OCA opens Longwood campus, expands autism and disability services

Seminole County families who have struggled to find autism and disability services after school now have a new option in Longwood. Opportunity, Community, Ability opened its second campus at 280 S. Ronald Reagan Blvd., with programs set to begin June 8 and capacity to serve more than 300 people when fully operational.

The expansion targets a gap that often widens when students with disabilities age out of school-based supports. OCA said its adult programs are built for people who have outgrown classroom services and need greater independence, purpose and community participation, along with therapy, life skills, vocational development and community-based programming.

The Longwood site extends OCA’s Orlando operation and adds an early intervention classroom, after-school care, summer camp, theater, Special Olympics and ABA-based supports for children, teens and adults. The nonprofit, which has served Central Florida for nearly two decades, said the new campus is part of its mission to help individuals with autism or other special needs and their families fully engage in the community.

OCA marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 3, joined by community partners including Orlando Health. Dr. Margaret Newman Thornton, a co-founder of OCA, called the site “an expansion of our Orlando program.” She also said, “Everyone at OCA has a dream of ensuring anyone in our community who needs services for autism, Down syndrome, and other neurodivergent issues can find the help they need.”

For Seminole County, the stated capacity of more than 300 individuals is a practical measure of how many families OCA hopes to reach with a single campus. The Longwood location gives the county a larger local base for therapy, recreation, adult services and vocational development, narrowing the burden on families that have had to search for structured support once school ends.