Imagine being told that your son has no chance of ever being successfully integrated into mainstream general education. Imagine your hopes becoming shattered to pieces by a trusted professional who declared your son’s behaviors to be aggressive, unmanageable, and beyond repair. Imagine your heart breaking while watching other children ignore or belittle your child on the playground for being “different.” This child who is capable of learning is condemned to rote and repetitive learning. Instead, your child should be given the opportunity to thrive by being paired with professionals who see his potential and will ensure that your child achieves it.

If this child seems familiar to you, and these emotions are ones you have personally experienced, please do not become discouraged. You are in the right place. We can help your child blossom and recover from the social isolation and stigma placed upon him by others. Do not give up hope; transformation is within reach. We invite you to read the stories of other parents who did not give up hope, and become inspired to learn about how our services can benefit your child.

A 5-year-old (Full inclusion in Kindergarten)
We want to commend Center for Social Cognition (CSC) for its excellent teaching and clinical programs. CSC served a pivotal role in the very remarkable progress in our son's development.
We first enrolled our son in the Apprentice Program when he was 5 years old. Before then, he had early intervention with the Regional Center of Orange County until the age of 3, and also had speech therapy until he was 5. After just a few months in the Apprentice Program at CSC, we noticed an incredible improvement in our son’s language development, cognitive skills, and social skills. He has learned to adapt to change and be flexible with participating in a variety of activities, making it easier for him to transition from one activity to another. Dr. Poirier tailored our son’s program according to his specific needs by creating and achieving pre-set goals and objectives. CSC’s methods were highly effective for our son; he has learned so many practical cognitive, language and social skills for school and everyday life. We have noticed how having these skills has given him confidence, and his levels of frustration have greatly diminished. Overall, he is a happier and relatively well-adjusted boy.
Dr. Karina Poirier is a vibrant, highly articulate professional with a big heart. Through her, we found guidance and know-how not only in teaching and dealing with our son, but also in our close involvement with the school district to help him achieve his full potential.

A 4-year-old (astounding achievements after 6 months of therapy)

Before our son attended CSC, he had minimal language and play skills. After only six months of therapy, we observed a significant improvement in his communication skills. He communicated and interacted with others on a daily basis with more ease and spontaneity.
CSC provided our son with opportunities to develop his intellect in a structured and peaceful environment, a necessity for children with autism. He became livelier and more confident as a result of creative teaching methods and social programs that CSC has to offer, as well as the individualized instruction and attention tailored to our son’s specific needs.
We are both not only impressed and pleased with the services at CSC, but also enthusiastic about recommending other families to seek the services CSC offers!

A 3-year-old (after 6 months of therapy)

Our son qualified for behavior modification services, occupational therapy, and speech therapy from the regional center of Orange County. Through these government services our son developed some self-help skills and made progress with labeling objects; however, he remained largely isolated from any social environment he was in.
We had heard of CSC from a parent who enrolled her son in therapeutic services and observed him blossom in a very short period of time. We were skeptical at first, but decided to give CSC a try for our son. We were glad that we did! We were astounded by our son’s accomplishments after only four months in the program. He become verbal and learned how to play appropriately with his toys. He started using phrases such as, “I know…; I think…”
Speaking as a parent of a child with autism, watching my child’s transformation before my eyes has made me seriously consider how two years in early intervention government services were wasted with him making such little progress, and yet he made remarkable progress at CSC within a few months. The answer is simple: Dr. Poirier treats the child, not the disability. Finally, here is a doctor who actually works with your child and makes the effort to know him or her from the inside out. We are grateful for her diligent work! Our son is now thriving and attending a regular preschool; he is well-liked by his peers and participates in cooperative play with others.

A 6-year-old (after 9 months of therapy)
When I first came to Dr. Poirier a little over a year ago, I was completely at the end of my rope. I had been wasting ridiculous amounts of money and spending endless years, months, and days trying to "reach" my son. To say the least I was completely exhausted, but as a mom, you do whatever you can for your child. I knew that my son was an extremely smart and funny boy, but he didn't seem to know how to express himself appropriately. He had difficulty staying focused, which obviously wasn't good for him academically at school, or socially when making friends. We didn't know what to do or where to go next; it seemed like our window of opportunity to get him to be the fun-loving, intelligent kid we knew he was, was fading.
My son was already six years old when I was referred to Dr. Poirier; I was aware that six years old, by most standards, could potentially be too late to begin a new intervention program. Dr. Poirier was confident not only in her abilities as a therapist and teacher, but also in the great potential she saw in my son. We have tried almost everything possible to help our son, including special diets, neurofeedback, and various other therapies to name a few; as you can imagine, I was skeptical. Because Dr. Poirier was so sure of her abilities and my son’s potential, I had to give her program a try.
Wow! I can't even begin to describe the transformation and changes I have seen in my son over the past year. It's absolutely incredible to watch him interact with others and be able to stay engaged. I started homeschooling my son last year because he was such a disruption to other students in his class. He would get out of his chair constantly, walk around the room, and just talk incessantly while other students were doing independent work. His impulses were out of control. My son’s self-awareness has greatly improved since attending sessions with Dr. Poirier. In his co-op homeschool class, he recognizes that he can't just blurt things out, and he raises his hand when he has a question. He stays in his chair until his work is finished, and his manners are just incredible.
Those changes alone have made me the happiest mom ever, but just a few days ago, my son and our family received the best news we’ve ever had. After taking his National Scantron test as he entered 2nd grade, my son received a special certificate from the state recognizing him as a scholar. Not only did he pass the test with flying colors to be promoted to 2nd grade, but he was also scored in the 99th percentile of all kids his age in the entire country! That means only 1% of children his age in the whole country scored better than he did! I just wanted to cry because there is no way any of this would have been possible if I hadn't met Dr. Poirier. She had the same faith in my son that I did. She knew all along how smart he was, and she gave him 100% of her attention and love as soon as he walked into her class each day. You don't often find people who care about your child as much as you do. No amount of money in the world could ever repay what Dr. Poirier has done for my son, and for my family.