Emerald Coast Autism Center Provides Foundations for Brighter Futures
2023 Best of EC Nonprofit/Charity winner connects students with the community
Graduation from Emerald Coast Autism Center begins with speeches given by the graduating students. What differs from the typical ceremony is that many of the students giving speeches at ECAC’s graduation were nonverbal when they first entered the program. After years of working with their families, parents and supervisors, they have developed the vocabulary to express what graduating means to them.
For one previous ECAC student, Noah, that future is still unfolding. Noah was one of the first five students to join ECAC. He then transitioned on to attend high school and work at Publix. Recently, Noah came back to volunteer with ECAC. On his third day, he inquired what it would take to work full time with the organization. Noah will be joining his teachers as a colleague once he graduates from high school.
As Noah said to ECAC founders Heidi Blalock and Staci Berryman, “This is what my mom calls a full-circle moment.”
Emerald Coast Autism Center is a nonprofit school and therapy center serving Okaloosa, Walton and surrounding counties with the mission to improve the lives of individuals with autism and other unique abilities and their families by providing effective treatment and education options from early childhood into adulthood.
“Our hope is that children and their families that come to us know they are loved, cared for and provided the best opportunities possible to grow through our services,” said Heidi Blalock,
co-founder and CEO of ECAC and mom to a child with autism.
ECAC was founded in 2009 with a unique approach to teaching that follows the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA) for all instruction and activities. Therapy at ECAC is conducted in a 1-to-1 ratio, with one child assigned to every behavior technician, and focuses primarily on increasing communication and social skills as well as reducing problem behaviors.
Founders Blalock and Berryman realized many students needed additional time before transitioning into a traditional public or private school or pursuing a vocation. They are working to fill this need by opening Emerald Coast Learning Center (ECLC).
ECLC is comprised of academic classrooms as well as specialized vocational training opportunities. ECLC’s academic classrooms welcome first through sixth graders, not only those with autism, but all unique learners looking for a bright future. The school’s location, on the campus of Northwest Florida State College, offers a 6-to-1 ratio for optimal learning opportunities.
Blalock and Berryman noted that close to 80% of their students will follow a vocational path. For this reason, in 2019, they developed a Transition to Work (TTW) program in partnership with the Florida Department of Education and NWFSC.
Students from the Light It Up BREW team serve coffee on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9–9:30 a.m. Light It Up BREW gives students the opportunity to acquire the job skills they need to prepare for transitioning into the workforce in our community.
The TTW program is offered to older teens as an opportunity to learn vocational skills in the classroom at ECLC and hands-on experience at job sites throughout NWFSC’s campus, including the receiving department, athletic department, culinary program and Mattie Kelly Arts Center. Blalock and Berryman hope to expand these vocational opportunities into the community by connecting with local businesses.
Community members can support ECAC and ECLC by connecting a community partner, by making financial donations and by attending or volunteering at their various fundraising events. This year, The Dugas Family Foundation has committed to matching donations made to ECAC up to $550,000. ECAC’s last significant fundraising effort of the year will be the Sounds of the Spectrum concert held at Mattie Kelly Arts Center. All donations made through December of 2023 will be doubled.
This year, as the winner of Best Nonprofit/Charity, as voted on by Emerald Coast Magazine readers, ECAC will be the beneficiary of all funds raised at the Best of the Emerald Coast Winners Soiree.
“We exist and are here for the kids, because kids can teach us just as much, if not more than we teach them,” said Berryman. “It’s very fulfilling to see these unique, amazing individuals develop language and personalities that emerge with bright futures.”
