The Shining Light in Autism Awareness: Part II

Part II of Dr. Carter's guest blog post gives you more insight into her background, experience and all that her company, CARAFAP, does daily including her latest venture for entrepreneurs of all ages.

Dr. Amanda Carter attended Shaw University located in Raleigh, North Carolina for undergraduate studies and successfully completed the required course work in three years with honors with a major in Psychology. She obtained her Master’s at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, she enrolled into a Doctoral program at Argosy University for two semesters and transferred to Nova Southeastern University located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In June 2014, she graduated with a Doctoral degree maintaining a GPA of 3.96.  Her dissertation was conducted in East Haddam, Connecticut which addressed Parental Perceptions for Adolescents diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Dr. Carter’s area of expertise includes Autism Spectrum Disorder and mental health. In November 2014, Dr. Carter founded her own organization, Care and Recreational Activities for Autistic People (CARAFAP, LLC). The mission of CARAFAP, LLC is to provide recreational, respite, special events, behavioral, and consulting services for individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome. CARAFAP’s goal is to create a supportive environment where individuals with disabilities are free to be themselves without being pigeonholed by societal norms and expectations. Additionally, CARAFAP offers non-traditional therapies which include incorporation of animals, music, and art therapy in an effort to create supportive environments to enhance an individual’s motivational interest. To date, CARAFAP is a for profit entity and CARAFAP Foundation is an active 501c3 organization.

CARAFAP, LLC has employed 20 staff members and services clients in DC, MD, VA and abroad. CARAFAP accepts private pay, certain insurances, and clients on the autism waiver in the state of Maryland.  CARAFAP has received numerous awards, recognized by the city council and the mayor of Delaware for providing exceptional community based services. Dr. Carter has appeared copious times on local, national, international television and radio to spread autism awareness and advocacy. She has become a well sought out speaker who often presents at large forums. She has coordinated and participated in 5k events for children diagnosed with autism and is a member of Empowerment Temple located in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Dr. Carter has also contributed to the community by raising a service dog for a child diagnosed autism, and to date she trained her own therapy dog to help bring forth autism awareness. She enjoys riding horses, reading, traveling, and spending time with her family and fiancé. Dr. Carter and her fiancé have started a new financial literacy program which is open to individuals of all ages which addresses government contracts, marketing, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy for business owners and those interested in taking their lives to the next level.
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"I built my company from scratch, invested my own money, quit my job at 27 years old, attended conferences, spent copious hours reading, researching and studying successful business owners. My success has motivated me to teach others how to get started and establish a profitable entity. This is one of the many projects that has come to fruition. We're so excited to offer this service through our foundation. If you want to learn about government contracting this class is for you!" -Dr. Amanda Carter, CEO of CARAFAP

CARE AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR AUTISTIC PEOPLE, CARAFAP6710 Oxon Hill Road Suite 210
Oxon Hill, Maryland 20746
301-235-3093
1-888-951-6370
Website: www.carafap.com
FaceBook: CARAFAP
E-mail: [email protected]