Kingwood clinic serving children with autism says thieves stole 2 air conditioning units

KINGWOOD, Texas (KTRK) — Temperatures in the Houston area continue to sit in the upper 90s. It’s not a time when you’d want to be without air conditioning. Yet, one clinic in Kingwood said it’s struggling with fewer AC units after two were stolen from them.

Spectacular Kids ABA Therapy and Consulting serves 21 children with autism and developmental differences. CEO and Founder Dana Harris said they noticed the two AC units were stolen on Wednesday, and they reported it to the Houston Police Department. She said the officer suspected whoever took the units got them to sell the copper inside.

“The day that this occurred, we had to close,” Harris said. “All of our families were impacted. Our babies didn’t get services that day. Our staff didn’t receive pay that day.”

Without those units, Harris said their therapy rooms are too hot for anyone to be in them. They’ve had to make adjustments and move their services to other parts of their building.

“It is definitely a lot tighter. There’s more kiddos in the room. It’s a little bit louder,” Harris said. “They’re not able to come and follow their usual routines, which is really important for children with autism in particular.”

Harris said this setback is turning out to be an extremely costly one.

“It’s averaging around $34,000 to replace the two units. That’s not something that we can just pull out of our pockets,” Harris said. “Our landlord has been absolutely amazing to kind of help speed things along financially to get these replaced and, you know, allowing us to pay back systematically.”

The clinic hopes to get new AC units installed this Wednesday. After that, Harris said she’s considering adding cages around the units as an extra safety measure.

“It definitely puts you in an uncomfortable space. This is my second home,” Harris said. “To know that it’s been violated and, you know, things have been removed from a place that we feel very secure in… it’s really disheartening.”