Our donors

PCDI’s founders sought to create a wide-open world for people with autism—one where their disability was not a barrier to growth, self-determination, and happiness. This was not just a dream, but a daily commitment and partnership with our community—our students, their families, the field of applied behavior analysis, and perhaps most tangibly—our donors who have carried our dreams for over fifty years.

PCDI’s impact is felt most acutely by each of our students and his or her family, but the collective impact of the last fifty years cannot be overstated.

No number of instructional programs, or beautifully-manicured graphs can capture the way that PCDI has changed the course of an individual life, or a family’s life together. It is impossible to step back far enough to see the full picture of a grandmother and mother’s love and commitment or the brilliance, ingenuity, and foresight of Drs. Krantz and McClannahan.

PCDI’s research, describing nearly every domain of the program is in textbooks and graduate courses around the country and world, where young educators carry on where our founding directors left off. The time and training that PCDI has poured into professionals are still tucked within former teachers who continue to share our vision in whatever corner of the world they have landed. The ripples that started over five decades ago are too wide to pull back in.

It goes far beyond the 163 students we have served, nearly half of whom have transitioned to schools with less support. And beyond the hundreds of students served at our replication sites. Individuals with autism around the globe are benefiting from the teaching procedures and organizational systems developed on Cold Soil Road.

And yet – we remain a small school. A school that is focused on the child directly in front of us. That is always our starting point. That has always been our starting point. One child.

And we begin with one skill – perhaps as simple as looking at a teacher. And as that skill emerges, we teach another, and another. In this same way we build and improve upon every part of our program. Because each child and each family give us a reason to do it better than the time before.

The enormity of PCDI’s impact has been in each of these ripples – teaching the small skills, taking small steps, making incremental progress towards something remarkable. Something enormous.

But none of it would it be possible without the financial support of our community. Your individual contributions come together to create this level of excellence. The deepest, most pivotal change for a single student would be erased without your generosity.

The breadth of research that set the stage for an entire scientific field to develop—in a generation where people with disabilities were hidden away—would not exist if not for you.

And as we move forward, and look towards the next fifty years, we are inspired by your support. The culmination of your efforts sustains us. We look forward to continuing to come together to improve upon, and perfect, something that is bigger than us all.