UH-Clear Lake autism center receives two grants

University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities has been awarded grants from the George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation and The Simmons Foundation. Founded in spring 2008 within the UH-Clear Lake Psychological Services Clinic, the center supports research on autism and developmental disabilities; provides services to children and their families; and trains current and future professionals.

“Both of these awards are critically important for supporting and expanding the services we currently provide to children at the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities,” explained UH-Clear Lake Professor of Psychology Dorothea Lerman, who also serves as director of the center and coordinator of UH-Clear Lake’s behavior analysis program.

A $10,000 grant bestowed by the George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation will allow the center to purchase additional computer equipment and education materials necessary for the state-funded behavior intervention services provided to children at the center on-campus psychology clinic. Established in 1954, the George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation provides grants and scholarships to a broad range of non-profit organizations.

The Simmons Foundation awarded the center a grant of $16,388 to augment the center’s intervention services. The grant will enable the center to offer assistance to an additional four children in 2009. The services consist of 15 hours of one-on-one behavior therapy per week for 90 days, community-based training and follow-up services. The Simmons Foundation was founded in 1993 as a tribute to Ola and L.B. Simmons to carry on their lifelong tradition of contributing to the betterment of the communities in which they lived.

For more information about the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, visit http://hsh.uhcl.edu/CADD or e-mail AutismCenter@uhcl.edu.