About the Nonprofit
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Founded in 1955, by two speech therapists, Dr. Aleen Agranowitz and Gladys Gleason. Our Founders were visionaries who saw a lack of services for individuals with special needs. They answered this need by opening the door of their homes to children in their community. Over 65 years later, their vision and mission is carried on by our dedicated staff and teachers.
Speech and Language Development Center (SLDC) is a non-profit school and therapy center located in Buena Park and serving Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. We serve children and young adults who have special needs in language, learning and/or behavior. More than 200 staff members provide programs and services for around 300 children and adults ages 5 through 40 years. The majority of our students have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, though many students have multiple conditions. All programs and services are available to students during the school day.
SLDC is a leader and trusted partner in special education programs and disability services. Serving hundreds of children, kindergarten through transition, each year in our non-public school (NPS), we believe in meeting a child where they are and building upon their unique strengths to unlock their full potential.
Our classrooms maintain low student to staff ratios, never exceeding more than 12 students per classroom with trained para-educators placed in each classroom providing that extra support to our credentialed Education Specialists, so our students thrive.
Our campus offers a robust clinical team with more than two dozen licensed or credentialed therapists including:
-Speech and Language Pathologists
-Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA)
-Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapist
-Counselors focusing on social-emotional and mental health
-Adapted Physical Education (APE) Specialists
