Overview & History

Overview

ACLD, Inc., An Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities, Greater Pittsburgh Region, is a not-for-profit service-focused organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ACLD is dedicated to helping children, adolescents, and adults with Specific Learning Disabilities and related disorders succeed in school, employment, and life.

ACLD is a leader in the creation and delivery of special and adaptive education programs for individuals and their families who are coping with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and related disorders. We also provide diagnostic, consultation, training and advocacy services.

ACLD empowers individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and their families by providing accurate and up-to-date information about SLD. We help connect our constituents to appropriate resources and community supports that will lead the way to achieving success in school and the workplace.

ACLD actively promotes scientifically-based research on the prevention, treatment, and causes of Specific Learning Disabilities and related disorders. We also strive to improve the knowledge of professionals in the field and to expand scientifically-based teaching practices and management of SLD.

History

In 1963, a group of parents, professionals and others met in Chicago to discuss what could be done for the many children who were not being successfully educated in the United States. These children were having great difficulty learning to read, write and calculate despite average or near average intellectual capacities. This misunderstood and usually misdiagnosed cluster of specific learning disorders was termed Learning Disabilities (LD). This Chicago conference resulted in the formation of a national organization in 1964, now called the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Inc. (LDA, Inc.).

Two years later, in 1966, our organization was founded and named AC-ACLD, Allegheny County Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. We affiliated with the national organization, LDA, Inc., which was also located in Pittsburgh. Our initial mission was to improve the county’s educational services for the large, unserved population of children with LD. We began by providing information about Learning Disabilities to parents, professionals, and the school systems in Allegheny County. On May 3, 1968 our organization was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and on June 18, 1968 we received IRS designation as a 501(c) (3) educational and charitable organization. Our first step in providing direct services was the creation of specialized tutoring centers in 1968. Now named the ACLD Learning Centers, two locations provide small group, specialized tutoring services to children with LD and learning differences.

In 1970 a grant from the Junior League of Pittsburgh provided funds to establish the ACLD Diagnostic Clinic. It was one of the first educational testing centers specializing in the diagnosis of LD in the United States.

In 1972, ACLD created the region’s first day school especially designed to educate students with LD and related disorders. It began as a preschool. The Pittsburgh Foundation provided the seed money to begin the school, and a grant from the Rachelwood Foundation helped to expand the school to the elementary grades. In 1974, The Pittsburgh Foundation provided another grant that permitted the school to offer services to adolescents. The school was renamed the ACLD Tillotson School in honor of Mrs. Tillotson, one of ACLD’s original founders.

In 1973, the Buhl Foundation provided a three-year grant that enabled ACLD to employ an executive director. This was paramount in helping ACLD to improve its infrastructure and expands its programs and services.

In 1979, the ACLD Adult Program was created. It was one of the first rehabilitation programs in the US solely dedicated to helping adults with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) to attain higher literacy skills and employment. In 1974 the ACLD Adult Program received a grant from the PA Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation to provide services to adults with specific learning disorders, but it was not until the mid-1980s that SLD was finally recognized by the federal government as a “legitimate” cluster of disabilities. ACLD co-authored the federal definition of adult SLD when LD was recognized by the federal government in the early 1980’s .

In 1987 and once again in 1994 with a series of major grants from The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Hillman Foundation, the H.J. Heinz Foundation, the R.K. Mellon Foundation, the Massey Charitable Trust, and the Mary J. Donnelly Foundation, area corporations, and individual donors, ACLD strengthened its programs and services, purchased a building with 5 acres of land, and renovated and expanded the facility. To continue to improve services for individuals with SLD, ACLD formed public and private collaborations with others in the community who shared a common interest in SLD.

In 2007, we reorganized, shortened our corporate name to ACLD, Inc., strengthened our board governance, and became independent of the state and national LDA, Inc. organizations. ACLD now has a streamlined decision-making process to provide better services and programs to its clients and stakeholders in the Greater Pittsburgh Region.

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