Autism Cares Association

501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization

With you every step of the journey.

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Personalized, lifelong support for individuals and families affected by autism spectrum conditions.

Who We Are

Built for families.
By people who understand.

Every day, families hear words that change everything: "Your child needs help." What follows is often a maze — evaluations, therapy schedules, school meetings, paperwork, and endless uncertainty.

Autism Cares Association exists to simplify that journey. We transform confusion into clarity, silence into real answers, and isolation into warm, coordinated support.

Our leadership brings years of deep experience in early childhood developmental services, special education, and autism support — working side by side with hundreds of families. That experience does not live in a textbook. It lives in every decision we make.

This is more than a service. It is a movement built on hope.

∞ Lifelong Support
3 Service Pillars
📱 Professional
App Support Coming Soon
📱 Caregiver
App Support Coming Soon

"We stand beside every family — from the first uncertain days of diagnosis through every season of growth — with services that are deeply human, carefully designed, and always improving."

The Reality

Autism doesn't pause.
Neither do the families living with it.

Behind every diagnosis is a family navigating a world that was not built with them in mind. The challenges are real. The exhaustion is real. The love — that is the most real thing of all.

Family navigating autism together
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Communication Barriers

Many children with autism struggle to express pain, fear, or basic needs. Every day, parents learn to read a language without words — watching, waiting, and trusting their instincts.

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Sensory Overwhelm

A birthday party. A grocery store. A crowded hallway. Places that feel ordinary to most can feel unbearable to a child with autism. The world is too loud, too bright, too much.

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Caregiver Isolation

Parents and caregivers often sacrifice careers, sleep, relationships, and their own health — in silence. The loneliness of caring for a child with complex needs is one of the most underreported crises in family life.

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System Navigation

The systems designed to help are often confusing, underfunded, and inaccessible. Families spend hours on hold, buried in paperwork, and fighting for services their children desperately need.

"No family should have to fight this hard just to get their child the support they deserve."

We Are Here for You →
Our Work

Three pillars.
One promise.

Everything we do flows from one core belief — that no family should walk the autism journey alone. Our three pillars work together to wrap every family in the support they deserve.

Family support for autism
Pillar One

Direct Family Support

We believe families are the experts in their own lives. Our coaching, navigation, and routine-based strategies are designed for real families in real homes. We meet you where you are — and give you tools you can use right now to build confidence, strengthen connections, and make each day a little easier.

What We Offer

  • ▸One-on-one family coaching sessions
  • ▸IEP and CPSE meeting navigation support
  • ▸Home routine and behavior strategy development
  • ▸Crisis support and caregiver wellness check-ins
  • ▸Connection to local and national resources

Who This Serves

  • ▸Newly diagnosed families unsure where to start
  • ▸Caregivers experiencing burnout and isolation
  • ▸Parents navigating school meetings alone
  • ▸Bilingual families facing language barriers in the system
  • ▸Single-parent households with limited support networks
Family Story — Direct Support

Sofia Did Not Know Where to Begin

When Sofia's son Marco was diagnosed at age three, she sat in the parking lot of the evaluation center and cried for an hour before driving home. She did not cry because she did not love him. She cried because she did not know a single person who had been through this. She did not know what an IEP was. She did not know what services he qualified for. She spoke Spanish at home and did not know how to navigate systems that felt like they were built for someone else.

A neighbor referred Sofia to Autism Cares Association. Within two weeks, she had her first coaching session. She learned that Marco qualified for free early intervention services through the state. She learned she had the right to request evaluations, to bring someone to his school meetings, to ask questions and expect real answers. For the first time since the diagnosis, Sofia felt like she was on her son's team — not just a passenger watching other people make decisions about his life.

By Marco's fourth birthday, he had a full support team in place. Sofia became one of our most passionate parent advocates, sharing her story with families who were exactly where she had been the year before.

The Outcome: A mother who felt alone learned to lead. A child who needed a team got one. This is what direct family support makes possible.

* Composite story representing real family experiences. Names changed to protect privacy.

Help us reach the next Sofia. Every gift funds a family coaching session.

Donate to Family Support
Pillar Two

Professional & System Support

Behind every thriving family is a team of dedicated educators and care providers. We strengthen the people who support you — offering training, implementation tools, and systems that help schools, therapists, and community partners work together more seamlessly. When professionals are supported well, families feel that strength in every interaction.

Professional autism training

What We Offer

  • ▸Autism awareness and inclusion training for educators
  • ▸Paraprofessional and teaching assistant workshops
  • ▸Cultural competency in autism services
  • ▸IEP implementation coaching for school staff
  • ▸Behavior support and de-escalation strategy training

Who This Serves

  • ▸General education teachers supporting autistic students
  • ▸Paraprofessionals seeking evidence-based strategies
  • ▸School administrators building inclusive cultures
  • ▸Early intervention providers and therapists
  • ▸Community organizations serving families
Professional Story — System Support

Ms. Renee Was Trying Her Best. She Needed More.

Ms. Renee had been a second-grade teacher for eleven years. She loved her students. But when a seven-year-old named Darius joined her class — a bright, funny boy who would shut down completely during transitions and occasionally bolt from the room — she felt helpless in ways she had never felt before. She had not been trained for this. Her school offered little guidance. She found herself managing crises instead of teaching.

When her district connected with Autism Cares Association for a professional development series, Ms. Renee walked in skeptical and walked out transformed. She learned why Darius bolted — that it was communication, not defiance. She learned how to build predictable transitions into her daily schedule, how to use visual supports, how to read the early signs of dysregulation before a meltdown arrived. She practiced de-escalation strategies that felt natural, not clinical.

Three months later, Darius had not bolted once. More importantly, he had made two friends in Ms. Renee's class. She told us at the end of the year that the training did not just change how she taught Darius. It changed how she taught every child in her room.

The Outcome: One trained teacher created a safer, more inclusive classroom for 24 children. When professionals are supported well, every student in that room benefits.

* Composite story representing real professional experiences. Names changed to protect privacy.

Help us train the next Ms. Renee. Your gift funds professional workshops that change classrooms.

Donate to Professional Training
Technology supporting autism families
Pillar Three

Technology & Innovation

Good help should not depend on where you live or how much money you have. Our digital tools expand access beyond geographic limits — bringing structure, guidance, and community to families who need it most, wherever they are. Because the journey does not pause when the office closes.

What We Are Building

  • ▸Caregiver app with behavior tracking and progress logs
  • ▸Visual schedule and social story digital library
  • ▸Resource directory for families by location and need
  • ▸Provider communication and session documentation tools
  • ▸Online learning modules for families and professionals

Who This Will Serve

  • ▸Families in underserved or rural areas with limited access
  • ▸Caregivers who need support between therapy sessions
  • ▸Professionals who want on-demand training resources
  • ▸Organizations seeking digital tools for case management
  • ▸Families who cannot afford weekly professional services
Family Story — Technology Access

The Hernandez Family Had No More Time to Wait

Isabel Hernandez worked two jobs to support her daughter Camila, who was eight years old and had been diagnosed with autism at age five. Isabel lived forty minutes from the nearest therapy center. Transportation was a constant obstacle. Camila's therapist could see her once a week — but the other six days and twenty-three hours belonged to Isabel, and Isabel had no training, no tools, and no one to call at 9pm when Camila was melting down and nothing was working.

Through ACA's early digital resource program, Isabel received access to a family support toolkit — visual schedules she could print at home, a simple behavior log she could fill out on her phone between shifts, and a video training series she watched in fifteen-minute pieces during her lunch breaks. She learned to read Camila's triggers. She built a bedtime routine that worked. She started the log so that when therapy days came, she could hand her daughter's therapist a week's worth of real data instead of trying to remember what had happened.

Within six weeks, Isabel noticed something she had not felt since before the diagnosis: a sense of competence. She did not just feel like a parent trying to survive. She felt like a member of her daughter's care team.

The Outcome: Technology closed a six-day gap in one child's care. For families without access, a digital resource can be the difference between surviving the week and actually growing through it.

* Composite story representing real family experiences. Names changed to protect privacy.

Help us reach the next Isabel. Your gift builds the tools that cross every barrier.

Donate to Technology Access
Our Vision

A world where no family
walks this journey alone.

Where support is not a privilege for the few but a right for every person, in every community, at every stage of life.

1 in 36 Children diagnosed with autism in the U.S.
$60K+ Average annual cost of autism support per family
80% Of autism parents report significant caregiver stress
300% Males are three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls
Our Leadership

Expertise built in the field.
Driven by the mission.

Our founders bring over 40 combined years of direct experience in early childhood special education, autism services, behavioral analysis, and early intervention program leadership — including co-leading one of New York City's most comprehensive EI programs across all five boroughs.

MG
Majory Gabriel
MS Ed, LBA

Co-Founder & Clinical Director with more than three decades of hands-on experience developing IFSPs, IEPs; delivering family advocacy and autism behavior support. Expertise includes special education, behavioral analysis, clinical program leadership, OPWDD, SEIT, and group home program management. Led clinical operations at Big Apple Autism Services.

RAB
Ricardo A. Black
MBA

Co-Founder & Executive Director focusing on operations and strategic leadership with more than two decades developing early intervention programs, pharmaceutical marketing campaigns, and organizational leadership. Co-directed EI operations at Big Apple Autism Services across all five NYC boroughs. Author, thought leader, and advisor to EI agencies.

ACA
Advisory Partners
Community & Professional Network

Autism Cares Association is supported by a growing network of educators, therapists, behavior analysts, social workers, and parent advocates — all united by a commitment to making autism support more accessible, equitable, and effective for every family we serve.

Reach Out

We would love
to hear from you.

Whether you are a family seeking support, a professional looking to partner, or a donor wanting to learn more — we are here. Every message matters to us.

Organization Autism Cares Association
Status 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization
Service Area New York City & Surrounding Communities
E-Mail info@autismcaresassociation.org

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