CARD History

The Center for Autism & Related Disorders was established in 1990 by Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh.  Dr. Granpeesheh studied autism treatment for 12 years under the direction of renowned autism treatment scientist Dr. Ivar Lovaas at the University of California, Los Angeles.  Dr. Lovaas discovered that intensive early intervention using Applied Behavioral Analysis treatment yielded a 47% recovery rate among children with autism who participated in his study.

Building off these findings, Dr. Granpeesheh and her associates authored a treatment curriculum for children diagnosed with autism now known as the CARD Treatment Approach and opened the first CARD office in Los Angeles, California in 1990.  She continued to train hundreds of therapists and supervisors on this methodology and has successfully treated and recovered thousands of children.  Today, CARD has 17 offices in the United States, one office in Sydney, Australia and one office in Auckland, New Zealand.  In addition, CARD provides parent/therapist training and consultation worldwide through their workshop-model services.

CARD is committed to science as the most objective and reliable approach to evaluating treatment for autism, and invests in autism research to further effective treatments, and in 2005 established the CARD Research & Development Department. The department’s mission is to investigate assessment and treatment strategies and to disseminate findings and derived technology through publication and education of professionals and the public. While the primary focus of the research is ABA-based methods of assessment and treatment, the overall approach to research includes any topic which may hold promise for producing information that could improve the lives of individuals with autism.

CARD is committed to developing products and services that will further effective treatment.  In 2009, CARD plans to release SKILLS (Shaping Knowledge Through Individualized Life Learning Systems) a comprehensive web-based system designed to give behavioral educators of children with autism training in Applied Behavior Analysis and how it is used to teach skills to children with autism, an assessment tool (SKILLS Index) to identify the child’s mastered and unmastered skills, and a set of curricula that can be utilized to design an individualized ABA-based program based on the needs.

With a staff of over 700 worldwide, CARD strives for success and even recovery for every individual they treat.

CARD Office	Year Opened
Los Angeles (Tarzana, CA)	1990
New York, NY	1995
San Diego, CA	1995
San Jose, CA	1996
San Juan Capistrano, CA	1996
Sydney, Australia	1997
Washington DC	1998
Rochester, NY	1999
Garden Grove, CA	2001
Torrance, CA	2001
Auckland, New Zealand	2002
Bakersfield, CA	2005
Temecula, CA	2005
Austin, TX	2006
Chicago, IL	2007
Phoenix, AZ	2007
Sacramento, CA	2007
Fresno, CA	2008
Berkeley, CA	2009

“Dr. Granpeesheh has clearly established a preferred modality for enhancing the development of autistic children.”
- Dr. Bernard Rimland
Director, Autism Research Institute
 
“We will never forget our first meeting with Dr. Granpeesheh.  She was extremely knowledgeable, caring and understanding.  Her therapists were professional, kind, well trained and most importantly, achieved results. They gave our little boy a chance at a normal life. For this we will be forever grateful.”
- Mr. and Mrs. P.
Parents of CARD Client, Los Angeles, CA