Shining Through was founded in 1999 by five families who had children with autism and no acceptable options for their education in their community. These families, bonded together by a common problem, set out to create an autism therapy centre based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), where their children could get quality therapy specifically tailored to their needs. They were able to acquire a beautiful 19th century mansion house, and with the help of friends and community members renovate the interior and create a new therapeutic learning centre. By January, 2001, the Woodbridge campus of Shining Through was born.
As the founding families’ vision moved beyond the needs of their own families, Shining Through continued to grow. The goal became to create a world-class quality centre, wherein their children and others could find the best care available. To this end, they hired a staff of highly specialized behaviour therapists to create and execute personalized, evidence-based programs and provide training for the families to help learners in transferring the skills developed at the centre to their home.
As time went on, Shining Through grew, both in the number of learners and in its mandate. Before long, the Centre boasted a large number of serviced families, a social skills program, an annual Gala, academic publications, an annual training conference hosting internationally recognized educators and practitioners, and a parent outreach program that supports in-home education and intervention strategies. The Centre’s success was so extensive that learner loads started to exceed the capacity of the Woodbridge campus and Shining Through acquired three more centres; our North York Centre in 2008, our Mississauga Centre in 2012, and our Kleinburg Centre in 2015.
Shining Through Today
Today, Shining Through Centre is a recognized leader in the field of autism as a community learning and service provider, with four centres across the GTA. We offer therapy and educational services to help children and young adults with autism as well as increase autism awareness in our communities. Since 2001, we have helped hundreds of learners by remaining a close knit community working for a common goal; to help children and youth with autism reach their fullest potential.