Our Story

St Gerard Center for Autism opened its doors in 2010 and since then has been a center of hope for individuals with autism and their families. Although this is when St Gerard Center for Autism began serving the autism community, the story begins many years before that.

In 2000, co-founder Caroline Long welcomed her son, Liam Patrick Gerard Blackwell. He was a beautiful, joyful baby, but Caroline soon noticed unexpected developmental patterns. Alongside severe gut issues and highly repetitive behaviors, Liam began falling behind his peers. When his younger sister, Bridget, was born, she faced her own medical complications. The family finally found answers when Liam was diagnosed with autism at age three, followed shortly by Bridget’s diagnosis at age two.

With two children that needed help and little understanding of what autism was, Caroline went to work. For months, she spent long nights studying. She wanted to understand autism from a fundamental level in order to make the right choices for her children. After a year of effective dietary interventions, she had a conversation with a local mom who introduced her to Applied Behavior Analysis therapy.

Caroline found a therapist offering ABA and was astounded by the progress her children made. That local mom had a daughter, who was one of Liam’s first therapists and very gifted with connecting with children. At this point, Caroline was fully aware of the lack of service providers offering ABA for children with autism in Western North Carolina. St. Gerard House was founded to help fill that need.