Western Slope Behavior Services works to improve the lives of children with autism. After partnering with a Front Range group that shares a common goal, founders said the Grand Junction facility now qualifies as a nonprofit.

The expansion with Firefly Autism of Denver was made possible through a generous grant given by the Temple Buell Foundation.

The donation was made in the name of Deedee Mayer, who served on the Temple Buell Foundation board for 10-years as the sole representative on the Western Slope.

Western Slope Behavior Services has a training facility located at 125 North 8th Street, Suite 1, in downtown Grand Junction. They call the center 'Base Camp'.

Officials said their focus is to blend in-home and facility-based services to families with children from preschool age, to 18-years-old, who are dealing with autism and related disorders.

Founder Amanda Chaffin, feels the merger is a perfect fit for the vision she has in mind for our local facility, and the mission that Firefly Autism already has in place.

Employees and volunteers with Firefly Autism we'll be available to train new staff members in Grand Junction on Applied Behavior Analysis, and will share ideas to create better outreach to the community.

Chaffin said there's a growing need for autism treatment in our area, and the merger with the Front Range facility will bring us closer to cutting edge therapy and technology.

"What we've put in place is what we call a plan for generalization, that means if they learn one thing, one on one with us, we want to make sure it doesn't just stay there, that they can do that with their parents, do that in the classroom, do that in the world," said Chaffin.

Coordinators use the downtown facility as a stepping stone to gradually help autistic children apply their new skills to the outside world.

They said the result of at-home and facility-based therapy is focused, individualized time with the intent of reaching goals not in years, but within months, or even weeks.

Western Slope Behavior Services works with almost all available public funding sources to make its program accessible to as many people as possible.

For more information about Western Slope Behavior Services, call (970) 335-9727, or visit http://www.wsbehaviorservices.com.