Integrity, Empowerment and Excellence: Arizona Institute for Autism expands to new office
Check out this article about our new clinic location. Our Clinical Director Rula Diab met with Scottsdale Airpark to share the details of the expansion. You can find the original article on the Scottsdale Airpark News website.
Five years ago, Arizona Institute for Autism founder and Clinical Director Rula Diab envisioned creating a haven for individuals with autism to learn, develop positive coping mechanisms and gain independence.
“I was dreaming of having a space that is a safe place and playful, supportive place for kids with special needs,” she says.
Diab, who boasts a master's in education and a bachelor's in children's behavior analysis, is bringing her dream to fruition. She welcomed learners into her new 8,000-square-foot learning facility located off Raintree Road, east of Loop 101, in Scottsdale July 29.
“Our vision is big, and we are constantly moving with our learners to where they need us, so this facility gives us the ability to be there for them and their needs,” Diab says.
What's inside
With 8,000 square feet to utilize, Diab took advantage of the space to create special rooms, such as a Montessori-style classroom and a game room.
“As part of our growth and transition, which requires us to have and to be able to support our kids, we need a bigger space that allows us to have different rooms like a sensory room, nap room, an ABA room and a recreational room, and all of those rooms will be tending to modern learners,” Diab says.
Starting out small
Before Diab found a large educational space, she started the Arizona Institute for Autism (AIA) with a mission of “improving special education and strengthening communities throughout Arizona.”
The institute does so by providing applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapies to its learners, while also working with special education (SPED) teachers and school leaders to address the unique challenges these learners face while enhancing the classroom environment for students.
Diab began operating out of an intimate office space in North Scottsdale off Via Linda near Via De Ventura, eventually moving northward to another cozy space further up Loop 101 west of the freeway off Raintree Road.
After spending roughly two years in her office space, Diab knew there was more that she could do to enrich the lives of the learners she and her staff aided.
Onto something bigger
Diab and her staff wanted to find a space where they could offer classes, a variety of rooms with different styles of therapy and an escape from the typical school setting.
She found a piece of prime real estate located less than a mile up the street from its former office on Raintree Road.
“As part of our growth and commitment to provide more comprehensive services, we are now transitioning into more of an ABA-integrated model where we will be providing ABA therapy in addition to academic therapy for our learners,” Diab says. “We decided to move to a bigger and larger space to be able to provide our programs that support our guests to reach their highest potential.”
Graduating from AIA
Diab understands from her experience the stigmas and misconceptions surrounding an autism diagnosis. That is why she and her team are committed to ensuring that each learner learns new positive coping skills and begins to display signs of independence by the time they move on from the AIA.
“From my experience, (our learners) are the sweetest kids and every day they really make our hearts bigger,” Diab says. “They are extremely smart and they are emotionally smart, but they just need a little bit of support.”
But nothing makes her and her staff happier than seeing a lasting impact made on a child.
“Having everyone on the team — whether it's a family clinician or our caregivers — on the same page to help to support them so that at the end we can see that they are able to be independent in their life, it's very sweet.
“I think we are very lucky to work with our learners at AIA.”
