Our Story
We are a family, not in the metaphorical sense, in the literal sense. Lillian and Chloe are both autistic siblings who founded OurTism with their Mom, Gail.
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All of our services were created because we needed them. We needed a support group and could not find one, so we made one. We needed coaching and we couldn’t find it, so we made it.
We were the guinea pigs of all of our services and now we run them ourselves. We hope they work just as well for you as they did for us.
Who We Are
We were the guinea pigs of all of our services and now we run them ourselves. We hope they work just as well for you as they did for us.
OurTism was founded by Autists for Autists. We believe in lived experience. The experts are the people who are living it. The experts are you, the clients we work for. You know yourself best.
We are founded by autistic individuals who are constantly updating and educating themselves on autism and how better to serve the community they are part of.
We are not superheroes. We are not saviors. But we are here to make a difference. We are here to help our peers with the same needs we have.
Not all our service providers are autistic, but their values align with ours.
Meet The Team
Our Values
The client is the autistic individual
This seems obvious, but a lot of services look to the guardian before the autistic individual. The autistic individual makes all decisions at OurTism.
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Inclusion of comorbidities and identity
You can't separate autism from the rest of a person. Autism affects everything, just like the rest of life does. OurTism tries to be inclusive of comorbidities, other diagnosis, cultural backgrounds, LGBTQ+, and other identities.
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Safe Environment
Feeling safe is needed in order to work on one's self. OurTism tries our best to create a safe environment for our clients. We meet the autistic individual where they are at, not the other way around.
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Accessible
Ourtism tries to create an environment that is accommodating to disabilities.
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Individual
Our programs are individualized for each client. We try to adapt to differences. We flow with the changes that take place in life. We are understanding of circumstance.
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Fun
Our Services should not be painful. Working on yourself can sometimes not be pleasant, but we want to at least make the process as painless as possible if not enjoyable. We want clients to be excited to come to OurTism services and events.
Why The Butterfly
The OurTism butterfly symbolizes our values of what we want our services to be.
There is a pattern that services end in adulthood and allow people to fall off what is called “the cliff”. This cliff represents that annoying habit we have of hitting rock bottom before reaching out for help.
A lot of services end when someone is doing well only to return once the same person begins to struggle again. We never want to see a client fall. We don’t want to just build a bridge to get you over the cliff. We want to give you wings so you can get over whatever you next cliff may be.
OurTism is always available to support as long as you want or need it. OurTism is here to support you even when you are thriving.
We want to give you wings so you never fall.
