Center for Social Change is a private nonprofit organization that supports children and adults with special needs including autism spectrum disorder. The Center is a strong advocate for personal choices in community living for individuals who are developmentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally challenged. The Center is a board-driven organization and has a 501(c)3 status under the IRS
code. Since 1993, it has been providing various services including residential, vocational, supported employment, medical adult day, therapeutic integration for children with autism, volunteering opportunities and advocacy to individuals with intellectual disabilities. CSC has the sensitivity and the skills needed to serve the individuals with multiple disabilities. The first individuals that CSC supported residentially in the community came from Rosewood Center, Maryland’s largest State institution. Because these individuals lived in the State institution for 30 to 40 years, their lives in the community presented us with challenges. However, they were successfully integrated into the community. Today, they continue to enjoy their lives in settings where they make choices about menus, activities, the decor of their homes, and staffs who support them. Vacations, picnics, bowling, movies, shopping at malls are choices that have become routine for these individuals. Where they are not capable of exercising their choice, surrogate decision-makers assist them in the task. Over the years since 1993, CSC expanded its services to more individuals with challenging behaviors, medically fragile and autistic in many counties of Maryland.
