Mary’s campus has many fun activities, including an indoor swimming pool, splash pads, a gymnasium, a beauty shop, several playgrounds, a miniature golf course, a covered horse riding arena, a walking/biking trail, a chapel in which Sunday and holy day Masses are celebrated, and many special events. The children at St. Mary’s reside in either dormitory or group home settings and receive individualized care. Each resident has an Individualized Program Plan developed by the Interdisciplinary Team, detailing their strengths and needs and outlining goals and objectives, which when achieved, will allow the individual to function more independently. Residents participate in day-time training either through the Rapides Parish School Board, St. Mary’s Applied Behavior Analysis Learning Center, or Day and Work Programs. Daily living tasks and community outings provide incidental training opportunities to our children, which contribute to their independence. Mary’s staff include two Board Certified Behavior Analysts, who work to promote the comprehensive principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Part of St. Mary’s success for effectively treating children with severe autism is through our ABA Program. This research based program is extremely successful for children with autism and has also proven to be effective for other spectrum disorders. ABA breaks training goals down into small segments and uses positive reinforcement. The ABA
program is utilized in St. Mary’s ABA Learning Center and is currently being introduced throughout the main campus and our group homes.
