Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Behavioural science

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Behavioural science

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus‎ tending towards keep. Stifle (talk) 07:53, 29 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Autism Services Center

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

I contend that the article subject (a business that primarily administers applied behavior analysis to autistic people) does not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines.

The article currently cites eight references. References 1 and 5 are primary sources (the subject's own website). Reference 2 is an obituary of the subject's founder, which contains a trivial mention of the subject. Reference 3 is an interview/profile with/of the subject's founder, which contains trivial mentions of the subject. Reference 4 is a discussion of the film Rain Man, which contains a trivial mention of the subject. Reference 6 is a brief local news story covering the opening of a new business ___location by the subject. Reference 7 is a commercial segment paid for by the article subject that aired on a local TV station. Reference 8 is a local news story about applied behavior analysis providers in the area that only mentions the subject in photo captions (and not in the body of the story).

Of the eight references described above, I would say that only reference 6 represents material coverage by a reliable, high-quality secondary source. While I acknowledge that the founder of the business (Ruth C. Sullivan) was a notable public figure, having a famous owner/founder does not, in and of itself, warrant a standalone article. There are countless celebrity-owned/celebrity-founded businesses that do not meet Wikipedia's notability standards, and this is one of them.

It should also be noted that this article misclassifies the subject as a "hospital." Neither the article subject nor any secondary sources have ever labeled the subject as such.

Because the article subject does not appear to meet notability guidelines and Wikipedia is not a business directory, I suggest this article be deleted outright until such time as it does meet notability guidelines. DoItFastDoItUrgent (talk) 19:03, 5 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Disability, Business, Behavioural science, and West Virginia. DoItFastDoItUrgent (talk) 19:03, 5 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Delete as a non-notable organization. I couldn't find notable coverage of the organization that would meet WP:SIRS: nearly everything was in reference to Ruth C. Sullivan. In the scholarly literature, there's only one passing mention in a 2012 book chapter about a different clinic^[1] but nothing establishing notability. I also disagree with the nomination's statement that reference 6 represents material coverage by a reliable, high-quality secondary source: Dicristofaro (2025) is simple WP:ORGTRIV ("standard notices, brief announcements, and routine coverage ... of the opening or closing of local branches"). Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 19:36, 5 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Changing to a keep. After this obscenely uncivil comment, I'm going to take it on good faith that the subject is a regional health service with national recognition. As I noted below in my source review, one article does describe the organization as "one of the largest employers in Huntington". As such, I've expanded the article and added reliable sources. This note about it being the first group home in the state seems notable enough for me. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 19:30, 8 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Delete as per above. I want to point out that we had several proposals for notability for health care centers, but all of them failed to be adapted by consensus. So we are left with a lack of significant coverage in reliable sources. Bearian (talk) 03:24, 6 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. None of the sourcing in the article would lend sufficient notability for a standalone article, and there is no appropriate merge target. Additional searches didn't turn up anything additional beyond WP:ROTM coverage in local news outlets. nf utvol (talk) 11:08, 6 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Obvious Keep. I find it astonishing that the above posters didn't bother looking in reliable sources that might actually have non–"run of the mill" coverage. I also find particularly disingenuous the claim that the Autism Services Center can't inherit notability from its founder being a celebrity; Ruth Sullivan was not a "celebrity"—and her notability comes from founding and running the Autism Services Center and related Autism Society of West Virginia and West Virginia Autism Training Center—so this reasoning is completely circular (for more context, see her New York Times obituary). But if anyone had actually searched for sources: here are some of the results from the first two of twelve pages of search results for "Autism Services Center" in the Herald-Dispatch website, noting that it's only searchable for results from the last eighteen years or so out of the more than forty-five year history of the ASC:

October 16, 2007: New director named for Autism Services Center. This article describes what the center does in more detail, mentioning that it provides services for 285 disabled clients across four counties.
July 21, 2008: Honors to recently retired Autism Services Center director Ruth Sullivan from the Autism Society of America include a stipend of $500 to the Autism Services Center.
April 19, 2008: Increasing demand for autism services; article describes services provided by the Autism Services Center and related organizations, and the efforts made to raise funds for them.
July 26, 2008: Autism Services Center receives 2008 "Excellence in Media Award" by the Autism Society of America.
January 21, 2009: Local groups preparing for 8th Annual Walk for Autism to be held on April 25, after 400 people participated the previous year. For the past eight years, the Autism Services Center has partnered with the Huntington Area Autism Society and Autism Training Center to raise awareness.
March 11, 2009: Autism Services Center has grown considerably over the last 30 years, and now includes two offices, ten group homes, and 400 employees, and provides training for people dealing with developmental disabilities throughout the United States.
March 28, 2009: Gallery of photos from Autism Services Center's 30th anniversary celebration.
May 1, 2009: Fund raisers to benefit the Autism Services Center, Huntington Area Autism Society, and Autism Training Center, along with the Walk for Autism.
April 11, 2011: Reception planned at Autism Services Center to recognize the importance of legislation providing health coverage for autism recently signed into law by the governor.
May 19, 2016: Autism Services Center helps establish similar services for families in Argentina.
February 25, 2013: Rally for Autism planned for April 27 to benefit the Autism Services Center and related organizations.
October 4, 2016: New director named for Autism Services Center.
May 27, 2019: Autism Services Center marks 40 years with new facility (separate gallery posted on the same occasion).
December 14, 2019: Marathon Marine Transportation donates $5,000 to Autism Services Center.
May 2, 2022: 21st Annual Ruth Sulivan Rally for Autism Walk/Run fundraiser at Ritter Park to benefit Autism Services Center and related organizations.

I also note that while, as a regional organization that seldom attracts national news coverage, the Autism Services Center has been involved in national and international outreach for autism services for a very long time. From American Rehabilitation, vol. 5, No. 4 (1980): "A national autism hotline has been funded recently by the Maryland DD Law Project under a one-year contract with Autism Services Center of Huntington, West Virginia. The purpose of the new service is to assist in providing advocacy, technical assistance and case management to parents and professionals..."

It's true that most mentions beyond the local region are simply directory listings or mentions in connection with profiles of Ruth Sullivan—who is really inseparable from the organizations that she founded and led—but that's precisely what you would expect to find with regional organizations. The policies copypastaed here describe "routine" things—things only found in directories, like tract homes, street names, local schools. The Autism Services Center is one of the most important entities in and around Huntington; certainly as notable as local restaurants, museums, or media outlets. It is clearly not one of thousands of fungible clinics, like Dr. Shmoe's podiatry down the block. That it should have been nominated for deletion—and that nomination supported by other editors, without even an attempt to consult the most likely sources—is mind-boggling.

Of course it would be great to have detailed nationwide coverage from lots of sources; but that's never going to happen with institutions of local or regional significance, unless there's a mass shooting or a plane crash involved, and as I've had to point out repeatedly at AFD, West Virginia is a news desert; the chief newspapers of record are paywalled, unindexed, minimally available through third-party resources. The local television news sources are largely unsearchable despite having covered the events. So the fact that so much information was readily available over the internet says a lot about this nomination. P Aculeius (talk) 14:55, 6 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Source review:

October 16, 2007: ORGTRIV, "of the hiring, promotion, or departure of personnel"
July 21, 2008: primarily about Sullivan, as mentioned by the nomination. $500 is not a notable budget item for a medical organization so it seems like ORGTRIV, "of non-notable awards received by the organization, its people, or products" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
April 19, 2008: article is about autism in the region and only mentions Autism Service Center alongside other organizations ORGTRIV "as an example of a type of company or product being discussed"
July 26, 2008: might be notable if there was context explaining the award. There are no mentions of this award elsewhere in the encyclopedia so as it stands it's ORGTRIV, "of non-notable awards received by the organization, its people, or products"
January 21, 2009: ORGTRIV, "of sponsorship of events, non-profit organizations, or volunteer work" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
March 11, 2009: finally some potential notability, with quotes like "people travel across the United States to learn from the award-winning Autism Services Center" and "Autism Services Center benefits the community and is also one of the largest employers in Huntington". These still need context as they read as puffery to me.
March 28, 2009: huh? Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
May 1, 2009: ORGTRIV, "of sponsorship of events, non-profit organizations, or volunteer work" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
April 11, 2011: ORGTRIV, "of the participation in industry events, such as trade fairs or panel discussions" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
May 19, 2016: this is a local news story about two Argentinians traveling to Huntington to briefly tour the facility. It might be workable for NORG but I really don't see it.
February 25, 2013: ORGTRIV, "of sponsorship of events, non-profit organizations, or volunteer work" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
October 4, 2016: ORGTRIV, "of the hiring, promotion, or departure of personnel"
May 27, 2019: ORGTRIV, "of the opening or closing of local branches, franchises, or shops"
December 14, 2019: ORGTRIV, "of a capital transaction, such as raised capital" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?
May 2, 2022: ORGTRIV, "of sponsorship of events, non-profit organizations, or volunteer work" Also, there's no link or citation to support this?

I think you should really familiarize yourself with the notability guideline for organizations as this list was exhausting to review. You should especially check the tone of your comments in discussions, as statements like the above posters didn't bother looking in reliable sources, if anyone had actually searched for sources, That it should have been nominated for deletion—and that nomination supported by other editors, without even an attempt to consult the most likely sources—is mind-boggling and the claim that keeping is obvious are unproductive and outright insulting to your fellow editors. Half of your sources don't have citations, so I can't even check them, and the ones with links are to a paywalled news source which took me time to verify. I did spend time looking for sources before arguing for deletion, and noted as much in my comment. To your comment that West Virginia is a news desert; the chief newspapers of record are paywalled, unindexed, minimally available through third-party resources: verifiability is a policy on here. If sources exist, include them in the article. Nobody is saying the article needs online sources, only that the ones currently in the article are all junk and it was very difficult to find anything else to support a claim of notability. Half the article is currently about a movie character being inspired by a former patient of the facility! Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 15:00, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Dan Leonard Thank you for that source review. Your time and effort was more than I was willing to put in! I echo your concerns regarding the tone of some of the above statements. nf utvol (talk) 18:49, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Keep - After P Aculeius’s thorough source review and Dan Leonard’s thoughtful improvements to the article, it’s clear this healthcare center is more than notable enough for Wikipedia. The references show solid, independent coverage from reliable sources, meeting the WP:GNG and proving the subject’s relevance. The article should be kept. Herinalian (talk) 19:16, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Relisting comment: I initially closed this as keep, but per my talk, coming from a more experienced admin. Relisting for a clear consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Vanderwaalforces (talk) 21:16, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

^ Rotatori, Anthony F.; Deisigner, Julie A.; Wahlberg, Timothy J.; Burkhardt, Sandra; Obiakor, Festus E. (2012). "An innovative community-based clinic that serves individuals with autism spectrum disorders". In Deisigner, Julie A.; Burkhardt, Sandra; Wahlberg, Timothy J.; Rotatori, Anthony F.; Obiakor, Festus E. (eds.). Autism Spectrum Disorders: Inclusive Community for the Twenty-First Century. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1-61735-782-4. OCLC 794489059. OL 16531697W.

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Fade258 (talk) 01:16, 20 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Delete: Ruth Sullivan seems more notable then this institution, most sources are about Ruth. I'm not sure this Center is much different than any other center offering similar services. Oaktree b (talk) 02:38, 20 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
What do you think about this quote about the organization being the first group home in the state, changing the landscape of treatment during the deinstitutionalization movement? While the organization is probably not unique now, notability covers the whole life of the organization so I think it was at least notable during this deinstitutionalization era. Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 19:02, 20 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Passes WP:ORGCRIT per the source analysis by Dan Leonard. I'm not seeing a comparatively strong argument from the deletion side.4meter4 (talk) 22:08, 27 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Keep- Given the improvements done on the article to improve its notability and cleanups done.Lorraine Crane (talk) 22:29, 27 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

Behavioural science proposed deletions

[Rotatori_et_al_2012-1] Rotatori, Anthony F.; Deisigner, Julie A.; Wahlberg, Timothy J.; Burkhardt, Sandra; Obiakor, Festus E. (2012). "An innovative community-based clinic that serves individuals with autism spectrum disorders". In Deisigner, Julie A.; Burkhardt, Sandra; Wahlberg, Timothy J.; Rotatori, Anthony F.; Obiakor, Festus E. (eds.). Autism Spectrum Disorders: Inclusive Community for the Twenty-First Century. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1-61735-782-4. OCLC 794489059. OL 16531697W.

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