How Judevine Came to Be
Lois Judevine Blackwell established the Judevine Center in 1971 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency with a Board of Directors and a Professional Advisory Committee to provide treatment and training to children with autism, and their families. This dispelled the notion that the only future for people with autism was in an institutional setting. Judevine quickly developed a reputation among parents, professionals, and other organizations as the premier provider of autism services.
The Judevine program became defined by its method of training parents, professionals, and staff which is rooted in the evidence-based principles of applied behavior analysis within a social exchange context. This method, or approach, demonstrated effectiveness across a variety of services and the lifespan of individuals with autism, and their families. It has been structured to keep abreast of and incorporate new findings about autism within that training structure.
Judevine has a successful history of maintaining its excellence in providing services while meeting the needs of the family through the development of an entire delivery system. It is responsive to the lifespan of the individual with autism spectrum disorders. Core to this has been the Judevine training system that ensures that successive generations of staff can maintain skill acquisition of individuals across settings, as well as develop new skills through application of the Judevine method to new learning.
The purpose of the agency is to maintain the integrity of Judevine training and the methods as Mrs. Blackwell provided them through her organization, Judevine Center for Autism. This continues to be done as Judevine grows throughout Missouri and beyond.
