To give families more support and options, Autism House owner Jessica Cordova established her business in 2011 as an in-home therapy service for North Houston-area families with autistic children.

“I felt like I really wanted to have something nearby because I knew the community and knew the families that were struggling,” Cordova said. “A lot of them were driving over an hour to get to the nearest therapy center.”

Cordova said as the business grew, she rented space on FM 1488 near FM 2978 to provide a central location to simultaneously serve multiple families. In November 2015, Cordova purchased a home at 8911 West Lane, Magnolia, where Autism House is now located.

“Since moving, we’ve seen a huge change in the kids, I think just because they have so much more outdoor space to be able to run around,” Cordova said.

Autism House relocated from FM 1488 to a new home on West Lane in Magnolia earlier this year.[/caption]

Cordova said she began working with families and autistic children when she was 18 years old and worked as a therapist in a variety of settings.

However, her dream was to have her own facility, Cordova said.

“It’s really fun to have the space now to do what I had always envisioned,” she said.

Autism House offers weekday and twice-monthly Saturday therapy services to children ages 2-14 who have been diagnosed with autism. Autism House’s clients practice a variety of skills one-on-one with a therapist, including creativity, social interaction, language, life and behavioral skills. Each day of therapy features an assortment of group activities, outdoor and independent playtime.

“The two most important things we try to do is teach them language skills and then decrease their behavior issues,” Cordova said. “If someone can’t communicate, they’re going to have many more tantrums and other behavior problems.”

Autism House employs 15 full-time therapists and has grown from three clients in its first year to about 20 clients and a waiting list, Cordova said.

“We’ve been slow here about growing because we really want to provide quality therapy, so it’s really not about the numbers,” she said. “My vision was always that I wanted … these kids to feel like a part of our extended family.”

Cordova said most of her clients come to Autism House at age 2 or 3, and therapists work with the child to prepare him or her for preschool or kindergarten. Thus, there are mixed emotions when a client leaves Autism House, she said.

“That’s been really exciting to see a few of them go on and [enroll in school] this year, even though we were sad to lose them,” Cordova said. “It is definitely encouraging to me to remember how they were at [age] 3 and see them at [age] 5 or 6 and say, ‘They got to go to school.’”

Cordova said she hopes to convert the property’s 1,000-square-foot garage into additional learning space, implement a group learning environment to better prepare students for a traditional classroom and expand the facility’s available outdoor activities, such as adding horses and a garden area.

“It’s nice to have a permanent home now,” Cordova said.

8911 West Lane, Magnolia 281-259-5561 www.autismhousetx.com Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. (semimonthly), closed Sundays