Autism Breakthrough expands its life-changing services with new building and services

With a new building and a solid mission, Autism Breakthrough of Knoxville is expanding its services to support adults with autism and their parents.

For many families, the nonprofit has changed their lives.

The organization recently received a $2,000 grant from Knox News and its parent company Gannett. Breakthrough is one of seven East Tennessee charities selected for Gannett's A Community Thrives grant program.

Executive Director Kendrise Colebrooke and marketing coordinator Dylan Slemp said the money will help the organization create and expand new programs as well as help community members pay for services at Breakthrough.

We spoke with Colebrooke and Slemp about Breakthrough's services and its future goals.

How did your organization start?

Colebrooke: Breakthrough was founded in 1999 by parents, so adults with autism, they were exiting the school system. And there was nothing at that time for adults on the autism spectrum. So they wanted to continue the services and supports that they had seen in the school system. So they were all at the top members of the Autism Society of America East Tennessee chapter. And they gave them a little grant of like $300 to start.

So we started with just the Saturday program, respite and recreation, for parents, so that they can have somewhere for their adult children on the spectrum to go and have enriching activities, and also for the children so they can get away from the parents, because they are fully grown adults and they want to hang out with their friends. So we did respite and recreation only for about 10 years. And it was volunteer-based and that kind of thing, but the need grew.

And the parents who started the organization started to think, OK, long term, what do we want for our children? What's going to be utopia for them? What's something that we can create, not just for our children, but for other parents like us who have adult children on the autism spectrum? And so we've just grown exponentially from there.

What is causing the need in Knoxville to grow?

Colebrooke: Knoxville has been growing exponentially. People are moving here from all over. We're seeing some of that, and a lot of what we're seeing too is, you know, more people are being diagnosed with autism. And even the people that are being diagnosed, we're able to kind of catch them early and ... offer them services as they grow.

What are some of the new services you provide?

Colebrooke: We added residential services. Now we have 12 homes, and we support about 34 people, residentially all over the city. We have employment services, so we have programs that help people obtain and maintain employment. And that includes job coaching, job retention, educating people on disabilities in the workplace, that kind of thing, right.

And most recently, here, in this new building, we've added therapeutic services. So it's our newest addition to creating a 360 approach to all things adults with autism. So our therapeutic services include speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and we're looking to hire a ... board-certified behavior analyst so that we can offer that service as well.

What will the A Community Thrives grant money help fund?

Colebrooke: So right now, a lot of our services are private pay. So grants, like this one, help us to provide services to people who couldn't afford it otherwise.

Slemp: I would add, too, with the building specifically, and then also just our services in general, we're working toward becoming a person-centered organization that is recognized by the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. So that's a pretty serious distinction. What it means is we practice person-centered thinking, so the person always comes first in all facets of the organization. And so, one aspect of that, I think, is just building community and making sure these people get out in the community doing what they like to do. And that's kind of how I think that the grant factors in because it's helping get these people involved with their community, the Knoxville community. This building is just, it's going to do wonders for us.

Is there something more you would like people to know about your organization and its work?

Slemp: I think just making people aware that these people have lives after the school system, and they need necessarily supports to live the lives that they want to live. Not everybody is as fortunate as others. But you know, they have the ability to live meaningful and purposeful lives with additional supports of just keeping jobs, getting out in the community housing, friendships. I mean, the list goes on and on with the benefits that we can provide for people. Keeping these services going, you can't really measure the impact that has on these people's lives.

Slemp: The thing that I think about the most is, like, parents of adults with autism, generally, your parents will die before you do. So it's like, you don't want to have to worry about that. And I honestly think that's probably one of the biggest things that people should know.

Anila Yoganathan is a Knox News investigative reporter. You can contact her at anila.yoganathan@knoxnews.com, and follow her on Twitter @anilayoganathan. Enjoy exclusive content and premium perks while supporting strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville's Autism Breakthrough expands life-changing services