Cedar Rapids, IA: ABA clinic opens; "waitlists growing statewide"
- The end of childhood
- May 3
- 2 min read
May 1, 2025, CBS2, Cedar Rapids, IA: Stride Autism Centers opens Cedar Rapids clinic, expanding autism care in eastern Iowa
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says autism diagnoses are on the rise nationwide, and access to therapy — particularly in underserved or rural communities — remains a significant challenge.
Stride Autism Centers is working to address this issue with the opening of a new clinic in Cedar Rapids, which aims to serve families throughout eastern Iowa with full-day care, five days a week. The clinic is tailored to each child's developmental needs. . . .
Haley Reents, whose son Christopher has been using Stride's services for nearly two years after he was diagnosed with autism at two and a half years old, shared the impact of early intervention.
"ABA therapy has been life-changing for us. He had little to no words, and now a year and a half after that, he's speaking in full sentences. I don't think he would be the child that he is today if we didn't have Stride in his life," Reents said. . . .
Stride Autism Centers, with a mission rooted in accessibility and early action, hopes to continue expanding to make autism care more inclusive, one community at a time.
CEO Brad Zelinger, who has a personal connection to the cause, said, "I have a sister with autism, and we didn't have access to anything like what Stride offers. One of the goals that we have as a team is to ensure that families have immediate access to early intervention services because it's so dramatically important and makes such a dramatic difference for families."
However, the challenge extends beyond opening clinics to finding trained professionals to staff them. There is a severe national shortage of Board-Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), the clinicians who oversee ABA therapy plans.
"The latest calculations are that there's a need for 100,000 BCBAs, there's currently only 30,000. In Iowa, the latest stats I saw, there were 200, really not enough to serve that need," Zelinger said.
With waitlists growing statewide, Stride is focused on reaching more families and training more clinicians to meet the demand.
"We want to really continue to build upon that momentum and foundation to deliver care in all the areas throughout the state that need our care and really to be ultimately a waitlist-free organization," Zelinger said.
The clinic opened in May, and it's planning to hold a grand opening in the next couple months.
Comments