Children help raise funds to open first-of-its-kind autism school in Mo.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Two little girls in pink and blue ignore the 90-degree heat as they collect cash to ink colorful stamps on their customers' hands and arms. Their improvised stand on a suburban Joplin lawn also offers graham crackers and ice water, starting at $1 a cup.

In one afternoon, they raised a whopping $1,537, helped by supporters who overpaid substantially for an ink stamp or cracker. But 6-year-old Annie Secker and her 7-year-old neighbor and friend Claire Colson still have a way to go toward a goal of $1.5 million.

That's the target set by a Joplin community mental health center to open an autism therapy school in October that will be the first of its kind in the state and the region. Parents in southwest Missouri say the closest alternative is in Ohio.

Experts say the Ozark Center Autism School is part of a small but growing number of places nationwide offering full-time, intensive therapy for the rising number of young children diagnosed with autism.

Claire and Annie say they're just trying to help their friend Jaxon, a 4-year-old with autism who had to move to Cleveland, Ohio, to find the kind of therapy that the Ozark Center is planning to offer.

"He's a good friend. We want him to stay here," Claire said.

Ozark Center, a mental health subsidiary of Joplin's Freeman Health Systems, began a campaign in April 2007 to raise $1.5 million to open the autism school in October.

The school will offer applied behavioral analysis therapy, or ABA, an intensive program of 30-40 hours a week that is gaining popularity among parents and professionals. ABA is offered in some school systems and by other therapists, but what sets the Ozark Center apart is the fact that it will be a full-time program with just one teacher per child five days a week.

Autism is a complex disorder usually not diagnosed in children until after age 3. It is characterized by a range of behaviors, including difficulty in expressing needs and inability to socialize. The cause is not known.

Federal health officials said earlier this year that about one in 150 American children has autism. According to those figures, about 560,000 children and young adults have autism, meaning the disease is more common than once thought.

There is no cure for autism and the array of treatments can be confusing for parents, ranging from dietary changes to standard types of speech and physical therapy.

Proponents of ABA say it is the only method that has gathered enough data over time to prove it can help autistic children. The goal is to reduce the symptoms of autism so that a child can participate normally in school and life.

"The ultimate goal is that by the time they turn 6 and are ready to enter kindergarten, they are ready to enter a regular kindergarten and do just fine," said Paula Baker, chief executive of the Ozark Center.

"Not every child will reach that level, but every child can benefit and benefit significantly," Baker said.

Research shows that the biggest benefit comes from early intervention, which is why the school is targeting children aged 2 to 5.

Baker said the drive has already raised $868,000 in private donations. Another $500,000 has come from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, leaving about $130,000 to raise.

The school will open with six children, each with a personal teacher trained in ABA who will work with the children and with their parents in the home.

But there are already plans to expand. Baker says she expects to have room for 30 children in the preschool program a year from now. She also hopes to have programs started for school-age children and to expand into therapy and prevocational training for adults.

There are an estimated 2,000 children in southwest Missouri and bordering areas of Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas with autism, according to the Ozark Center.

Ozark Center will charge tuition. A sliding scale will lower the cost for low-income parents to as little as $100 a week. Parents with a large income who don't qualify for any breaks would pay $60,000 a year, Baker said, without providing the exact income brackets.

The center will offer scholarships for children whose parents can't afford the lowest rate.