Child Development and Guidance Centre

The Child Development and Guidance Centre, CDGC, is a registered non-profit organization affiliated with SLADD, the St. Lucia Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities. The centre was founded in 1998 but formally registered as a non-profit organization in 2001. The centre is supported by international and local grants, and the St. Lucian Government.

CDGC's primary mission is to provide early intervention services to children with special needs by offering comprehensive assessment and therapy input. At CDGC, children with developmental and learning difficulties receive a range of therapeutic interventions to promote their development and make the most of their talents and strengths. Services are provided by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals consisting of a permanent paediatrician and clinical psychologist, and visiting paediatric speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The visiting therapists are considered volunteers but they are provided with a reasonable stipend which covers the cost to their accommodation and living expenses and allows them to live comfortably and enjoy their stay in St. Lucia.

The centre has provided care to over 1000 children to date and is currently the only centre of its kind in St. Lucia. The centre recently expanded in September 2011 from a two-room to a four-room facility. This expansion has allowed a larger professional team to work alongside each other, leading to more efficient and timely service delivery and more faithful fulfillment of our early intervention mandate.