This page gathers autism and disability resources for families in Dallas County, Texas. You'll find 17 local resources listed here, alongside Texas statewide programs and nationwide services, all verified and in one place. For children under three, Texas's starting point is ECI (Early Childhood Intervention); for school-age children, special education and IEPs run through your local school district. Confirm details directly with each provider.
Diagnosis & Early Intervention
Getting an evaluation and accessing early services.
Free CDC milestone checklists and a Milestone Tracker app help you follow your child's development from 2 months to 5 years, so you know what to watch for and when to act. A gentle first step when you're unsure whether to seek an evaluation.
Child psychology and neurology experts here provide in-depth diagnostic evaluations for autism and other developmental disabilities. They examine your child's full needs before building a care plan tailored to your family.
This Austin center offers comprehensive autism and neurodevelopmental assessments for children through age 14, covering autism, developmental delay, ADHD, and more. Their team coordinates with neurology, speech, and other specialists to plan next steps together.
This official Texas HHS tool lets you type in your city, county, or zip code and instantly find the Early Childhood Intervention program that serves your area. Every Texas county is covered, so there's a program near you.
This Houston-based center's psychologists and developmental pediatricians provide expert diagnostic evaluations for autism, developmental delay, and ADHD. Families leave with clear, individualized recommendations and help finding services in their own community.
A warm, plain-language guide from Texas HHS that walks parents through getting an evaluation, understanding an autism diagnosis, and connecting to ECI and other services. It's a trusted starting point when you're not sure what to do next.
ECI is Texas's free-to-low-cost statewide program for children birth to age 3 with developmental delays, disabilities, or a diagnosis like autism. Services come to you at home or in your community, and no family is ever turned away for inability to pay.
This Dallas hospital center brings together psychology, speech, neurology, and psychiatry specialists to give your child a thorough, gold-standard autism evaluation using tools like the ADOS. They accept most commercial insurance and Medicaid, and can help you understand next steps.
The developmental team here evaluates a child's motor, language, and social-emotional skills to pinpoint delays and conditions like autism, then points you toward the therapies that can help. Located on Forest Lane in Dallas, they see children from very young ages onward.
If you're worried about how your baby or toddler is growing, talking, or moving, Metrocare's ECI team evaluates children from birth to age 3 across Dallas County and brings therapy and support right to your family. It's the local starting point for early help before your child turns three.
School & IEP Rights
IEPs, 504 plans, special education, and school advocacy.
Every state has a federally funded Parent Training & Information Center offering free help with IEPs, special-education rights, and early intervention. This hub's directory locates the center that serves your state.
A national nonprofit protecting the rights of students with disabilities. Use their member directory to find a special-education attorney or trained advocate near you when you need help with an IEP or a dispute with a school.
Every state has a federally mandated Protection & Advocacy agency that offers free legal help when a school isn't following your child's IEP or evaluating them as required. This directory connects you to the office serving your area.
This is the state's official protection and advocacy agency, and they can offer free legal help when your child's special education or disability rights are being denied. Call their intake line to see if they can assist with your situation.
This nonprofit runs Texas's federally funded Parent Training and Information centers, offering free training, guidance, and one-on-one support to help you understand IEPs and advocate at school. Their help is free for every Texas parent of a child with a disability.
SPEDTex is Texas's official special education information center, with plain-language guides on the ARD/IEP process and staff who can answer your questions by phone or email. It's a friendly first stop when you're trying to make sense of your child's services.
If your child is in Dallas ISD, this department helps parents of students in special education understand the ARD/IEP process and partner with their child's campus. They offer parent trainings, resource referrals, and guides in English and Spanish.
This is the federally funded parent center that serves Dallas County (Region 10), offering free help understanding your child's rights, preparing for ARD/IEP meetings, and getting the services they need. A parent specialist can talk you through your questions by phone or in person, at no cost.
Run by the Texas Education Agency, SPEDTex has a free call center and resource library that answers parents' questions about special education, IEPs, and their rights under IDEA. You can reach them by phone, email, or live online chat.
Therapy & Treatment
ABA, speech, OT, and finding the right providers.
You matter too. Psychology Today's therapist finder filters for 'caregiver stress' and 'autism family,' and Open Path Collective offers reduced-cost therapy sessions nationwide. You cannot support your child well without also supporting yourself.
One of Texas's leading pediatric hospital programs, offering individualized autism diagnosis and evaluation for children under age 12, plus a family Road Map with educational workshops and guidance to community therapies. Located in Houston, it serves families from across the state.
This state program provides focused ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy for children ages 3 to 15 through local contractors across Texas, and includes required parent training so you learn strategies to use at home. To find the provider nearest you and enroll, call 2-1-1 or reach out to your regional contractor.
If your child has Medicaid, this official state tool lets you search for Licensed Behavior Analysts (ABA), plus speech, occupational, and physical therapy providers near you by ZIP code and health plan. The TMHP Contact Center can help if you get stuck.
This Dallas-area academic medical center offers comprehensive autism evaluation of your child's cognitive, social, and communication skills, along with behavioral intervention, neurology, and psychiatric care. Ask your pediatrician to send a referral to get started.
Part of McGovern Medical School, this clinic provides psychiatric assessment and treatment for autism-related challenges (like anxiety, ADHD, aggression, and repetitive behaviors) for individuals ages 3 to 45. It's a helpful option when your child needs specialized medical and behavioral support.
A long-established Texas nonprofit whose Dallas campus provides ABA, speech, and occupational therapy along with education and adult-services programs. They are currently enrolling new patients.
Metrocare is the largest nonprofit provider of mental health and developmental-disability services in Dallas County, and its autism center offers one-to-one ABA therapy with BCBA supervision, parent training, and bilingual Spanish services. They serve children ages 2 to 12 at their Dallas and DeSoto locations.
Part of UT Dallas, the Callier Center has served families touched by autism for more than 30 years with speech, language, and communication programs for toddlers and preschoolers. Services are offered at their Dallas and Richardson locations and may be insurance eligible.
Financial Assistance & Benefits
Medicaid waivers, SSI, ABLE accounts, and legal aid.
ABLE accounts let people with disabilities (onset before age 26) save money tax-free without losing Medicaid or SSI eligibility. This center compares every state's ABLE program so you can pick the best one for your family.
Texas ABLE lets your family save and invest money for disability-related expenses in a tax-advantaged account without risking SSI, Medicaid, or other means-tested benefits. It's run by the Texas Comptroller's office and is open to Texans whose disability began before age 46.
Texas offers Medicaid waiver programs like HCS, CLASS, MDCP and Texas Home Living that pay for respite, therapies, and in-home supports so your child can grow up at home instead of in an institution. Waitlists are long, so it helps to add your child's name to the interest lists as early as you can.
This nonprofit provides free civil legal help to lower-income families in Dallas County, including disability benefits, Medicaid, and Medicare issues. If a benefit has been denied or you're stuck in a system you can't untangle, their intake line is a good first call.
Metrocare is the official Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority for Dallas County, and this is where you start to get your child added to the Medicaid waiver interest lists (HCS and Texas Home Living) that fund respite, therapies, and in-home support. Call their Eligibility Determination Unit to set up an assessment, and get on the lists early since the waits can be long.
Support Groups & Community
Find your people, in person and online.
The nation's oldest grassroots autism organization. Their National Helpline connects families to information and referrals, and their affiliate finder points you to a local chapter in your area for in-person support and events.
The largest national community-based organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Local chapters offer advocacy, family support, and lifelong services. Use the chapter finder to locate the office nearest you.
Dial 2-1-1 (or visit 211.org) to reach a free, confidential referral line for local health and human services in almost every US community, including disability services, respite, food, housing, and financial assistance.
A statewide nonprofit offering free information and referrals plus regional and virtual connection groups for parents, caregivers, and autistic adults across Texas. Its Navigating Autism program gives you individualized guidance, and many groups are available in Spanish.
Year-round sports training, competition, and inclusive recreation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, at no cost to families. The program also welcomes the whole family with social events, connection, and community wherever you live in Texas.
Run by Texas Health and Human Services, this free statewide tool helps you find respite care so you can take a much-needed break while someone trusted looks after your child, from a couple of hours to overnight. You can search local providers by zip code, age, and type of care.
A statewide network that pairs you with another parent who has been through it, plus weekly support-group calls in English and Spanish, a parent mentor program, and help navigating disability services. It is family-run and built around the idea that no Texas parent should feel alone.
Based in Richardson, the Guild supports Dallas-area families with community connection, guidance, and a curated list of trusted respite programs. Spanish-speaking support is available too.
FEAT-NT hosts monthly parent support meetings with free childcare, plus social groups for tweens, teens, and adults on the spectrum across the DFW area. It's a place to swap stories with parents who truly understand.
Metrocare is the official intellectual and developmental disability authority for Dallas County, connecting families to community supports, respite, and crisis help. If you're not sure where to start, they can point you to services your child qualifies for.
Rays of Light offers free respite nights in Dallas so parents can rest while their children with special needs (and their siblings) enjoy a safe, fun evening with caring volunteers and nurses. It's a warm break for the whole family.
Adult Transition & Long-Term Planning
Aging out of school, adult services, and long-term planning.
A neurodivergent employment agency offering job support nationwide over Zoom: resume building, mock interviews, and career guidance, plus direct outreach to employers to help secure placements. Supports neurodivergent individuals roughly ages 16 to 50, and has been in business over 15 years.
As the state's federally designated disability protection and advocacy nonprofit, Disability Rights Texas offers free guides, sample agreements, and legal help for families weighing guardianship and less-restrictive alternatives as a young adult turns 18. You can reach their statewide intake line to ask for assistance.
This state page explains what guardianship is and walks families through alternatives like powers of attorney, trusts, and representative payees as their child becomes a legal adult. It also points you to the HHSC Guardianship Services Program for further help.
This state program helps Texans with disabilities, including autism, prepare for, find, and keep meaningful jobs through counseling, training, assistive technology, and support for young adults leaving school. It's free to eligible individuals, and you can start with an online referral or a phone call.
A single point of access for long-term care and support in Dallas County, offering free options counseling, benefits help, and caregiver support for people with disabilities. A good first call when you feel overwhelmed and aren't sure where to start.
The state Medicaid waiver that funds long-term supports so adults with intellectual disabilities can live in the community, in their own home, or in a small group home. Because the interest list is first-come, first-served, families are encouraged to sign up early through their local authority.
A note on these listings. This directory is informational and not an
endorsement. Programs, phone numbers, and eligibility change, so always confirm details
directly with the provider before relying on them. Nothing here is medical or legal advice.
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