The Positivity Spectrum was officially formed as a nonprofit in June of 2024 when one local mother was having difficulty finding summer child care for her autistic son.
The idea for what became The Positivity Spectrum began with a mother’s frustrations over summer childcare needs in the fall of 2023 for her autistic son Jacob, and the difficulties of finding a place for him to go and also be with his friends.
Sarah Kovit Hanna is not only a busy single mother, but she also has a career as Senior Corporate Counsel for a Fortune 500 insurance company. Sarah adds, “Because of the needs associated with autistic children such as sensory breaks, challenges with transitions, and meltdowns, many camps and daycares will not take autistic children because in order to meet our children’s needs, they may upset the balance of required ratios of adults to children. My solution was to talk to a camp and see if there was a way for my son to have an aide so that he could still go to camp with his friends from school. Social and emotional development in kids with autism is critical, and oftentimes, our children regress over the summer because of lack of opportunities to continue practicing in a structured and supportive environment.”
Sarah first contacted the Longwood Branch of the Akron Area YMCA and worked with their team, including Olivia Kent who was her primary contact to build out a program that would work for her son. Sarah hired an aide to be on site with him and the YMCA screened her aide using their process, whilst accommodations of a sensory space were made for breaks as needed. These actions and process that Sarah implemented became the pilot for “The Positivity Spectrum’s Camp for Kids” program, which will be launching at additional YMCA locations, as well as accepting more children at the Longwood Branch next summer 2025`.
Currently, the group will be providing support for autistic children at summer camps. During the school year these children receive support through their respective school districts. Unless they qualify for an Extended School Year (ESY) program as part of the Individual Education Plan (IEP), all supports and structure that is received during the school year goes away during the summer months. This creates the regression gap and puts a heavy burden on autism parents to provide around the clock care and supplemental development and growth opportunities for their children. The need for support needs or special needs daycares exists as well and is something Sarah states she would love to support and work on in the future.
The Positivity Spectrum is offered in partnership with the Akron Area YMCA’s day camp programs. Their summer program lasts ten weeks and camp is from 9am-4pm daily with before and after care options available. Children who want to attend go through a two-step process to be eligible to attend. First, they apply through The Positivity Spectrum website when applications open in Spring of 2025. They provide information such as a copy of the child’s IEP and explanation of how the child’s autism manifest, since each child is different. They also indicate which weeks they want their child to attend camp. Using the information provided, the team of qualified autism experts, which consist of autism teachers and service providers, will review the suitability of the child for the program.
Once that determination is made, the YMCA will also have an opportunity to review the camper. Once accepted into the program, The Positivity Spectrum will work with the family to assign one of their vetted aides to support the child during camp.
One of the problems in the autism community is that there are not enough providers that take insurance who can get children in for the lengthy evaluation and diagnosis process. One of the services The Positivity Spectrum will be providing is to help families get faster access to diagnosis and evaluations. The Positivity Spectrum partners with local organizations, making it possible of track wait times, as well as provide private grants for families to go to one of the providers who are private pay. These partnered organizations tend to have very short wait lists and can get the evaluation process started more quickly. Once a child has a diagnosis, they are able to access the service providers for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), and Speech Language Pathology (SLP) that autistic children may need to thrive.
The Positivity Spectrum has a 501(c)(3) status and is currently pending with the IRS, and are expecting to receive approval this year. Receipts will be issued for all donations to show proof of donation. Once status has been approved with the IRS, all donations may be taken as a write off.
The Positivity Spectrum may be contacted in the following ways:
Facebook: @ThePositivitySpectrum
Instagram: @ThePositivitySpectrum
LinkedIn: (1) The Positivity Spectrum: Overview | LinkedIn
X: @SarahKovitHanna(Displays as The Positivity Spectrum)
In September, The Positivity Spectrum is conducting a fundraiser by having a virtual garage sale. A request is being made for the community to donate kids items, toys, housewares, decor, small furniture items, etc. (tax receipt available) for items to be sold at their September virtual garage sale. The event will be on Facebook and also on Facebook Marketplace. All proceeds from the sale will go directly into the nonprofit organization. Items can be dropped off or picked up. Please contact Sarah Kovit Hanna of The Positivity Spectrum to arrange donations.
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