🌱 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.
A long-established nonprofit running Early Childhood Intervention across Harris County and surrounding areas for children from birth to 36 months with delays, a medical diagnosis, or atypical development. You can call their 24/7 referral line any time to get started.
Texana is the state-designated local authority for autism and developmental-disability services in Fort Bend County, offering autism diagnosis, ABA therapy, and Early Childhood Intervention (Project GROW) for children birth to 3. Their intake team can walk you through getting an evaluation.
⚖️ 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.
PATH is the federally funded Parent Training and Information Center for the Houston/Harris County area (Region 4), helping families understand their child's disability, IEP and special education rights. They offer free one-on-one help by phone or in person, workshops, and help preparing for ARD/IEP meetings.
🧩 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 hospital-based program offering autism evaluations, behavioral and therapeutic treatment, social skills training, and parent support for Houston-area families including Fort Bend. A dependable option when you want a comprehensive medical team behind your child's care.
💰 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.
Lone Star Legal Aid offers free civil legal help to lower-income families in Fort Bend County, including standing up for your child's special-education rights under IDEA and Section 504 and helping with access to benefits. Their advocates can step in when a school or benefits denial feels overwhelming.
This official government page explains Supplemental Security Income (SSI), monthly cash payments that can help cover food, clothing, and housing for a child or adult with a disability, and how to begin an application. It is a trustworthy starting point for understanding what your family may qualify for.
Texana Center is the state-designated "front door" for disability services in Fort Bend County, where you can get your child's name on the interest lists for the HCS and Texas Home Living Medicaid waivers and access respite help. Getting on these lists early matters, since the waits can be long, so calling to start is the first step.
🤗 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.
A Fort Bend County nonprofit that walks alongside families on their autism journey, offering financial assistance for therapy, caregiver support, safety programs, and community connection. If autism-related costs feel overwhelming, they may be able to help.
The state-designated front door for all intellectual and developmental disability services in Fort Bend County, including respite, in-home support, and day programs. Their intake team can help you start eligibility and find the services your family qualifies for.
The local county chapter serving people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, with parent support groups, recreation, and teen/tween respite events so caregivers get a break. A warm place to find community and answers close to home.
🚀 Adult Transition & Long-Term Planning
Aging out of school, adult services, and long-term planning.
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.
For families whose student is still in Fort Bend ISD, the district's transition team helps plan the move to adult life, covering employment, further education, and independent-living goals well before graduation or aging out. A good first stop to line up services before school supports end.
Texana is the local authority for intellectual and developmental disability services in Fort Bend County, and its Learning Centers (including Missouri City and Rosenberg) offer adults daily skills training, day habilitation, and support to build toward competitive employment. This is also your front door for getting on the state HCS waiver interest list as your child ages out.
A note on these listings. This directory is informational and not an
endorsement. Programs, phone numbers, and eligibility change — always confirm details
directly with the provider before relying on them. Nothing here is medical or legal advice.
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