Our Story - Faulkner University Center for Therapy & Research

The day Mike and Lisa Willams discovered their son was diagnosed with autism, it felt like a “bomb had gone off” in their home. The news changed their lives, but it didn’t mean they would give up on their son.

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The Vision

In June 2015, Mike Williams began his tenure as the 8th president of Faulkner University. He moved to Montgomery with his wife Lisa and 22-year-old son Quen. Knowing all too well the mixture of emotions that a parent feels when they are told their child will grow up with autism, Mike and Lisa had a plan and a vision for the future.

President Williams announced that plans were underway to create an autism center on Faulkner’s campus. The University reached out to Texas Tech University’s Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research to help with “best practices” and moved forward in developing a similar plan for Faulkner. Janice Magness, the director of the Transition Academy at the Burkhart Center, visited Faulkner and was excited to share the Williams’ vision to help those with autism learn on their own and be more independent.

“They are working to bring to Alabama state-of-the-art care for an important and growing segment of our population,” Magness said. “This program has the potential to transform lives in the southeastern part of the United States.”

The new center would be the first within nearly 100 miles of the River Region.

The Beginning

The first step toward the autism center was the opening of the Speech and Language Pathology Outpatient Clinic, located on Woodmere Blvd, in August 2018. The fully funded treatment clinic was well equipped and staffed to offer services across the lifespan. The new clinic was an exciting step for Faulkner University as the first public launch for the College of Health Sciences. “The opening of the clinic is coming to fruition with a lot of planning and sweat equity,” Mike Williams stated.

“We aspire to prepare Christian professionals who will boldly address societal challenges. As we examine the escalating tide of autism in the nation, we will be educating a new band of revolutionaries who will run towards broken humanity. The center will provide a place where faith, learning, and compassion collide.” – Mike Williams

To accomplish those goals, Faulkner founded the Faulkner College of Health Sciences in 2018. The Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program became the first graduate degree offered from the college. Additional graduate degrees soon followed: Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Occupational Therapy and a fully online Ph.D. in Health Sciences degree.

The Move

The outpatient clinic operated at the Woodmere Boulevard location until the fall of 2021. That August, the College of Health Sciences officially moved into a newly renovated 85,000-square-foot facility and 20,000 square feet was reserved for the outpatient clinic. The clinic operated with Speech Therapy only until the fall of 2023.

On October 24, 2023, the Alabama Department of Public Health granted Faulkner University a license to operate the Faulkner University Center for Therapy and Research as a fully licensed Rehabilitation Center. This allowed the clinic to expand its services from not only Speech Therapy but to include Occupational Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, with plans to soon include Physical Therapy. As each discipline was introduced, it not only benefited the neurodivergent population but also served the holistic needs of our community across the lifespan.

Coming Fall of 2024!

Clinic Patients Team College of Health Sciences

334-386-7351 | clinic@faulkner.edu | 5445 Atlanta Hwy. Montgomery, AL 36109