Special-education help for Idaho families.

Idaho's Infant Toddler Program — run by the Department of Health and Welfare — gives free developmental evaluation and services (speech, occupational, physical, and developmental therapy) to any child birth to 3 with a delay or qualifying condition, anywhere in the state, delivered in your home. There is no income test and no diagnosis required. This is the single best first call for a baby or toddler.

You don't need a doctor to refer — parents can refer their own child. Call the statewide line or your regional Health and Welfare office to start, and a team comes to you. The sooner you call, the sooner services begin.

Idaho's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center gives free, one-to-one help understanding your rights, the evaluation, and the IEP/504 process — run by trained parent specialists who've been through it themselves. They can walk you through your child's records and even help you prepare for the IEP meeting. Call before you pay any private advocate.

Idaho's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency provides free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are being denied — including help with disputes, restraint and seclusion, and discipline removals. A powerful no-cost resource to use before you ever hire a lawyer.

The Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation provides free help for students with disabilities (ages 14 up to 21) to prepare for work, college, and independent living — Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS): job exploration, work-based learning, college counseling, workplace-readiness and self-advocacy training. Ask your VR counselor to join your child's transition IEP meetings starting at age 14.

Idaho's Katie Beckett (TEFRA) program lets a child under 19 with significant disabilities or complex medical needs get Medicaid based on the child's needs — not the parents' income. It waives parent income entirely, so even higher-earning families can qualify. Once on Medicaid, Idaho's enhanced plan can cover speech, OT, ABA, and other medically necessary therapies. Idaho ended its separate children's developmental-disability waiver, so Katie Beckett is now the main income-waiving pathway for kids — apply as soon as you can.

For children already on Idaho Medicaid, the EPSDT benefit covers medically necessary speech, OT, PT, and behavioral services through the regular state plan — an immediate path to therapy. Ask your child's doctor or your regional Health and Welfare office how to access these enhanced-plan services.

You can ask your school district in writing for a special-education evaluation at any time. The moment you sign consent, Idaho's clock starts: the district must complete the evaluation and hold the eligibility meeting within 60 calendar days. Idaho counts all calendar days — there is no longer a pause when school is out of session. Put the request in writing and date it, and keep a copy. You have the right to everything in your language, to bring anyone to the meeting, and to disagree.

Under IDEA you have the right to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), to a full evaluation at no cost, to be an equal member of the IEP team, to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you disagree, and to dispute resolution (mediation, state complaint, or due process). Your PTI above — IPUL — explains all of it for free, in plain language.

The Idaho State Department of Education's Special Education office sets the rules every district must follow, publishes the Idaho Special Education Manual, and runs the state's dispute-resolution systems (mediation, state complaints, and due process). Idaho also requires dyslexia screening and structured-literacy supports — start here to know exactly what the state requires of your school.

Use the ZIP finder to pull the nearest evaluators, therapists, and special-education schools to your address, plus your area's full directory — and these statewide free programs are always shown, no matter how rural your town.

Several reputable practices provide autism/ADHD evaluation and speech/OT/ABA by telehealth across Idaho — vital for families far from Boise or Coeur d'Alene. Nationally, COPAA (advocates/attorneys), the Academy of Orton-Gillingham (dyslexia), ABPP (board-certified evaluators), BHCOE (ABA), and Bookshare (free accessible books) round out your options.