NACD - The National Association for Child Development - Washington Terrace, Utah

Courtney T.

Using NACD has life changing for our family. I started with NACD nearly 9 years ago when my daughter, Alice, who has Down Syndrome, was 8 months old. NACD has helped us every step of the way, from helping Alice learn to speak, crawl, walk, potty train, read, gain self help skills, and beyond. We love NACD so much, we have put our other kids on it. Their approach to know the whole child, and to make an individualized program to help the child with what they need right now is invaluable. If you need help, NACD is a true partner that can help you take your power back as a parent to help your kids learn and develop as they should.

Melinda G.

Our son, who has Down’s Syndrome, has been with NACD for 27 years. Frustrated with receiving diagnoses from doctors who offered no solutions, we came to NACD to find those solutions. We have not been disappointed! Over the years, NACD has provided us with targeted activities to address each of our son’s developmental challenges, from learning to walk to being a responsible adult. NACD activities are not “one size fits all”, but have been specifically tailored for our son’s needs at each point in his life. The NACD evaluators and coaches are always available to answer questions and to give encouragement. We attribute our son’s ability to read, to write, to perform mathematical operations, to talk, to behave appropriately, to be employable and to work hard, to the input from these targeted activities that we have done for the past 27 years. Implementing an NACD program has required an investment in time and money; however, the results have brought joy and satisfaction as we watch our son being a successful, happy young man!

Luza A.

Being at NACD has been an amazing journey for our family. They have helped us with tailored programs for both of our daughters, so they can reach their highest potential.
We began our journey with our daughter with Down syndrome and since the program is focused in neurodevelopment we decided to offer the same opportunity to our neurotypical daughter who has also benefited so much of it and it's now thriving in several areas of her life.
At NACD you aren't alone, they have an amazing team that will support you along the way, keeping close contact and answering all your questions. This was a real gem for us, and it made a big difference to achieve more progress in between evaluations.
No words can really express how great NACD has been for our family, and while the program requires daily intentional work, I can tell you, the reward of seeing your kids thrive are worth every effort!

Rebecca G.

NACD has taught me how to be a better parent to my two kids. Before we started NACD, dinner time consisted of screaming and yelling trying to get my son to eat. Our morning routine for before school was a disaster. Our family life was very stressful because nothing we did worked. We started NACD to help our son get caught up in school and to have more peace in our home.
In addition to the program NACD provides, I love the support system. Having a coach check in every two weeks to see what's working and what's not working is wonderful. NACD is worth the money!!

Amber G.

We joined NACD because we were desperate to find a team that was cheering our family on and helping us more than 1 hour a week. After traveling 7 hours to the evaluation, and taking a major leap of faith cancelling all outside therapies, we were hooked. Sara was amazing with Jacob and gave us so much encouragement and excitement to start the program. It was overwhelming at first (and sometimes still is), but we know each program activity has a true purpose and we see the results first hand. Our son, Jacob, has down syndrome and has been on program for a few months. Since starting, he has a higher level of cognitive functioning which allows him now to brush his teeth, bathe, eat at the table without throwing food, cut his nails, drink from an open cup, walk into stores without bolting and listen to directions, just to name a few! He's been in therapies since he was 2 months old and has improved more in the past 4 months with NACD than he did the past 4.5 years in outpatient therapies!! Bj, our coach, has been right there by our side through the ups and the downs and we have felt so supported. We signed our daughter up shortly after for sensory and behavioral issues and within a week of her evaluation we got to have a virtual call with Bob Doman himself to help us implement some of her behavioral program activities. Bob and Sara got Abigail to start sleeping through the night in her own room within 1 week of implementing the program!! My husband and I are finally sleeping for the first time in 6 years. They are such a wealth of information and continue to make us feel truly cared about. Praying more families find their way to NACD and not settle for “good enough”. Thank you NACD!! We are officially thriving and not just surviving 🙂

Melissa T.

We can't say enough about how NACD has helped our family. We were desperate to find a way to help our son, who had suffered a brain injury at birth and was experiencing challenges academically. We've been with them for six years and with their help, our son is thriving. They gave us hope and encouraged us to give our son more responsibilities and showed us how to tailor activities to target areas of the brain that had been affected. We're so grateful for their support, quick responses to questions and concerns, and for their overall desire to really help kids. NACD is the real deal!

Helen M.

I have been with NACD since 2002. My daughter has Down syndrome, and my recently adopted sons have multiple developmental issues.

For most of my time with NACD, I worked long distance from Guam. Dealing with developmental issues and special needs is often a battle; if it had not been for Ellen Doman's guidance and responsiveness, I would have given up the fight many times.

Thanks to NACD, my daughter read words at age 2, was talking by 3, and finally walked before she turned 5. (The Early Intervention therapists I worked with initially were so discouraging about her motor skills and tone that I thought they were condemning her to a wheelchair for life. They could give no reasons or solutions for her lack of tone. NACD did.)

NACD's evaluators were also by my side when my daughter slipped into Pediatric Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) at age 16. No one on Guam had ever seen PANS, and I had idea what it was. With NACD's guidance, I was able to finally get a diagnosis of PANS, despite the ignorance of my providers.

An NACD program takes dedication and work from the parents. But it is the best investment you will ever make in your child.

Aya Y.

We joined NACD when our daughter, who is diagnosed with Williams syndrome, was just 1.5 years old. At a time when we understood very little about her condition and struggled to find the right intervention to help her develop, NACD’s program had a transformative impact on her. Our NACD coach understood exactly what was going on with our daughter and designed a super tailored, comprehensive program that was quick and easy to implement at home while also addressing all aspects of her development (physical, social, and cognitive). Within weeks I started to feel like I could finally connect to her and see signs of development. For more than three years now, NACD has been instrumental to our daughter’s development; they helped us address her significant speech challenges and develop her processing and attention. Our daughter is now enrolled in school and is an independent, happy, and engaged child. She is also doing well socially and academically, and our dependence on NACD’s support to help her maintain and boost her development is ongoing. I could not recommend NACD more to any family with a neurodivergent child.