History

“The organization was built on passion.  It was authentic and organic.”

“FACT always had a desire to celebrate the kids rather than cure them.”

The roots of FACT are firmly planted in facilitating better mental health for both the child and the family.

FACT dates back to the 1980's and a group of parents whose children, diagnosed with Autism, were participating in programs operated at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA. The supervisor of those programs at the University is today FACT's Executive Director, Linda Andron-Ostrow.

In 1999, because of an ongoing lack of information, and the difficulty of finding ways to treat and live with ASD, FACT was formed by a group of parents so that families of children with autism could support one another, and their kids could "freely be who they are".

In essence, parents needed to build a community to deal with the challenges and pressures of bringing up children with autism, aspergers, and other pervasive developmental disabilities.

Over the past ten years FACT families have watched their children grow, graduate high schools and colleges, serve on juries, hold jobs, and get married – in essence realize a simple dream, "being all a family can be".