marshall said. At least some of those will be treated at the center.
“I had been looking for a building for years, and we just had struggled finding the right building to fit our program needs,” she said.
The building is well-suited, after modifications were made mostly for the sake of security, Marshall said. It will have a fenced-in yard to allow the children to play outside safely.
One in 68 American children has an autism spectrum disorder, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a 10-fold increase in 40 years. It’s four to five times more common in boys than in girls.
The brain disorder is known for difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behavior. But it can take many forms and vary widely in its severity.
“There’s a saying with autism: If you’ve seen one kid with autism, you’ve seen one kid with autism,” Marshall said. “Every child presents differently.”
The Minnesota Autism Center’s treatment method is called applied behavioral analysis, an intense form of treatment that requires a one-on-one relationship between clinicians and children, Marshall said.
This also makes it an expensive form of treatment, which has raised questions at times. In 2012, the Minnesota Department of Human Services audited the Minnesota Autism Center and five other autism treatment centers that use applied behavior analysis “to find out if they’ve been properly billing the government for millions of dollars in children’s therapy,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported at the time.
DHS did not take action as a result of the audit, a spokeswoman said, but did refer some issues to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The state is in the process of working with the federal agency to launch a benefit under Medicaid for intensive autism therapy early next year, the spokeswoman said.
The South Dakota Legislature commissioned a report on applied behavioral analysis this year, the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader reported. That followed a passionate debate last year on whether insurance coverage for the treatment should be mandatory. Parents and doctors supported the plan, but insurance companies argued it wasn’t effective enough to justify the cost, the newspaper reported.
Minnesota already mandates coverage by insurance companies, Marshall said.
“Certainly there’s a cost associated with it, but the research supports that it has a tremendous impact on children with autism,” she said.
Minnesota Autism Center reported $16.3 million in revenue and just over $14 million in expenses for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2013, according to the most recent IRS filing available. It employs more than 400 people, Marshall said. She wouldn’t say exactly how many people would be working at the Hermantown facility.
The center is licensed to treat people from ages 2 to 21, Marshall said. But the typical age range at centers is from 2 to 13 or 14 years old.