The Association of Child Development Specialists is a professional organization for those who foster the adaptive development of children through creative programming, preventive intervention, and public advocacy.
ACDS joins together Child Development professionals whose focus is to facilitate the adaptive development of children in the various environments that constitute their life experiences, including home, school, play, and therapeutic settings. The Child Development Specialist represents a discipline that uses a psycho-educational approach to therapy encompassing both prevention and intervention. This specialty includes evaluating a child’s developmental status, planning and coordinating an intervention program, providing direct counseling for children and their families, advising parents, and collaborating and consulting with other child service providers.