UNLV Medicine’s new center to offer support for Las Vegas families dealing with autism

Actress Pia Zadora wants families in the Las Vegas Valley dealing with autism to know that “it’s going to get better.”

Zadora is a supporter of the new UNLV Medicine Ackerman Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment Solutions, 630 S. Rancho Drive, Suite A, which opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 13.

Among those at the ceremony were UNLV President Len Jessup; UNLV School of Medicine Chief of Staff Maureen Schafer; Congresswoman Dina Titus; former First Lady of Nevada Dawn Gibbons; and Gary Ackerman, whose family’s name graces the center.

The UNLV School of Medicine partnered with Las Vegas-based Grant a Gift Autism Foundation to open the space. It addresses everything from specialized diagnostics, to helping those with autism transition into the work force and providing parental and sibling support groups. Families that don’t have insurance can also get support.

“It’s bittersweet to me,” said Zadora, whose son, now 19, was diagnosed with autism 15 years ago.

Even in Los Angeles, she said, “I didn’t know where to go. It was trial and error. Early intervention, I knew, was key. But it’s very hard to find a whole group of people together. A team.”

It took seven or eight years of driving from one stop to the next, and waiting, to get her son on track. She stopped working. Then she moved to Las Vegas, finding child neuropsychologist Julie Beasley, now clinical director of the center.

“We do want to be a model for other states and other universities, to help set up programs like this,” said Dr. Barbara Atkinson, founding dean of the UNLV School of Medicine. “There’s not a lot of places like this.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, medical costs run 4.1 to 6.2 times higher for kids with autism than for those without. Intensive behavioral interventions tack on an extra cost of $40,000 to $60,000 per child, per year.

Lynda Tache, founder, CEO and president of Grant a Gift, said over 5,000 autism cases have been documented in Southern Nevada.

“We just need to figure out how we get those families through the doors and plugged into some service, so they don’t feel that they’re alone,” she added.

On a budget of over $1 million, the center will teach residents how to diagnose autism. It will provide at least one of every specialist, from a pediatric neurologist to a geneticist.

Ackerman, a UNLV Foundation trustee, board vice chairman of Grant a Gift and chairman and president of Gaudin Automotive Group, joked about the misfortune of “watching a used car salesman cry in public.” But autism is a personal matter for him and his family. His son, Andrew, was diagnosed in 1991.

“Now the hard work really starts,” Ackerman said. “In 30 days, if you come back here, you’ll see that we’re overwhelmed.”

“It’s another day on the journey,” Andrew said.

But even work has its joy.

“I’ve met a lot of kids through this,” said Tache’s 15-year-old son, Grant, also diagnosed with autism. “And I have a title, which is nice.”

His title: Chief Inspiration Officer.

Visit unlv.edu/medicine/autismcenter.