Little Star was founded in 2002 by the parents of a child with autism. Every 1 in 150 children born will be diagnosed with autism in some form. That is more than Down’s Syndrome, childhood cancers and cerebral palsy – put together. Yet autism receives less funding from government and health sources at all levels. In Indiana, help is particularly hard to find – health insurance covers less than one-third of children with autism – most have no access to insurance coverage for any treatment. Any state programs for treatment have waiting lists that are years long – there are currently 15,000 people on the waiting list for services with a wait of up to ten years.

This is the reality that Steele and Amy Gudal faced when their daughter, Gentry, was diagnosed with autism. But, they were lucky to have the resources of a successful family business and support. After much research, they found the treatment their daughter needed – Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy (ABA). ABA is the only treatment for autism that is endorsed by the Surgeon General and several state health departments and it is considered to be the best researched treatment by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The closest treatment facility was five states away – there were none in Indiana. Undaunted, the Gudals founded Little Star Center for their Gentry and for other families to join together to create the treatment their children needed.

The Gudals created a center model that is so unique, families from other states such as Florida, and as far away as Sri Lanka have come to learn about it and replicate it. Little Star Center is a not-for-profit therapy center run as a parent cooperative. With only one employee, the Director, the parents of Little Star pool their collective business skills, talents and love for their kids to run the center as a Parent Cooperative and fundraise to assure that the families at Little Star do not have to go bankrupt in order to care for their child. Families from Ohio and from as far away as California have moved to Indianapolis in order to obtain ABA services at Little Star.

Since its inception, Little Star has become a shining example of a grass-roots effort. Each year Little Star serves more children and families and offers support to the autism community.

Little Star was the first ABA center for children with autism in Indiana and celebrated its 5th Anniversary in September, 2007.

Tragically, in the Spring of 2006, Steele Gudal and Jim DeVoe were killed in a small plane crash. Amy remains involved with Little Star and serves on its Board of Directors.