FEAT-Houston was Founded in July 1995 by a half dozen families. It is a non-profit organization committed to supporting families who are interested in assisting their children with autism to learn through applied behavioral techniques. Intensive ABA (applied behavior analysis) programming is not widely available, and when FEAT-Houston was established there were no local consulting resources. Parents found that sharing information and support was essential to creating solid in-home ABA programs with the help of regular visits from consultants based in other parts of the state or country. While there are several other autism support groups for families in Houston, including the Greater Houston Chapter of the Autism Society of America and PDD/IDA (the Pervasive Developmental Disabilities/Interactional Disorders Association), no group provided significant support or information regarding the applied behavioral techniques and intensive programming shown to be so successful with children with autism. FEAT’s mission is to serve the community in providing that needed support through networking opportunities, informational meetings and the encouragement of professional growth in the field.
Barely a year old, the organization in 1996 hosted a major fund-raising conference at the Hyatt Regency Downtown featuring Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas of UCLA, Dr. Ed Fenske of the Princeton Child Development Institute, Bridget Taylor of Alpine Learning Group, and other highly regarded experts in the field of ABA. More than 475 parents and professionals attended. The proceeds from that conference have been used to fund scholarships to students taking college-level behavior modification courses, to provide books to libraries throughout the Houston area ("Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism" by Catherine Maurice, Gina Green, and Steven Luce, co-editors, and "The Me Book" by O. Ivar Lovaas). FEAT also has contributed to the Texas Association for Applied Behavior Analysis (TxABA) and was instrumental in the foundation of the University of Houston’s Texas Young Autism Project (TYAP).
FEAT-Houston is a non-profit 501(3c) corporation, which is governed by a Board of Directors that directs the organization’s support activities, including bi-monthly informational meetings for families and professionals, seminars, a parent-manned telephone information line, newsletter and other networking opportunities. A copy of the 2006 Annual Report can be found here.
FEAT-Houston is a Houston, Texas based
non-profit organization committed to supporting
families who are interested in assisting their children with autism.