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Monsignor Andrew Baker, rector of Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, blesses the Blue Peak Center as clinical director Alexa Mochan; Barb Marinak, dean of the School of Education; Lucy Estep, Blue Peak Center registered behavior technician; and Griffin Rooker, director of the Master of Applied Behavior Analysis academic program, bow their heads in prayer. (Courtesy Mount St. Mary's University)

Blue Peak Center helps children with autism thrive


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Special to the Catholic Review Filed Under: Colleges, Feature, Local News, News

At the Blue Peak Center for Applied Behavior Analysis, the aim is more than just working to modify the behavior of young children with autism. It is also to help them and their families thrive and learn to cope with the world around them.

The 4,500-square-foot center, based at Mount St. Mary’s University’s School of Health Professions near downtown Emmitsburg, aligns its services with the bedrock Catholic teaching that every individual has inherent dignity, according to Christine McCauslin, dean of the university’s School of Health Professions.

“We’re helping families in need deal with behavioral, intellectual and emotional issues,” she said. “We’re applying science to help these children (and their families) flourish in meaningful ways.”

At the Blue Peak Center for Applied Behavior Analysis, the aim is more than just working to modify the behavior of young children with autism. (Courtesy Mount St. Mary’s University)

That doesn’t mean “curing” the child of a “disease,” explained Alexa Mochan, the center’s clinical director. She likened the center’s work to providing allergy shots, which help alleviate symptoms but don’t eliminate the underlying allergies.

“We help them become independent and achieve a higher quality of life,” Mochan said, pointing to the need to develop children’s communications, social and emotional skills. 

The center provides parenting training so parents can manage behavioral situations as needed, she said.

“The family needs to be able to reinforce principles and their training at home,” Mochan explained.

It’s important for people to understand what autism is and is not, McCauslin and Mochan said. According to the Cleveland Clinic, autism is not a disease. It is a difference in the brain that shapes how a person interacts with the world. It’s something children may be born with and has nothing to do with various foods, vaccines or anything else children encounter after they are born.

The Blue Peak Center serves young children from infancy to age 6 from Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Most of the people who have reached out to the center, which officially begins providing care to children Dec. 1, have been from Frederick County, McCauslin said.
“There is a dearth of services in Frederick County, and distances to other centers can be devastating,” she said. 

Mochan added that there’s “a pretty significant gap that we are able to fill.”

The center offers a blend of services that is essentially play-based, Mochan said. Children come together as a group for circle time, play, practicing social skills and practicing with toys. There are also rooms where children can work one-on-one with a registered behavior technician (RBT), which may be less distracting for them. 

In addition, the center has an open-ended playroom, where children can have structured games as well, and a dimly lit sensory room with low ambient music where children can decompress when they feel overwhelmed. “It’s the most calming space,” McCauslin said.

Also key to the center’s work are the certifications required for staff. While they may read like a bowl of alphabet soup – RBTs, licensed behavioral analysts (LBAs), and board-certified behavioral analysts (BCBAs) – various staff must have these credentials for the center to legally provide such services, Mochan explained. She has a master’s degree in education (M.Ed.), as well as being an LBA and BCBA.

Costs for the center’s services are funded by insurance and includes Medicaid, Mochan said. A child must be diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder, the full medical name for autism, and the diagnosis must say the child can benefit from applied behavior analysis.

The center is open year-round, not according to the school schedule at Mount St. Mary’s, McCauslin noted. 

“Months off would lead to regression,” she said. “The children require a continuity of care.”

For more information, visit bluepeakcenter.org or call 301-447-5090.

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