These Terms of Service (“Terms”) set forth the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the website located at autism.expandshare.com (the “Site”) and the services and other materials offered thereon, including e-mails as further described below, which are made available to you by the Autism Treatment Center of America® and the Option Institute®. By accessing this Site, you agree that you have read and understand these Terms and any posted update and that you accept and agree to be bound by them. If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms, please do not continue to use this Site.
Privacy Policy
Personally identifying information is subject to our Privacy Policy, the terms of which are incorporated herein. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand our practices.
Limitations on Use
The Service is a computer online interactive website service (the “Service”). It is accessible to you upon initial purchase for 9 months through a personal computer, or other mobile access device. In its sole discretion, the Option Institute® (“Option Institute” or “Option”) may discontinue or alter any aspect of the Service, including but not limited to: (i) restricting the availability and/or scope of the Service for certain platforms (i.e., computer types and operating systems); (ii) restricting the time of availability; (iii) restricting the amount of use permitted; and (iv) restricting or terminating any user’s right to use all or part of the Service, at any time at the Option Institute’s sole discretion and without prior notice or liability.
Rules for Online Conduct
You agree to use the Site in accordance with all applicable laws. You are responsible for your own communications, including the upload, transmission and posting of information and are responsible for the consequences of posting on or through the Site. Option Institute does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify or agree with the comments, opinions or other statements made public at the Site and any information or material sent by visitors through any interactive services that may be available at the Site. Such information and material represents the view and is the responsibility of those visitors and does not necessarily represent the views of the Option Institute. The personal information you submit to Option is governed by the Privacy Policy. You agree that you will not upload or transmit any communications or content of any type to the Site public areas including but not limited to the Support Network Forums, Facebook communications, Site message boards and blogs, testimonials, and user reviews (the “Public Areas“) that infringe or violate any rights of any party. By submitting communications or content to the Public Areas, you agree that such submission is non-confidential for all purposes. If you make any such submission you agree that you will not send or transmit to Option by email, (including through the email addresses listed on the “Contact Us” page) or any other communication means any communication or content that infringes or violates any rights of any party. If you submit any business information, idea, concept or invention to Option by email, you agree such submission is non-confidential for all purposes. If you make any submission to a Public Area or if you submit any business information, idea, concept or invention to Option by email or other communication means, you automatically grant-or warrant that the owner of such content or intellectual property has expressly granted Option a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display the communication or content in any media or medium, or any form, format, or forum now known or hereafter developed. Option may sublicense its rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses. If you wish to keep any business information, ideas, concepts or inventions private or proprietary, do not submit them to the Public Areas or to Option by email. You agree that you will not misuse the Site. Among other acts, your conduct constitutes misuse if you:
- Distribute, disseminate, post, or publish any information or material that degrades, embarrasses, harasses, humiliates, intimidates, or threatens any individual or group of individuals on the basis of their age, ancestry, color, ethnicity, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, sex, sexual orientation, union or nonunion affiliation, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law or ordinance;
- Abuse, defame, harass, stalk, threaten, or otherwise violate others’ legal rights, including but not limited to rights of privacy and publicity;
- Download or upload files that may damage the operation of another’s computer, such as computer viruses, corrupt files, or similar software;
- Download or upload files that contain materials, including but not limited to software that violates the intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights of others unless you own, control, or have been authorized to exercise such rights;
- Misrepresent or omit the origin or source of any file you download or upload;
- Download or upload files that do not contain the posted proprietary language, author attributions, and/or copyright, patent, or trademark notices;
- Distribute, disseminate, post, or publish any indecent, infringing, obscene, or unlawful information or material;
- Download or upload files that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed through the Site;
- Copy or create derivative works from, display, distribute, license, perform, publish, recreate, reproduce, sell, transfer, or transmit any information, products, services, or software obtained by, from, or through the Site;
- Take any action that will or could impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our site infrastructure; or
- Engage in any other conduct that is, or that the Option Institute deems to be, in conflict with these Terms.
What constitutes misuse, whether listed above or not, is determined at the sole discretion of the Option Institute. The Option Institute forbids misuse of the Site reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account and to refuse any further use of the Site by you for any misuse.
Additional Restrictions and Prohibited Uses
Option limits the uses of the uses of the account. Except without the expressed written permission you shall not:
- Attempt to access the Site and Services on more than four devices without prior written permission from Option;
- Attempt to impersonate another person or use another person’s account information without authorization;
- Use or distribute the Materials for your own scientific or clinical research purposes;
- Violate or attempt to violate Option’s security features, including logging into a server that you are not authorized to access, or probing the vulnerability of Option systems and networks;
- Redistribute, decompile, reverse engineer, publish, or copy any part of the Site, including cracking its source files;
- Use the Site for the purpose of creating a product with a substantially similar look, feel, design or similar therapeutic approach;
- Access or search the Site by any means other than our publicly supported interfaces (for example, “scraping”);
- Interfere with the use of the Site by others or their enjoyment of the Site;
- Resell or otherwise offer for sale the Site or elements of the Site to other parties;
- Use any trademarks, exercise names, trade names, service marks, copyrights, or logos of Option, in unsolicited mailings, spam material, contests or surveys, or to create the impression that such items are associated with you;
- Violate any third party’s rights, including intellectual property or privacy rights;
- Engage in activity in connection that is fraudulent, abusive, defamatory, illegal or otherwise inappropriate.
Member Services
Certain features of the Site are only available to users who purchase a membership plan or subscription plan collectively known as “Member Services“. The Member Services are not intended to be used by any person under the age of eighteen (18) years old. Should you choose to purchase or subscribe to certain Member Services, you agree as follows:
When you purchase a membership plan to access the Site, you will be billed for one payment for the entire plan you chose. At this time we are unable to provide reimbursements for any membership plan.
When you purchase a subscription plan you agree to automatic renewal and you expressly authorize us to use the payment information on file to charge the renewal fee. You may cancel the automatic renewal at any time before the renewal date by contacting our Customer Service in writing. We do not offer refunds for renewal payments for monthly subscriptions after the monthly subscription fee has been charged to your account. We do not prorate refunds or offer partial refunds
Our prices may change in the future. We will notify you at the time of any price change, and provide you an opportunity to change or cancel your subscription before applying those changes to your account or changing your payment details in connection with an automatic renewal.
Once you have registered, you will have a Site account. Option Institute has the right, at any time, to place certain limits on your account.
Once you have registered for the Member Services, you hereby consent to receive periodic email communications from Option Institute, which may include new product and service offers and other Site information (“Member Emails“). You may choose to opt out of Member Emails; however, Option reserves the right to contact you via email at any time with respect to your Site account and your use of the Member Services.
Member Services charges begin on the date you register for the Member Services. You agree to pay, using a valid credit card (or other form of payment which Option may accept from time to time), the fixed and periodic charges and fees (including any prepayment plan fees for multiple periods) set forth on the Site, applicable taxes, and other charges and fees incurred in order to access the Member Services. The charges and fees on the Site are expressed in US dollars and your credit card or other account will be charged in US dollars. You acknowledge and agree that you will not receive a bill in the mail for your subscription to the Member Services. Option will not refund any amounts paid except at its sole discretion on a case-by-case basis, and will not refund any coupons or additional fees. Recurring subscription fees paid by credit card will automatically renew, unless you affirmatively cancel your subscription prior to the beginning of the next applicable period for which the subscription corresponds. If your Member Services are terminated and are then reinstated, the subscriber will be required to pay any new charges and fees set forth on the Site, including but not limited to, registration fees. Option reserves the right to increase charges and fees, or to institute new charges or fees at any time, upon reasonable advance notice communicated to you through a posting on the Site or such other means as Option may deem appropriate from time to time (including email or conventional mail).
Option reserves the right to change promotion availability, amounts, and exclusivity at any time. Some promotions are exclusive and cannot be combined with other promotions. Coupons must have a valid expiry date and can only be used by one account once. Option is not responsible for and will not refund or re-issue lost or previously used coupons, except at its sole discretion. Valid coupons can be used in conjunction with promotion codes, but many promotions are exclusive and you will only be entitled to one promotion in the set of all exclusive promotions.
In the event Option cannot charge your account, Option reserves the right to terminate your access to the Member Services.
In addition to the fees and charges set forth above, you are responsible for all charges and fees associated with connecting to the Site and the Member Services, including without limitation all telephone access lines (including long-distance charges, when applicable), internet service provider fees, telephone and computer equipment, sales taxes and any other fees and charges necessary to access the Site and the Member Services.
For purposes of your use of the Member Services including identification and billing, you agree to provide Option with true, accurate and complete information as required by the membership or sign up process to Member Services (“Account Data“), including your legal name, address, telephone number, email address and applicable billing information (e.g., credit card number and expiration date), and to allow Option to share your Account Data with third parties for the purpose of verifying the information you provide and billing your credit card or otherwise charging your account. You agree to maintain and promptly update the Account Data to keep it accurate. Without limiting any other provision of the Terms and Conditions of Use, if you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, or Option has reasonable grounds to suspect that such is the case, Option reserves the right to suspend or terminate your membership or subscription and refuse any and all current or future use by you of the Site (or any portion thereof) or any of the Member Services. You are obligated to check the Site to determine whether your Account Data is current and accurate, and, if not, to correct or update your Account Data including your billing information. You agree to promptly notify Option of any changes to your credit card or other billing information while any subscriptions remain outstanding.
All late payments of invoices shall accrue interest at the lower of (a) 1.5% per month (18% per annum) or (b) the maximum lawful rate, in each case on the unpaid balance then due until payment is made in full. If you fail to pay any amount when due, we shall be entitled, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies, to immediately cancel the Service and access to the Site and recover from you all costs and expenses of collection incurred by us (including costs of investigation and reasonable attorneys’ fees).
Registration Account and Password
You will receive a username and password as part of the registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account and all activities that occur in connection with these. You agree to immediately notify the Option Institute of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security.
Monitoring
The Option Institute has no obligation to monitor the use of the Service by members. You acknowledge and agree that the Option Institute reserves the right to, and may from time to time, monitor any and all information transmitted or received through the service for operational and other purposes. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied and used for authorized purposes in accordance with our privacy policy. Use of the Service constitutes consent to such monitoring.
Intellectual Property
You acknowledge and agree that the Site and its contents, including, but not limited to, all photographs, information, data, text, product descriptions, software, music, sound, graphics, video, messages, tags and/or other materials (collectively, the “Content”) are proprietary or confidential information that belongs exclusively to the Option Institute and is protected by applicable copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or other proprietary rights and laws. You are not authorized to reproduce, republish, distribute, transmit, modify, sell or otherwise use the Content, or to create derivative works based on the Content, in whole or in part, without the Option Institute’s express written authorization. Without limiting the foregoing, you are not authorized to use the Content in order to gain a competitive advantage for marketing purposes (including third-party solicitations), to harass, abuse or harm others, or in a way that otherwise exceeds the scope of your authorized access to this Site. In addition, you are not authorized to use, access, search, or obtain data fro/ the Content of this Site by using any deep-link, framing, page scrape, robot, spider or other automatic device, program, algorithm or similar methodology. The Option Institute is the owner of trademarks including Son-Rise Program®, The Option Process®, Option Institute®, and Autism Treatment Center of America®. You may not use, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute, or modify the Option Institute’s trademarks in any way, including in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of materials on the Site without the Option Institute’s prior written consent. The use of the Option Institute’s trademarks on any other website, social media platform or any network computer environment (for example the storage or reproduction of (a part of) the Site in any external internet site or the creation of links, hypertext, links or deep-links between the Site and any other internet site), is prohibited without the express written consent of the Option Institute.
With respect to any content you upload to the Site (“User Content”), you grant to the Option Institute a nonexclusive license to use all such content in connection with the Site, to make reproductions and to create derivative works. You warrant that all User Content does not, and will not, infringe any copyright, violate any property rights, or contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter.
The Option Institute alone shall have the right to obtain and hold in its own name copyright and such other protection as may be appropriate to the subject matter of the Site (which includes User Content) and copyright registrations and any applications for any extensions, renewals or derivative works relating thereto.
Disclaimer of Warranties
THE OPTION INSTITUTE MAY PROVIDE ACCESS TO INFORMATION OR RESOURCES RELATED TO THE CAUSES, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT OF AUTISM. SUCH MATERIAL IS PROVIDED FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE MEDICAL ADVICE OR AN ENDORSEMENT OF ANY CLINICAL OR THERAPEUTIC METHOD, TREATMENT, SERVICE OR ORGANIZATION. THE OPTION INSTITUTE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT PRODUCED BY OR THE SERVICES RENDERED BY ANY THIRD PARTY THAT IS REFERENCED OR TO WHICH ACCESS MAY BE PROVIDED VIA THE SERVICE. THE OPTION INSTITUTE HAS PROVIDED LINKS AND POINTERS TO INTERNET SITES MAINTAINED BY THIRD PARTIES (“THIRD PARTY SITES”) AND MAY FROM TIME TO TIME PROVIDE THIRD PARTY MATERIALS ON THE SERVICE. THE OPTION INSTITUTE DOES NOT OPERATE OR CONTROL IN ANY RESPECT, ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES ON THESE THIRD PARTY SITES. THE SERVICE, THE MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS AVAILABLE IN OR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THE SERVICE, AND THE THIRD PARTY SITES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, THE OPTION INSTITUTE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND WARRANTIES IMPLIED FROM A COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR COURSE OF DEALING. THE OPTION INSTITUTE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN SUCH MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS, OR IN THE SERVICE, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR USE, THAT DEFECT WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SERVICE, INCLUDING THE STORAGE SERVICES AND THEIR CONTENTS, OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THEM AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE OPTION INSTITUTE DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE, OF THE MATERIALS IN THE SERVICE OR IN THIRD PARTY SITES OR THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR OTHERWISE. You assume all risk of error and/or omissions in the Service, including the transmission or translation of information. You assume full responsibility for implementing sufficient procedures and checks to satisfy your requirements for the accuracy and suitability of the Service, including information, and for maintaining any means that you may require for the reconstruction of lost data or subsequent manipulations or analyses of the information provided hereunder. You acknowledge and agree that your use of the Service, and any information sent or received in connection therewith, may not be secure and may be intercepted by unauthorized parties.
Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE OPTION INSTITUTE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF THE OPTION INSTITUTE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. THIS WAIVER APPLIES, WITHOUT LIMITATION TO ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY ARISING FROM ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, FILE CORRUPTION, COMMUNICATION-LINE FAILURE, NETWORK OR SYSTEM OUTAGE, OR THEFT, DESTRUCTION, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF, OR USE OF ANY RECORD. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE OPTION INSTITUTE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY USER OF THE SERVICE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold the Option Institute and its officers, directors, employees, agents and partners from and against any and all claims, actions, liabilities, costs or damages (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) asserted by any third party arising from or related to your use of this Site, User Content, or conduct in connection therewith in violation of these Terms.
Modification
The Option Institute reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms. Alterations of the Site in no way affect the Terms itself. Please check these Terms periodically for changes. Modifications become effective immediately upon being posted on the Site, without further notice to you. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to the Terms will mean you accept those changes.
Waiver and Severability
The Option Institute’s failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any such right or provision is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court shall endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and other provisions of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect.
Governing Law
These Terms and the relationship between you and Option Institute will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its conflict of law principles. By using the Site, you agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Berkshire County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with respect to any claims arising from these Terms or your use of the Site.
Our Contact Information:
You can call us at:
1-800-714-2779 (+1-413-229-2100 from outside North America)
Our office hours:
8:30am – 5:30pm Monday-Thursday 8:30am – 5:00pm Friday, Eastern US Time
All Other Inquiries
E-mail: helpdesk@option.org,
Fax: (413) 229-8931
The Option Institute 2080
S Undermountain Road
Sheffield, Massachusetts USA 01257
Click for Sound
