Overcoming Autism Through Hope (OATH, Inc.) is a non-profit* corporation created by parents to provide hope for families dealing with autism. We provide intensive, in-home therapy to young children with autism utilizing behavioral techniques consistent with Applied Behavioral Analysis ( ABA ).

The overarching goal of our therapy is to decrease behavioral excesses demonstrated by children with autism (i.e., self-stimulatory behavior, self-injurious behavior, aggression, and tantrum behavior) while concurrently increasing competencies in other behavioral skills (i.e., toy play, imaginary play, language acquisition, social interaction, and social awareness).

Why ABA? We employ intensive (35-40 hours per week) behavioral therapy using principles of ABA and the Discrete Trial Methodology. We have chosen this therapy because of its documented effectiveness and the results we have seen in our own children.

The principles of this therapy include active reinforcement and identifying contingencies that maintain appropriate and inappropriate behavior. These goals and objectives are tailored to the child as he or she progresses throughout their treatment. The long term goal for each child is to establish a rate and pattern of learning congruent with typical developing children and ultimately to mainstream the child into a normal school environment.

Why in-home? Intensive ABA requires a controlled, structured environment that is also supportive of the child's needs outside of therapy. We have found that the in-home approach provides the best setting for one-on-one interaction between therapist and child while maintaining a comfortable, familiar environment otherwise.

Also, since developing children learn much by observing and modeling other children, we believe in minimizing the opportunity for our children to model other children with autism, which is unavoidable in a clinic based setting.

Why non-profit? Due to the inherent cost associated with one-on-one therapy, the founders of OATH have elected to retain a non-profit status to provide this option to other parents at the lowest cost possible. We hope this allows us to help some children with autism that otherwise may be excluded for financial reasons.

* OATH has received 501(c) (3) status