Greater Jacksonville spans four counties — Duval, Clay, St. Johns, and Nassau — and far more than downtown: Orange Park, Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, Middleburg, Jacksonville Beach. This directory is built so a family ANYWHERE on the First Coast can find genuinely excellent help nearby, not just options clustered downtown. It's ranked by real credentials (ABPP, BHCOE, Orton-Gillingham/Wilson accreditation, COPAA, board-certification) — never by reviews or who pays. Start with the free Florida options (your county runs its own Early Intervention), 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, Florida's Early Steps provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention services at no cost, run locally by region. Whether you're in Jacksonville, Orange Park, St. Augustine, or Fernandina, your county's Early Steps office is the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Florida's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are denied, anywhere in the state. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
Florida's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center — free help understanding your rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings, serving First Coast families and the whole state. A great first call.
Nemours Children's Specialty Care Jacksonville (affiliated with Wolfson Children's Hospital) has a psychology division with a board-certified neuropsychologist, psychometrists, and a fellowship program — comprehensive evaluation of learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism.
A Jacksonville private practice led by Allison Cato Jackson, PhD, ABPP — a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist with 15+ years evaluating children for autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, and giftedness. The credential to look for in a private evaluator.
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 (in Orange Park, Ponte Vedra, or St. Augustine), instead of trusting star ratings.
Founded in 1980, DePaul School of Northeast Florida is a nonprofit school for students with dyslexia in grades 2–8, using a multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach — accredited by AISF and NCPSA and eligible for Florida scholarship programs. Greater Jacksonville's flagship dyslexia school.
A nonprofit fully accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools, North Florida School of Special Education serves students with intellectual and developmental differences ages 6–22, plus a postgraduate program for young adults 22–40.
The Morris Center (Jacksonville) provides evidence-based, multisensory instruction and an academy program for students with dyslexia and learning disorders — a research-driven option for families who need specialized literacy intervention.
FND's parent specialists can help you compare additional First Coast school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences at no cost — and explain Florida scholarship programs (like the Family Empowerment Scholarship for students with disabilities).
Dannah Fritz (who founded the practice after her own son's dyslexia diagnosis) and Tiffany VillacortaBuer are Certified Barton Tutors and Orton-Gillingham instructors using structured-literacy and Structured Word Inquiry methods. Their Jacksonville practice serves children with dyslexia and persistent reading/spelling difficulties across the First Coast.
The Academy's directory lists accredited Orton-Gillingham practitioners across the First Coast — searchable by area so you can find one near Orange Park, Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine, or wherever you live. The gold-standard credential for a private dyslexia tutor.
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 ABA provider with a Jacksonville location — research-based early intervention for autistic children, accredited for clinical quality rather than chosen by ad spend.
A BHCOE-accredited ABA provider (Council of Autism Service Providers member) with an Orange Park location — important coverage for Clay County and the southwest side of the metro, where downtown options are a long drive.
The Behavioral Health Center of Excellence directory lists accredited ABA providers across the First Coast — searchable by zip so a family in St. Augustine, Fernandina, or Middleburg can find the nearest accredited center.
A therapist-owned private practice in Jacksonville offering pediatric speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and early-intervention services for children from birth to 18 — feeding, speech/language, and sensory/OT concerns under one roof, by clinicians rather than a corporate chain.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's directory lists speech-language pathologists who hold the CCC-SLP — the national mark of a fully qualified clinician, searchable anywhere in the metro.
UF Health Jacksonville's Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics brings together physicians, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and educational coordinators to diagnose and manage autism, ADHD, and developmental concerns — paired with the free UF CARD program for ongoing support.
Wolfson Children's Hospital (Baptist Health) and Nemours provide developmental-behavioral pediatric diagnosis and care for autism, ADHD, and developmental delay — board-certified options on the north/east side of the metro.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians across the Jacksonville metro — 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 the Jacksonville metro — the field's real professional standard.
A Jacksonville special-needs and special-education law practice serving Duval, Clay, Nassau, and Baker counties (including Orange Park and Yulee) — legal representation for IEP and 504 disputes when a district isn't meeting its obligations.
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families across Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns counties — a no-cost route to legal assistance, including some education and benefits matters.
UF Health's Center for Autism and Related Disabilities provides FREE direct assistance to Northeast Florida families — referrals, parent workshops, case coordination, service planning, and community support for autism and related disabilities. A standout no-cost resource alongside clinical care.
The University of Florida's faculty- and student-run Screen Team provides free speech, language, and hearing screenings for children in early-intervention programs, daycares, and schools across northeast Florida — a no-cost first step if you're not sure whether to pursue a full evaluation.
For children birth to 3 in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, or Nassau County, Early Steps provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies through your local office — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Federally funded and free — they help Florida families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Florida's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Jacksonville 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 Jacksonville providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Jacksonville 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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