Covington, VA: Parent opens autism "wellness center"

May 28, 2025, WDBJ TV, Roanoke, VA: New wellness center gives community hope

COVINGTON, Va. (WDBJ) - According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 31 children is diagnosed with autism, a mental disorder that can cause people to have difficulties with social communication and interaction and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests.

Parents of children diagnosed with autism are often looking for effective treatments for them, and as of Thursday, Covington has a wellness center specializing in autism treatment, Healing Haven.

“So, really what we’re doing through functional neurology and through functional medicine really is kind of, it’s more of a root cause approach,” Alternative Health Atlanta’s Dr. Danielle Barron said.

“So, I want to figure out what is going on the brain that is causing these symptoms or not allowing us to function 100% and be our optimal selves or same thing in the body with different just illnesses and sicknesses.”

The founder of Healing Haven, Kelly Johnson, has a son who was diagnosed with autism at two years old. After having doctors tell her she would have to live with the diagnosis, Johnson sought out her own treatment, finding hope in alternative treatment.

“As a mother, I had to at least hope that there was something more out there that we could do for him, and I started researching, and I found this holistic doctor in Roanoke,” Johnson said. “She had went to a conference and had met some doctors who were doing low-level procedures and protocols for autistic children and they were seeing tremendous results and I was like, how do I become a part of that?”

The wellness center is a welcomed addition to a community in need of support. Parents of patients have already reported drastic improvements in their children’s well-being after treatment.

“It’s very emotional, especially when you have a parent or a grandparent come to you and say they played with a toy on the couch, and they’ve never done that before. Or they sit on his grandpa’s lap and played and never done that before,” she said.

Johnson said being able to help families find hope makes the work she does worthwhile.

“If I can take that pain and that heartbreak away from one parent, it’s worth every tear I’ve cried, every struggle, just being able to help to take some of the pain away. Will we always be able to help or take everything away? No, but we’re going to try. We’re going to do our best.”