The Groden Center's Early Childhood programs focus on assisting young children in making meaningful connections to the world around them. By assessing and remediating behavioral and communicative disorders, we support the child’s emotional, cognitive, and social development. The programs provide a wide variety of opportunities that include: individual, small group, and large group instruction; family resources; home visits; community exploration; sensory integration activities; integrated experiences; and assistance with school and other programmatic transitions.
Early Intervention Program
A specialty service provider within the Department of Human Service’s Early Intervention network of full-service early intervention programs. The Groden Center's Early Intervention Program specializes in providing services to families with children under three years of age who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), or other language, social-emotional, and/or behavioral disorders. A child need not have a specific diagnosis in order to receive services from the Groden Center EIP.
The Livingston Center for Early Childhood Education: The Preschool Program
The Livingston Center for Early Childhood Education, familiarly called the Preschool, is the Groden Center’s inclusion program for young children with autism and their typically developing peers. It opened in 1998 in its present location on Livingston Street in Providence, RI. The program is licensed by the Department of Education as an approved nursery school and by the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families as a day care center. It also is approved for families who qualify for subsidized childcare through the Rhode Island Department of Human Services. The Preschool serves children with diagnoses of autism, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), or other challenging behavioral problems between the ages of three and six. Children who are developing typically range in age from three to five. A maximum of 20 children can be accommodated in the Preschool. At full enrollment, the ratio of children with special needs to their typical peers is 7 to 13.
Location and Directions
Early Intervention & The Livingston Center
30 Livingston Street
Providence, RI 02904
The Livingston Center for Early Childhood Education is a child-friendly building that houses both the Groden Center’s Preschool program for children between the ages of three and six, and its Early Intervention Program for children under the age of three.
Directions to the Livingston Center for Early Childhood Education:
From south of Providence:
Take 95 North to Exit 24, Branch Avenue
Turn right off the exit and follow Branch Avenue to the traffic light.
Turn right onto North Main Street and go past the fire station.
Immediately turn right onto Livingston Street.
The Preschool and the Early Intervention Program are in the Livingston Center for Early Childhood Education, a white concrete building on the left at the end of the street
Parking is available on the street or in the lot at the end of the street.
From north of Providence:
Take 95 South to Exit 24, Branch Avenue
Turn left off the exit and follow Branch Avenue to the traffic light.
Turn right onto North Main Street and go past the fire station.
Immediately turn right onto Livingston Street.
The Preschool and the Early Intervention Program are in the Livingston Center for Early Childhood Education, a white concrete building on left at the end of the street
Parking is available on the street or in the lot at the end of the street.