For three years, Edward and Kim Reuter drove their autistic son Eddie, 18, back and forth from their home in Crystal Lake to Camelot School of DeKalb for treatment and education.

As Eddie grew older, his autism, along with severe behavioral problems, forced his parents to enroll their son at Camelot’s residential school in Des Plaines, where he would live and receive 24-hour one-on-one care.

“He was just getting too violent for us and the drive everyday was getting ridiculous,” Kim Reuter said. “We wanted him to continue to be at Camelot because they are so good with him. We could not handle him, but wanted him in their school.”

Soon he'lll be much closer to home, and still getting the schooling his parents had come to depend upon. Camelot is moving from its Des Plaines location to Crystal Lake, with the opening scheduled for February.

City officials and Camelot staff, including Harcourt, broke ground Thursday on the new 50,000-square-foot facility on Columbia Parkway near the Crystal Lake post office.

Harcourt said this is the first time that Camelot has designed and built solely for the children.

Mayor Aaron Shepley spoke of how thankful he was that Camelot chose Crystal Lake as its new location.

"I was talking to a Crystal Lake resident today who is considering moving to Naperville to receive the care their autistic child needs," he said. "I'm sure they don't even know about Camelot coming here. Now, we have those services here."

Eddie’s parents visit him once a week in Des Plaines, and see a major difference in their son.

“Once he entered high school, there was no school that would take him,” Reuter said. “We really fought for him to get transferred to Des Plaines. He just completed an …More