UNLV coach, wife start nonprofit for autistic children

Years ago, Dave and Mindy Rice were frustrated.

They knew something was up with their son, but they couldn't get any answers from doctors.

Dylan was a toddler, but he wasn't talking. He wasn't hitting the milestones that other kids hit, including his older brother, Travis. They put Dylan in speech therapy classes.

A friend who had a child with autism mentioned it as a possibility. But doctors were split. Maybe it is; maybe it isn't.

Either way, there wasn't a whole lot of advice coming.

They turned to the Internet, but that was a mess of contradictions and an overwhelming amount of information. There was no way of knowing what was true and what wasn't.

Three years after they first noticed problems, the Rices saw a neurologist with a stellar reputation.

Yes, it's autism, the doctor said. Dylan will never be normal, he told them. Get used to it. Set up a trust fund for when he's grown. He'll need it.

"The frustrating part of what we call our journey is that it took three years," said Dave Rice, who took over last year as the head coach of the UNLV Rebels basketball team.

They weren't too happy with that doctor, either, who offered bad advice.

Today, Dylan is 9 years old. He is in a regular class and doing fine, though he does require extra help.

The Rices don't want other parents to go through what they went through. The answers are there, if you know where to look.

Both Dave and Mindy Rice are University of Nevada, Las Vegas graduates. Dave was part of the 1990 national championship team and later was an assistant coach.

When they returned to Las Vegas, they decided to use his high profile as the basketball coach to help other parents.

They set up the Dave Rice Foundation, a nonprofit that educates about developmental disorders, including autism.

The foundation recently made its first large donation, $100,000 to the UNLV Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The donation will be used to establish a comprehensive testing program available to the public. Fees will be based on income and other factors.

Shannon Crozier, the center's director, said such a program has been a goal at the center since it was established in 2006, "but there's never been enough money for it."

The center has been funded primarily through a grant.

She said parents with a child they believe might be autistic often don't know where to go.

"There's a tremendous need for diagnostic services in Las Vegas," she said.

Autism is not like a disease, where a person either has it or does not have it. Children diagnosed with autism are typically placed on a spectrum.

Some children, such as Dylan, are considered "high functioning," meaning they might have a few problems, but can generally function fine.

Autism symptoms typically appear in the first three years of life. The earlier a diagnosis, the more effective treatment can be.

There has been a vast increase in autism diagnoses in recent decades, but experts are unsure if this is because of an actual increase in occurrences or an increased ability to diagnose it.

Parents now have another option in Las Vegas, because of the donation.

"I know what we went through," Dave Rice said.

Parents will be able to bring their children to the UNLV on-campus center and meet with counselors. The staff will evaluate the child and make an assessment. If the child seems to fit on the autism spectrum, they will recommend a doctor. They will counsel the parents and tell them what they should expect.

"It allows you to zero in on the specific therapies that your child needs," Mindy Rice said.

With a diagnosis, she said, more help is available from the Clark County School District. She said Dylan is doing great in fourth grade. Although he does the same class assignments and homework as the other kids in his class, he does get help from a therapist.

"Having the diagnosis for school just sped up so many services," she said. "Dylan's progress through life has been just as much because of school as because of his therapy on the outside."

Crozier said the center will also offer training for health and education professionals who work with autistic children. They will offer follow-up support for the parents, too, such as workshops and meetings with other parents of autistic children.

No one should be stuck with Google as their only means of support, Crozier said.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.