possAbilities

Company: possAbilities, LLC
Company Description: Beverly Fleisher, PhD, established possAbilities after personal experience showed the enormous need for help for families to understand and accept a new diagnosis of autism and manage the daunting tasks before them. Driven by passion and knowledge, possAbilities provides emotional support, cuts through red tape and helps autistic children reach their full potential.
Nomination Category: Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Service of the Year

Nomination Title: possAbilities, LLC

Tell the story of this nominated service (up to 500 words): its function, its features and benefits, and how it differs from competitive offerings. Include in your description the date during the eligibility period of July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004 on which this service was introduced to the marketplace:

The first devastating blow comes when you learn your child has autism.

The second one comes a few weeks or months later -- when you realize that despite finally having a diagnosis, you don’t know where to turn for help. Your insurance company and your school system claim the other is responsible for providing services for your child. You just know you and your child are suffering.
 
That’s where possAbilities comes in. Beverly Fleisher, PhD, principal of possAbilities, established this unique service in August 2003 after personal experience showed the absence of, and enormous need for, a human contact that could help families understand and accept a new autism diagnosis and manage the daunting tasks before them.  Whether it’s finding the right school program, the right occupational therapist, or even the right way to quiet the child at bedtime, possAbilities can help.

Fleisher, formerly on the staff of the science advisor to the President, draws upon her study of relevant topics from neurology to special education law, her extensive
knowledge of local service providers, and her personal experience to give both professional and personal support to families in need.

possAbilities’ clients usually do not have profound autism.  Rather, they often are intellectually gifted and have subtler forms of this pervasive developmental disorder that make it not only harder to diagnose… but harder to understand. To the outside world, these gifted autistic children may appear to be simply naughty, strange, stubborn… or even crazy.

Many of the children have multiple, complex neurological issues including autism.  While there is no cure for autism itself, research shows that the kids with the best prognoses are the ones who get early, intense interventions.  possAbilities pulls those interventions together for the parents who have been set adrift after receiving their child’s diagnosis.

In the short time possAbilities has been in business, here are just a few of the amazing things the company has accomplished:
·Advocated for autistic children in their school districts, including rewriting complex Individualized Education Plans (a school is required to follow an IEP when educating a disabled student); representing the parents at meetings; and researching, recommending, and ultimately getting children placed in the most suitable programs or classrooms with whatever assistance they might need.
·Matched clients with specialists who are attuned to the specific needs and personality of that particular autistic child, including psychologists, pediatricians, psychopharmacologists, occupational/physical/speech therapists and even special needs dentists.
·Convinced a local school district to fund a kindergarten class for children with high functioning autism, which it had planned to cancel.
·Established documentation of medical necessity enabling parents to obtain medical insurance funding for habilitative services heretofore denied.
·Tutored large numbers of parents in the “tricks of the trade” in dealing with their autistic children – how to calm them, encourage them, teach them and advocate for them.

possAbilities provides an important new service, driven by passion and knowledge, providing emotional support, cutting through red tape and helping autistic children reach their full potential.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. You may include links to product photos, service logos, etc. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of the company that developed this nominated service:

Beverly Fleisher’s life took a sharp turn when, at 40, she had twins with significant developmental delays.  Dr. Fleisher, an award-winning economist, turned her scientific and research expertise to learning about neurology and treatment methods for autism, ADHD and related disorders.  As her knowledge and children grew, so did the number of parents who turned to her for help.  This was not a new role for Dr. Fleisher; her record of helping others includes Peace Corps/Nepal, Seniors Organized for Change and senior staff to the Director of the National Science Foundation and the White House Science and Technology Advisor.