One of the tenets of business success is to understand your customer’s needs. For Marcela Nunez, a certified special education teacher with a master’s degree in behavioral disorders from Columbia University who spent a decade working with autistic children, she was her own target market.
Nunez, one of 150 board certified behavior analysts in Connecticut, always dreamed of opening her own private practice where could she provide autistic children the physical, occupational, speech, social and emotional therapy they need under one roof.
With a boost from a new state law that opens the door to insurance coverage of autism services, she’s well on the way to fulfilling that dream with a center that provides support to family members and dance, music and exercise classes for children with autism.
Nunez was just starting to explore the idea of launching her one-stop resource practice last year when she found out in November that her 5-year-old son, Ian, is autistic.
“As a behavior analyst and a mother of a child with autism, I have learned firsthand what parents go through once they receive the diagnosis,” said Nunez.
“It is a hard journey full of tears, questions and uncertainty, but there is hope,” said Nunez. “My experience on both sides has allowed me a unique perspective to craft an innovative approach to autism treatment.”
Autism is a complex disability that affects the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction, communication skills and cognitive function. Nearly one in every 110 children is autistic.
“At the core of it, there is a parent looking for the best possible services for their child and someone to understand what they are going through,” said Nunez. “Most of all, they are looking for support and guidance.”
Nunez said her son’s diagnosis pushed her to open her practice, Innovative Autism Network (IAN), named after Ian, who started kindergarten this month. The one-stop resource hub opened in June and offers a wide array of therapies customized for each child based on their specific needs.
IAN currently serves 22 children that range from 3 years old to 13 and need a versatile therapy program. The business employs one part-time receptionist and has 10 therapists on contract to provide services as needed.
IAN occupies two offices in a 4,200-square-foot complex on Farmington Avenue in Plainville. The facility consists of a set of suites where IAN provides its speech, occupational and physical therapies as well as support groups and social events; a gym and multi-sensory integration rooms are located adjacent to the therapy suites where children can meet for fitness classes, hands-on technology lessons and various other extra-curricular activities.
The business is working on a deal to lease the third building on site, giving the autism center a total of 5,000 square feet. Autism therapies can be a financial burden for families, which is something IAN is addressing.
The Connecticut Senate Bill 301, enacted in January, requires many private insurers to cover the costs of diagnosis assessments for autism and therapy services for children up to 15 years old.
“When IAN opened, we were already approved providers for ABA therapy for Aetna, Tricare and Cigna,” said Nunez. “This bill enables families to supplement services and helps with the financial burden.”
“This also opens the doors for families that would otherwise not be able to afford our service,” said Nunez. “For families that are not covered or receiving other services outside of ABA, we work with them to help seek reimbursement from their insurance providers.”
IAN is in the process of becoming a licensed provider for specific therapies for several major insurance companies.
“It is important to note that insurance coverage for autism services depends on what components that their employer has purchased as part of their package,” said Nunez. “Some plans may not include the proper coverage to take advantage of the bill. We work with all our families to find out the specific of each of their plans. We employ a professional medical claims company to aid us with this as well as helping to process our claims,” she said.
Nunez positioned the business — literally — to succeed. The close proximity to Avon, Hartford and New Britain and easy access to Route 84 make it easy for IAN’s clients to get to the center for appointments.
“It becomes very time consuming and challenging for children to go from one place to another,” said Nunez. “Children in the spectrum do not usually transition well from one place to another. It takes them awhile to get used to a new location and all new faces.”
“It also helps therapists communicate easily with one another about the progress of each student since everyone is in the same location,” said Nunez.
Nunez funded the initial start-up money to launch IAN from her personal savings and a month after opening her doors, received a loan from the Community Economic Development Fund, which is targeting Plainville for future growth.
“It accounts for about 40 to 45 percent of the funding but we have only used a small portion of that to date,” said Nunez. “It is looking like we will not need the entire loan as three months in, we’re doing very well.”
IAN also works with autistic children at various schools in New Hartford, West Hartford, Newington, Plainville, Bristol, Southington, Farmington, West Haven, Middlefield and Waterbury.
“We are currently exploring the possibility of a contract with New Hartford,” said Nunez. “Even if we don’t have a contract per say, we also communicate with any schools that our students are currently attending to ensure consistency across environments.”
Company officials declined to give out financials but said IAN will reach profitability by the end of 2011.
