History

Our History

The National Easterseals began in 1919 with Ohio-Businessman Edgar Allen founded the National Society for Crippled Children, which would later become known as Easterseals. 

Starting operations in 1954 through the merger of the McCracken County Cerebral Palsy Organization and the Crippled Children's Clinic, the first services provided were speech and physical therapy and early childhood education for children with disabilities. In 1955, the organization became an affiliate of the Kentucky Easterseals Organization where occupational therapy and language therapy were added to our services. The organization expanded to serve adults with disabilities in 1975. 

The organization separated from the Kentucky Easterseals Society in 1988 to become an independent affiliate. Services at that time included education and therapy for children of all abilities, as well as employment and support programs for adults with disabilities. In 2004, the organization saw the need to expand and move the early childhood education center to a second location. Because of this expansion, the organization was able to double the number of children and adults served. 

In 2013, the organization added the prescribed pediatric extensive care program, known as The Lily Pad, to serve children with complex medical needs in a medical-model early childhood education center. The newest addition to Easterseals West Kentucky is The Lori Center for Autism, which opened in 2023 to provide ABA therapy to children with autism.