Leslie Rubin

A new autism center in Chattanooga will be led primarily by parent volunteers who have first-hand knowledge of the needs of children and adults with the disability, organizers said.

"The parents are going to help to develop the kinds of services they feel they need that are not available currently," said Dr. Leslie Rubin, pediatric developmental specialist with Team Centers, a private, nonprofit agency in Chattanooga serving people with developmental disabilities.

Team Centers' clinicians are partnering with parents to run the Chattanooga Autism Center, he said.

"What's exciting is it's going to break the mold of traditional (clinical-focused autism centers)," Dr. Rubin said. "It's going to be creative, innovative, and it's going to be responsive to their needs."

The Chattanooga Autism Center, which got off the ground late in the summer, recently has begun offering educational workshops for parents on topics ranging from how to interact with children with autism to nutritional guidance. The center is planning a conference for February to offer more workshops and try to get more parents involved, organizers said.

For Christa French, whose 6-year-old daughter Bella Costerisan was diagnosed with autism in August, the recent workshops and support from Team Centers have given her and her husband a brighter outlook on their daughter's future.

"It has brought the stress level at home down 10 notches. I feel more educated, feel more informed, more supported," said the Chattanooga resident.

The latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in every 100 U.S. children has autism, up from the previous estimate of 1 in 150.

A strengthening autism support network has emerged in Chattanooga over the past few years, Dr. Rubin said.

In 2007, the Team Centers opened its autism clinic focused on screening, diagnosis and clinical treatments. Last summer, Siskin Children's Institute launched a pediatric center that offers assessment, diagnosis and treatment to children up to age 18 with developmental disabilities such as autism.

Dr. Rubin said the new parent-driven center was inspired by feedback from parents of Team Centers patients as well as a visit that Team Center leaders took earlier this year to a similar center led by parents in Phoenix, Ariz. The Arizona center offered programs such as gardening and cooking classes, both creative avenues to help people with autism better adjust to leading a productive life as an adult, he said.

That kind of support for adults with autism is needed in Chattanooga, said Tracey Carisch, director of the outreach and research center at Siskin.

"What tends to happen is, after they get out of the school system, they get lost," she said. "I think it is extraordinarily important what the Team Centers is doing. They're bringing that population back into focus to say, 'These people are still here, and they need our support.'"