Victoria Villa and Ashley Wilson spent years driving from Nogales to Tucson and Phoenix just to find doctors and therapists for their children. Now the two mothers have co-founded The Stimming Co., a nonprofit sensory-friendly gym and community resource center at 3241 North Grand Avenue, so other families in their border town do not have to make the same trip.
Two Moms, One Long Drive for Answers
As reported by KOLD, Nogales parents of autistic children have had to travel to Tucson or Phoenix for help, a gap the outlet ties to Nogales lacking resources as a rural border community. Villa said she expected her son's autism diagnosis around 18 months, describing a toddler who was not yet walking or speaking and who disliked certain textures. She also said travel itself was physically difficult for her son, who is sound-sensitive and has a sensitive stomach.
Wilson's daughter faced a different kind of setback. According to the same KOLD report, Wilson said her daughter began regressing after making developmental progress, and she was told her 3-year-old would need five to eight hours a day of autism therapy at a center in Tucson — a demand that, per Nogales International, helped push the pair toward building something closer to home.
What's Inside the Planned Gym
Nogales International describes The Stimming Co. as a sensory-friendly play space for students and a supportive community for parents, and the organization's own site, thestimmingco.org, calls itself a nonprofit sensory-friendly gym and community resource center for children, teens and adults with autism, ADHD and sensory needs. The planned gym is set to include a rock-climbing wall, crash pads, swings, a zip line, an air-tube ball wall, a padded area, a pretend-play corner and a sensory room, per Nogales International's reporting. That outlet notes the gym itself is still underway, even as The Stimming Co. already offers resources and a space for families to learn more about autism — a detail that stands alongside KOLD's framing of the facility as newly opened.
Beyond the equipment, the organization's website lists sensory-friendly events for all ages, from movie nights and art classes to seasonal celebrations, along with support groups, educational workshops and resource connections for families navigating autism, ADHD and sensory needs. The site also advertises flexible membership options and drop-in rates, with a first visit offered free. Per KOLD, access runs $15 a day, with memberships ranging from $45 to $105 a month.
A Wrapped Car and a Six-Figure Push
Villa and Ashley Wilson use a vehicle nicknamed Spectrum McQueen — a sports car wrapped to resemble Lightning McQueen from the Cars franchise — for community outreach, according to KOLD. The station reports the vehicle and The Stimming Co. space together cost $30,000, with the founders contributing $20,000 of that themselves.
South32 granted $10,000 to The Stimming Co., part of funding the mining company has directed toward 191 organizations in Santa Cruz County and nearly $1.5 million in grants since 2019, KOLD reports. Troy Kimball, identified by the station as South32's Hermosa community lead, said the company works with communities to help them achieve their goals.
Filling a Gap in a Border Town
KOLD describes The Stimming Co. as the first dedicated space in Nogales for children with autism. The need lines up with statewide figures from the Arizona Department of Economic Security, whose Division of Developmental Disabilities says it serves more than 59,000 people with developmental disabilities and their families across Arizona each year. The CDC's Arizona autism surveillance materials note that its monitoring program also provides outreach and training to students, parents, educators and clinicians, and that its data help guide autism research.
Similar sensory gyms have opened elsewhere in recent years. In Agoura Hills, California, We Rock the Spectrum Kid's Gym was built as an inclusive space focused on bringing together children of all abilities, including those on the autism spectrum, with equipment specially designed to help kids on the spectrum, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. That location offers open play, drop-off care, camps and birthday parties. In Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a franchise location of We Rock the Spectrum provides sensory-safe play and therapeutic equipment including rock walls and swings for sensory processing issues, per KRQE, which reports that gym is open seven days a week and costs $16 per child to play, alongside classes, camps, arts and crafts and open play.
Back in Nogales, Villa and Wilson's project is framed as a local answer to a need their own families experienced firsthand. KOLD's reporting credits the pair with turning years of long drives and difficult diagnoses into a resource meant to keep other Nogales families closer to home.
