Company Profile
May Institute
Company Overview
May Institute is a nonprofit organization that is a national leader in the field of applied behavior analysis, serving individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, brain injury and neurobehavioral disorders, and other special needs.
Founded nearly 65 years ago, we provide a wide range of exceptional educational and rehabilitative services across the lifespan.
The organization is one of the largest and most well-respected providers of services and special education schools for children and adults with autism and other special needs in Massachusetts and in the U.S.
May Institute has evolved into a national network that serves thousands of individuals and their families annually. With corporate headquarters in Randolph, Mass., the organization operates more than 140 service locations in more than a dozen states across the country.
Company History
Children with autism and other special needs were often institutionalized for life. Our founders, Dr. Jacques May and his wife, Marie Anne, had twin boys with autism and a vision of enabling their sons, and children like them, to lead the fullest lives possible. To achieve that goal, they opened a small school in Chatham, Mass.
Dr. and Mrs. May dedicated themselves to this community-based school where they would advance the quality of care for these children, and countless others to follow. The Mays developed the foundation for our organization today.
Today, May Institute is an award-winning national nonprofit organization that serves children and adults with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, brain injury and neurobehavioral disorders, and other special needs at more than 140 locations across the country.
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
May Institute is the first nonprofit human services organization in the country to receive top national honors from both the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (SABA) and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). May Institute received the Outstanding Training Program Award from ABCT and the Award for Enduring Programmatic Contributions in Behavior Analysis from SABA.
The organization continuously seeks and receives the highest level of program accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). All of May Institute’s programs that have been through the CARF accreditation process have earned three-year accreditation. This constitutes one of the largest and most comprehensive accreditations CARF has ever awarded to a network of behavioral programs.
Since 1978, the organization’s professional staff have published hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books. May Institute professionals are active in the dissemination of best practices, and have conducted thousands of invited presentations to international, national, and regional audiences.
The organization is guided by a Professional Advisory Board that includes leading authorities in the fields of education, developmental disabilities, and behavioral health. It maintains active affiliations with more than 50 universities, teaching hospitals, and human service organizations.
Over the past decade, May Institute has received nearly 50 awards for excellence in communications, public relations, and marketing from prominent New England organizations. The awards recognize initiatives that reinforce the Institute's goals of increasing awareness about significant public health issues, such as the rising incidence rates of autism, and creating opportunities for individuals to access critical information and services.
May Institute has provided behavior analysis training to hundreds of students and professionals from countries around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and West Africa.