Today we’d like to introduce you to Armando Bernal
Hi Armando, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was diagnosed with autism at the the age of three where doctor’s told my mother that I might as well learn sign language because I was never going to be able to speak. In addition, they mentioned that she will have to accept that she will probably take care of me for the rest of my life. Fast-forward twenty-seven years and I now own the only autistic owned applied behavior analysis therapy center in Houston and 1 of 2 centers autistic owned in the state of Texas. As I grew up I was ashamed of my autism as I didn’t want to be different than others, as many kids, in the 90s didn’t want to be different. I eventually learned to accept my autism after college and decided that I needed to do more to support the autistic population and show others that it was okay to be diagnosed with asd. I eventually became a special education teacher in order to teach parents that despite the diagnosis an individual could accomplish anything they set their mind to. However, I felt as if there was more that needed to be done for the autistic community so I became a board certified behavior analyst and eventually began managing clinics at several different companies. This career growth did not feel like enough to support the community so I started a podcast in 2020 where I would interview individuals around the world diagnosed with autism. This finally led to me creating Autism International Consulting, PLLC. where we serve children and adults of all ages. In addition, we provide self-advocacy focused and trauma-informed therapy to patients throughout the world.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Owning a business certainly has its’ challenges and learning curves that I certainly did not expect. If it was not for the support of my sister, Jane Walls, who manages our administrative/business side of the company, we could not be where we are today. We continue to learn from each experience we have with staff, parents, and community leaders in our area. However, what has remained significant to us is to continue to collaborate with community leaders around us to better support the autistic community. We fully believe that we cannot support our children without ensuring we partner with others working with our patients. We want to ensure everyone has a voice as we are all hoping to accomplish as much as we can with our patients. Though challenges tend to come up, such as staffing or maintaining quality services while growing our business, it has been very important to us to keep our staff and our patients well-being as a top priority. We want to ensure that our employees and patients are happy and overall accomplishing whatever goals they may have for themselves.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Autism International Consulting, PLLC is the only autistic owned applied behavior analysis therapy center in Houston, Texas and 1 of 2 autistic owned in Texas. Our core values as an organization are self-advocacy, innovation, curiosity, and transparency. We serve patients in the home, community, and clinical setting from 2-80 years old. We ensure that each of our patients maintain an individualized plan of support while maintaining therapy in a naturalistic and trauma-informed setting. The patients we serve may have struggles communicating their wants and needs effectively by demonstrating aggression, self-injurious behavior, or elopement rather than independently using their words. However, our staff are trained to provide behavior analytic interventions used to further promote appropriate communication and help transition the patient back to an environment with their neurotypical peers. We have prided ourselves on maintaining naturalistic therapy and leading by example that a diagnosis does not define who a person is, but rather what you do after the diagnosis. We receive alot of praise for being the only autistic owned ABA company in Houston, Texas, but to me I would much rather be a model for other autistic individuals to follow and create more ABA companies that are autistic owned. We are very proud that we rely heavily on transparency and allow our employees to join in on discussions regarding how to make our company better. We understand that we would literally not exist without our staff and want to ensure that each of them feel welcomed and heard. We hope that your readers see us as a light for their autistic children and know that we will always make sure that parents, staff, and other professionals remain partners in the growth of a patient’s development.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We welcome collaboration from community leaders who offer similar services as us as well as those wanting to learn more about autism spectrum disorder. They are welcome to email us at autismintlconsulting@gmail.com or visit our instagram @autismintl. In addition, we are always looking for new registered behavior technicians and board certified behavior analysts looking to support patients on the spectrum. At this time, we are looking to continue to push our message as being a safe-haven for autistic individuals while also maintaining our ability to be a leader in the community ourselves. There are so many individuals in need of support that we only wish we can continue to help as many people as we can. At this time, we take all forms of insurance including: Medicaid, Tricare, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem, Magellan, United, and Cigna.
Pricing:
- This varies by insurance carrier.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.autismintl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autismintl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Autismintl/
Image Credits
N/A
