The Mendability Story

1940’s

Animal Studies, Environmental Enrichment, Brain Plasticity

Environmental Enrichment Animal Studies

Since the late 1940’s animal studies have shown that enriching the environment leads to improvements in brain development, including Temple Grandin’s work on the “Effect of rearing environment and environmental enrichment on behavior and neural development in young pigs.”

1990’s

Creation of Sensory Enrichment Therapy™ by Claudie Pomares

Claudie Gordon-Pomares Sensory Enrichment Therapy

In the 1990’s, the clinician Claudie Pomares, M.Sc., M.S.Ed. organized and adapted the protocols used in animal studies into therapeutic games that parents could do with their children and then she began the implementation of these programs in daycares and schools in France.

2010

Pilot Clinical Trial on Autism with Michael Leon at University of California Irvine

Michael Leon, UCI
Michael Leon, Ph.D.
Department of Neurobiology & Behavior
University of California, Irvine

In 2010 Michael Leon, PhD, who had discovered the benefits of combining smell and touch sensory inputs, was the first to do an evaluation of the effectiveness of Sensory Enrichment Therapy on a population of children with autism.

2011

Mendability® is Founded

Mendability Logo 2021

In 2011, these successes led entrepreneur and philanthropist, Eyal Aronoff to invest in the development of Mendability. The base of Mendability is an expert system that collated all the therapy protocols used and then automated the customization of the therapy to suit age, challenges, and developmental level. On top of that base, Mendability built a web application to deliver the therapy over the Internet.

Mr. Aronoff explains: “When I found Sensory Enrichment Therapy, Claudie Pomares was the only provider and it was expensive. I built Mendability around the idea that it should be easy to access and affordable.”

2013

Publication in Behavioral Neuroscience

Mendability announces award for autism research paper from the American Psychological Association
Mendability announces award for autism research paper from the American Psychological Association

In May 2013, the results were published by the American Psychological Association’s journal: “Behavioral Neuroscience.” These results were recognized by the American Psychological Association with the prestigious D.G. Marquis Award for best Neuroscience paper for 2013.

2014

World Class Leadership

Rich Bohne, CEO of Mendability (2014-2017)

In April 2014 Mendability was incorporated in the United States and Rich Bohne was named as the company’s CEO.

Bohne has 25 years of experience in sales and sales management in the software industry, most recently managing the Americas’s software business for Dell. He is also the father of a teenage daughter with autism.

2015

Second Study Confirms Again that Sensory Enrichment Therapy™ Is an Effective Autism Treatment

Mendability-Telehealth-Autism-Therapy_03

Following the success of the first clinical study of Sensory Enrichment Therapy as an effective autism treatment, the replication study was completed and published. The results again show that Sensory Enrichment Therapy is effective in reducing the symptoms of autism.

Rapid Growth

Mendability Building American Fork Utah in 2016

Since its incorporation, the company, headquartered in American Fork, Utah, is experiencing rapid growth and is continuing to enhance the therapy and the important service that is offered to families.

2017

Health Professionals Can Now Certify in Sensory Enrichment Therapy

Mendability World Map Directory of Certified Partners in Sensory Enrichment Therapy

After a successful pilot training course for professionals in 2016, Mendability developed the online certification course and currently has over 250 certified therapists worldwide.

2020

Sensory Enrichment in School Districts

Sensory Enrichment Therapy for Schools

In 2020, Mendability launched a program at the Grand Prairie independent school district in Texas.

The program contains an implementation of an enriched environment for special needs children in a group setting.

The program is now growing in School Districts through the US and Canada.

2022

Sensory Enrichment in Addiction Recovery Centers and Youth Residential Programs

Young woman with autism and other learning disabilities using laptop for remote learning

In 2022, Mendability launched its first addiction recovery program with great success, greatly multiplying the effect of current standard practices for more resilience and a lower dependence.


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