Canton mom builds thriving behavioral health agency

This story originally appeared in the August 4 edition of the Citizen.

As a mother of three, Dina Gray of Canton knows the milestones and markers that children reach as they grow and develop. When her youngest child, daughter Emilia, did not seem to be successful at achieving those markers as an infant, Gray started a search for answers that led to a diagnosis of autism. The diagnosis would set her on a 10-year path of discovery, and in her drive to help Emilia and others with autism acquire more life skills, she launched her own business, ABA Helps, in January of 2021.

Dina Gray, founder and CEO of ABA Helps

According to the national nonprofit Autism Speaks, autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. Autism affects an estimated one in 44 children in the United States with signs usually appearing by age 2 or 3. Research shows that early intervention leads to positive outcomes later in life for people with autism.

In speaking about Emilia, who is now 11 years old, Gray emphasized that she was describing only Emilia’s experience with autism, since every child’s journey is unique.

Prior to becoming CEO of her own behavioral health agency, Gray held leadership positions for various startup and global marketing companies as she and her husband, Kurt, raised Emilia as well as their son Dominic, 16, and daughter Gigi, 13. By the time Emilia was a year old, Gray had become increasingly concerned about her lack of developmental progress. At 15 months, she still did not speak, nor make eye contact with others, or turn her head and look when someone said her name. If Gray asked her daughter to hand her something, Emilia did not seem to understand what her mother was asking. “That was a huge red flag,” Gray said.

She took Emilia to her pediatrician, who ordered an evaluation, and at the age of 18 months Emilia was diagnosed with autism.

“I was devastated,” Gray recalled. “I cried. I didn’t understand what autism was. I was overwhelmed. I never felt helpless in my life like I felt in that moment.”

She began researching the disorder on the internet in order to focus on the next steps for helping her daughter and also consulted with Rafael Castro, PhD, the executive director of the Integrated Center for Child Development, which has an office in Canton.

What she learned is that people with autism are on a spectrum of behaviors and skills that range from low functionality to high functionality and that each person’s case is different. She found that many people with autism receive Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which utilizes positive reinforcement and other principles of learning theory to modify behavior and improve social skills.

Gray said she struggled with understanding everything about autism, but she followed Castro’s recommendation of 30 to 40 hours of weekly ABA therapy. By the time Emilia was 4 years old, Gray said she knew that she wanted to focus on her daughter and her needs full-time.

“I wasn’t doing a good job at work and I was not doing a good job at home,” she said of her memories of that time. “You have to learn what she needs. There’s not a cookie-cutter approach in school or at home. I became her voice.”

Over time, Emilia learned basic life skills and also began to speak. Gray described her as verbal, but not vocal: she can state something she needs or wants, but does not engage in conversation about her day. Gray met with the ABA therapist weekly as well as with the staff from the Canton Public Schools in order to have carryover between what she was learning at home and in the classroom. She also took Emilia to the supermarket, to swimming lessons, and other places so that she could engage in community experiences.

While acknowledging that Emilia is never going to be completely independent, Gray said it’s all about progress. “Any progress she does to us is amazing and we are proud of her,” she said. “That’s what we want for every child.”

Emilia started in the public schools in kindergarten, working on her academics at school and receiving individual instruction, but also having inclusion time with her classmates as well as ABA therapy after school in her home. Things went well for her until the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 forced schools to close. Like other families, the Grays turned to remote learning, but it was difficult for Emilia, then in grade 3, to continue making progress due to her short attention span and the sudden change in her daily routine. Gray’s opportunities to take Emilia to community places and events also came to a stop.

“It was a very, very dark period in our family,” Gray said. “She regressed so much. She regressed with language. That period of my life was so hard.”

It was during the pandemic that Gray decided to create ABA Helps. Years earlier, when Emilia was 2 or 3 years old and the Grays were working with an agency, Dina had asked them to provide Emilia with skills she would need throughout her life, not just her childhood. The staff, however, told Gray that services would likely end by the time she was 5, because they did not work with older children.

That was indeed what happened and Gray began to look for another agency. She discovered that the waitlist for families was long and that the number of ABA clinicians was low. “This is when I met Kerri Brown, who became my business partner,” Gray said.

When Gray told Brown that she had long-range goals for her daughter, Brown told her that she could help. A Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Brown had spent many years working with children and young adults ranging from age 3 to 22 at the New England Center for Children (NEC). She also supervised trainees in an ABA program and served as a mentor for newly certified behavior analysts.

“Obviously, I loved Kerri from that moment when she said yes, I can do all that stuff for Emilia,” Gray said. “She has an amazing clinical background.”

ABA Helps provides in-home services to children who have been diagnosed with autism and need ABA therapy, mostly in the afternoon, in order to work around the child’s school schedule. When the company receives a referral and is able to help the child, they assign a two-person team consisting of a BCBA and a behavioral technician. The BCBA evaluates the child and puts together a treatment plan, and the paperwork is then submitted to the family’s insurance company for approval.

Starting with two clients a year and a half ago, ABA Helps has since served more than 40 children and currently has a waitlist for families. The company has a staff of 50 BCBAs and technicians and they recently started working with children in New Hampshire. Gray said the vision for the business is to expand the in-home service throughout Massachusetts and to other states. She would also like to add center-based services for very young children and to provide services for adults.

“I feel so proud of myself and Kerri,” Gray said. “We are such a unique team. I bring the parents’ perspective and she brings the amazing clinical background that she has. And together, I feel that we’ve kind of accomplished everything we set out to do. This is amazing to us. What makes me smile is this is just the beginning. To be able to celebrate the progress with the families, I’m so proud.”

For more information, go to abahelps.com.

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