April is Autism Acceptance Month and for nearly half a century, GHA Autism Supports has served individuals from across North Carolina with autism spectrum disorder.

GHA has grown from an organization serving five children to an organization that supports more than 100 individuals in multiple programs providing residential, vocational, educational and community services.

GHA hosts visitors from all over the world who are interested in using similar practices in their native countries.

GHA and Alphind Healthcare launched an alliance to address fall risks at GHA’s newest program, Morrow Valley Farmstead, a 10-bed facility in Albemarle, that provides 24-hour health care services, telemedicine, electronic monitoring and whole-person coordinated care for individuals deemed medically fragile.

The program’s first admissions were in the fall of 2021, and GHA has partnered with Alphind since the inception of Morrow Valley.

Individuals with ASD are more at risk of falling and getting injured than their non-ASD peers, a GHA representative said.

In 2023, GHA launched Alphind’s Xealei (zee-lay), a motion sensing intelligence that is “always on” and is touchless and silent. All 10 residential suites at Morrow Valley are now equipped with Xealei.

“Since inception, Morrow Valley Farmstead has been GHA’s innovation engine. While our teaming up with Alphind turned it to a global showcase of digital health of the future, we have begun planning to implement Xealei in all GHA’s residential sites,” said Dawn Allen, chief executive officer for GHA Autism Supports.

“Healthcare practitioners around the world have a hard time ‘seeing’ the whole person through the siloed information systems they depend on. We’re so fortunate to have teamed up with GHA to accelerate the next shift in activating intelligence for whole person care,” said Ez Bala, founder and CEO of North Carolina-based Alphind Healthcare.