Community Highlights: Meet Barbara Rodriguez of Able Autism Therapy Services – Snellville Location

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Rodriguez.

Hi Barbara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Barbara Rodriguez. I am a wife, a mom, a child of God, a chemical engineer, a parent advocate, and the owner of Able Autism Therapy Services – Snellville Location. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and currently live in Georgia with my beautiful family.
My story and journey as a parent advocate and business owner started with my son’s Autism diagnosis in 2021. I am the mom of a beautiful boy on the spectrum with amazing abilities that also come along with daily challenges and opportunities. After his diagnosis, I became heavily involved in the autism world. I started attending workshops, educational conferences, and support groups to gain knowledge and skills that could help me help my child while learning to strongly advocate for his needs. I spent endless hours researching and looking for services. I also spent a lot of time waiting in therapy clinics, which made me realize there was a big need for resources and therapy services. Our kid and family benefited greatly from therapy interventions, and we became very passionate about helping other kids and families like us. I was sure I wanted to be part of the solution and that I wanted to provide support to other families like us.
The thought of opening a therapy clinic came to mind multiple times. The need for services was and continues to be surreal. Special needs parents spend long hours looking for resources and therapy services, and the wait to start services can take up to several months. Meanwhile, our kids are losing valuable resources and support. Realizing the need for services and wanting to be part of the solution, my husband and I decided to explore the autism therapy business and became owners of an autism therapy clinic. With our background and experience in leadership, business administration, capital projects and budget management, and our personal journey with autism; opening a therapy clinic to help and serve our autism community was a dream come true. Our clinic has been open for 2 months now and we are proudly serving our community with high quality services, respect, integrity, love and purpose.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our road has been everything but smooth. A friend (and special needs mom) and I always say that our life is anything but boring.
Raising children with special needs excludes you from what society calls “the norm” and with that comes isolation. That has been difficult but not my biggest struggle. My biggest struggle as a mom is the uncertainty of how the future will look like for my kid. Thus, my inspiration for becoming a business owner that wants to be part of the solution and support system.
Like any other business, the rewarding moments come with a lot of sacrifice and a big responsibility. Although our business is too new to describe the struggles in detail, I’m sure there are many to come. I should also say that with every struggle, there is growth, learning and the opportunity to become a better provider. To this day the biggest struggle has been my eagerness to help as many families as possible in the short amount of time we have been open. As much as I want to help everyone, there are processes in place that need to be followed, and it’s not always possible. The road ahead of us will not be smooth, and that’s ok, what is important to me is to continue growing a company that strives for respect, integrity, trust, and purpose.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Able Autism Therapy Services – Snellville Location is a Franchisee for Able Autism Therapy Services LLC, a well-recognized and reliable ABA therapy provider for children diagnosed with Autism ages 18 years and below. With our clinic based in Snellville, Georgia, we are ready to serve our community. A community we see and understand from first-hand experience. We are not just a provider; we are parents who live with autism every day at home and who know from first-hand experience what families like us go through. In our clinic we provide ABA therapy, which will be supplemented with speech and occupational therapy. We have a big passion for helping other kids and families like us, and we will serve our community with the same excellence and quality as I expect my kid and family to be served. To all our Hispanic families out there, we speak Spanish!

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
People very close to me know this, but not everyone may know that I really enjoy cooking, baking, and crafting. My daughter always says that her dad is a good fixer, and I am a good baker. On the other hand, fun fact, I try very hard but I am not good at keeping plants alive…not even a cactus.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ableaba.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/able_autism_therapy_snellville/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/Able-Autism-Therapy-Services-Snellville-Location/61572104354839/