CARD provides tools for families navigating autism diagnosis

When the Cowell family visited Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., in 2015, things didn’t go smoothly.

Dominic Cowell, then age 1, was frightened by the theme park, his mother, Jodi Cowell recalled. His sister Sonja, who is three years older, encountered sensory overload from the crowds and sounds.

The Southern California theme park might refer to itself as “The Happiest Place on Earth,” but as Cowell says now, “It was absolute chaos. Walking through Cinderella’s Castle was like walking through the gates of hell.” At the end of their trip, Cowell had a message for her husband.

“We’re never doing this again,” she recalled telling Byron Cowell.

Cowell eventually took back those words, and the family of six visited Disneyland again this summer. But this time they had autism diagnoses for their kids, and a familylike organization guiding them on their return to Anaheim.

The return trip went smoothly in large part because of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, or CARD, which has locations in east and west Vancouver. The center has been helping Dominic, Sonja and the Cowell family navigate autism over the last three years.

It offers applied behavior analysis therapy, which focuses on improving the siblings’ social skills, communication and more. CARD therapists come to the Cowells’ home and go out in public with the family to help navigate the children’s behaviors.

Doreen Granpeesheh, a clinical psychologist and behavior analyst, founded CARD in 1990 in Los Angeles. Now CARD has 300 locations in the U.S. and serves more than 5,000 patients.

“It feels unreal. It feels unbelievable. I feel so blessed to have been in it since the beginning,” Granpeesheh said in a phone interview.

Granpeesheh explained that insurance plans generally cover CARD, but some insurers don’t believe in covering the recommended amount of hours. “Super-intensive” therapy can be provided as much as 40 hours a week for three to four years, Granpeesheh said.

The Cowells are an example. Their children go about five days a week for therapy, but sometimes they have to battle their insurance carrier to cover more therapy hours.

“You’ve got parents who can hand their kids the world and be able to afford it,” Jodi Cowell said. “I just wish all insurances would understand it’s not that we’re not punishing our kids the right way and they are acting out, so let’s throw them into therapy. They truly need it.”

There are now 8,000 lessons provided by CARD, and they can get as complex as trying to read someone’s face to tell if they’re lying, Granpeesheh said.

Lessons can be tailored to each child. Sonja had trouble pronouncing “marshmallow” before she had therapy, but her speech has improved significantly and now she can pronounce the word. When Cowell would take her kids to a park three years ago, she had to have an entourage with her to keep everyone in line. Now she can take Dominic to the waterfront by herself, and let him play “Pokemon Go.”

A CARD therapist has accompanied the Cowells on a trip to the supermarket, and the family can FaceTime a therapist if they need help, Cowell said. Daughter Gabbie Cowell, 11, has even attended monthly CARD meetings, soaking up the information. She’s become a “junior therapist” to Dominic and Sonja, her mother said.

“That to me shows the care, the compassion they have in wanting to really help these kids and help them be part of everyday life,” Cowell said.

That level of care carried over to the return trip to Disneyland. CARD therapists wanted this time to go better. They laminated maps of Washington, Oregon and California, with checkpoints along the way. The kids could mark off checkpoints as they reached them. Passing through Eugene, Ore. Lunch in Redding, Calif. An overnight stay in Sacramento, Calif. Games like that made the road trip enjoyable for Dominic and Sonja.

“With all of us and the way it worked, it ended up being a fantastic trip,” Cowell said. “Three years ago it would have not been that easygoing.”