Why AI Can’t Create a Real NACD Program

And Why Trying to Use It for One Could Set You Back

by Laird Doman

At NACD, we love innovation. We’ve embraced cutting-edge neuroscience, data, and technology for decades. But one place we’re drawing a very firm line? Trying to use Artificial Intelligence—especially tools like ChatGPT—to generate or guess what an NACD program might look like.

We recently heard from a family that typed their child’s diagnoses—autism, ADHD, anxiety, and sensory processing disorder—into an AI program and asked for a customized NACD plan. What came back was, quite honestly, laughable: a generalized list of activities like “relaxation techniques,” vague references to “digit spans,” and a canned daily schedule with no relevance to the child’s actual needs.

It was generic. It was inaccurate. And it was absolutely not NACD.

Why This Matters

We work with children whose needs are unique, layered, and evolving. NACD programs are created by human experts, based on:

• A comprehensive evaluation of your child’s neurodevelopmental function
• A deep understanding of what’s working and what’s not
• A focus on intensity, frequency, and duration—specific to your child and your family
• A team (including your coach) that is constantly adjusting, refining, and supporting the program
• Decades of experience with children just like yours—and nothing cookie-cutter about it

AI can’t replicate that. It doesn’t understand your child’s history, their strengths, their challenges, or your goals. It doesn’t know how to adjust techniques in real time, or how to prioritize sensory input vs. cognition vs. academics based on your child’s developmental trajectory.

The Risk of Misinformation

When parents rely on AI-generated advice in an attempt to “preview” or replicate an NACD program, they’re not just getting bad information—they’re being misled. This can:

• Set false expectations
• Cause confusion or disappointment
• Lead to wasted time on strategies that don’t work
• Undermine the trust and process that make NACD programs so effective

The Real Work Starts With You—and With Us

We welcome questions. We want families to come to evaluations prepared with their history, their concerns, and their hopes. But if you want to understand what your child’s NACD program will look like, you need to meet us face to face (or screen to screen). You need real insight, not AI noise.

So if you’ve seen something online, or had ChatGPT give you a “program,” we encourage you to set it aside. We’ll meet your child where they are, not where a computer guesses they might be.

We look forward to showing you what a real, individualized NACD program looks like. Spoiler alert: it’s better than anything a bot can generate