Greater Charlotte — Charlotte, Concord, Huntersville, Matthews, Gastonia, Rock Hill — is home to Atrium Health Levine Children's, The Fletcher School, and ECAC, North Carolina's statewide parent center. The hard part is knowing which help is genuinely excellent and how to reach the free options first. This is Charlotte's own directory, ranked by real credentials (ABPP, BHCOE, Orton-Gillingham accreditation, COPAA, board-certification) — never by reviews or who pays. Start with the free North Carolina options, then the best evaluators, schools, therapists, doctors, and advocates near you. Then, if you want it, an expert reads your child's records and builds your plan.
We don't rank by star ratings — they're noisy and easy to game. Every group below earns its place by credentials: board certification, school accreditation, professional licensure, and standing in the field's real professional bodies. The honest bar, not the loudest reviews.
For children birth to 3, North Carolina's Infant-Toddler Program (through the local CDSA) provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention services (speech, OT, PT, developmental). The earliest, no-barrier place to start if you have any concern about your baby or toddler.
North Carolina's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are denied. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
North Carolina's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center — free help understanding your rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings for families raising children with disabilities birth to age 26. A great first call.
Levine Children's Division of Pediatric Psychology & Neuropsychology — including Joanna Peters, PsyD, ABPP — uses thorough testing of thinking, learning, memory, and attention to evaluate learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism, with reports that guide your child's school and medical team.
With locations in Charlotte and Concord, this Atrium Health Levine Children's practice provides developmental and behavioral evaluation for developmental delays, autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities.
The American Board of Professional Psychology's directory lists clinicians who passed board certification in clinical neuropsychology — the credential to verify in any private evaluator, instead of trusting star ratings.
Charlotte's leading school for learning differences, The Fletcher School (8500 Sardis Road) teaches K–12 students with specific learning disabilities and/or ADHD using the Orton-Gillingham approach, multisensory instruction, and a 6:1 student-teacher ratio. Admission requires documented average-or-above intelligence and an LD/ADHD diagnosis.
ECAC's parent specialists can help you compare additional Charlotte-area school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences — and explain North Carolina's options, including the ESA+ scholarship for students with disabilities, at no cost.
Pam James of Pam's Reading is an Orton-Gillingham reading specialist with 19 years of experience and a Graduate Certificate in Dyslexia Education — her team of O-G tutors and licensed NILD educational therapists meets students throughout metro Charlotte, and she's an approved ESA+ and Disability Grant provider. A named, top-credentialed Charlotte dyslexia specialist.
The Academy's directory lists accredited Orton-Gillingham practitioners across greater Charlotte — the gold-standard credential for a private dyslexia tutor, verified by training rather than advertising.
A huge audiobook/highlighting library — free for students with a qualifying reading disability, so your child keeps up with grade-level books while they learn to decode.
A BHCOE-accredited Charlotte provider offering ABA alongside pediatric speech, occupational, and physical therapy under one roof — coordinated, multidisciplinary care for autistic children.
A BHCOE-accredited autism therapy center serving Charlotte — research-based applied behavior analysis for autistic children, accredited for clinical quality rather than chosen by ad spend.
The Behavioral Health Center of Excellence directory lists accredited ABA providers across Charlotte (including Autism Behavioral Institute, Solving Autism, and Centria Healthcare) — the real quality bar for autism therapy.
Carolina Kidz Therapy, owned by Pamela DiCarlo, M.S., CCC-SLP, offers both pediatric speech and occupational therapy — with OT from April Heath, OTR/L (17+ years) — serving the Charlotte/Gastonia area. A named CCC-SLP + OTR/L standout under one roof.
ASHA ProFind lists speech-language pathologists who hold the CCC-SLP and AOTA lists licensed occupational therapists (OTR/L) — national credentials to verify, searchable anywhere in greater Charlotte.
Led by division chief Yasmin Senturias, MD, Atrium Health's Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (Charlotte & Concord) diagnoses and treats autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and developmental concerns — and can write IEP letters of support.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians in greater Charlotte — the credential to verify for a formal autism or ADHD diagnosis.
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates' directory lists active, vetted special-education advocates and attorneys serving greater Charlotte — the field's real professional standard.
Beyond information, ECAC's trained parent specialists can help you prepare for and understand IEP meetings at no cost — a respected free alternative to hiring a private advocate first.
Legal Aid of North Carolina provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families across the Charlotte region — a no-cost route to legal assistance, including some education and benefits matters.
ECAC offers free workshops, one-on-one support, and resource navigation for North Carolina families — including help finding low-cost speech, evaluation, and therapy options across the Charlotte area.
University speech-language clinics offer low-cost evaluation and therapy delivered by supervised graduate clinicians. ASHA's directory helps you locate the nearest accredited program serving the Charlotte region.
For children birth to 3, North Carolina's Infant-Toddler Program provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Federally funded and free — they help North Carolina families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
North Carolina's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Charlotte district, and what you're facing. We set up a secure way to share the IEP.
We review the records against your rights and match your child to the right Charlotte providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Charlotte advocate, found and recommended for you, for the in-person help.
Free first reply with honest next steps. No pressure, no surprises — just an expert in your corner.
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