Acadiana — Lafayette plus the surrounding parishes of St. Martin, Vermilion, Iberia, and Acadia — has real, credentialed help for kids with special needs, anchored by Our Lady of Lourdes Children's Health and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's speech-language-hearing clinic. Your local school system — the Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) and neighboring parish systems — runs special education and evaluations. This is Acadiana's own yellow pages of the best, most relevant help — named experts and clinics where we can verify them, ranked by real credentials (ABPP, BHCOE, CALT, Orton-Gillingham, COPAA, CCC-SLP, OTR-L, board-certification), never by reviews or who pays. In Louisiana your free front door is EarlySteps (early intervention, birth–3) and your parish school system's evaluation and IEP for ages 3+. Start there, then the best evaluators, schools, reading specialists, 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 with a developmental delay or a qualifying medical condition, EarlySteps — Louisiana's Part C early-intervention system — provides free evaluation and services (speech, OT, PT, developmental) delivered in your child's natural environment. Contact the Acadiana-region System Point of Entry (SPOE) to start. The earliest, no-barrier place to begin.
At age 3, request a special-education evaluation in writing from your parish system — Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS), or the St. Martin, Vermilion, Iberia, or Acadia parish systems. The district must evaluate and, if eligible, write an IEP under IDEA. This is the free legal route to services.
Louisiana'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.
Our Lady of Lourdes Children's Health operates Acadiana's only women's & children's hospital and a Children's Specialty Center with pediatric neurology and developmental services — the region's hospital-based home for diagnosing and managing autism and developmental conditions.
Family Solutions Counseling runs an Autism Center in Lafayette providing diagnostic autism evaluation alongside ABA therapy — a local option for both the diagnosis and the treatment under one organization. Verify the evaluating clinician's licensure and credentials.
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 across Acadiana (LSU Health and academic centers in Baton Rouge/New Orleans are the referral for complex cases), instead of trusting star ratings.
SOAR Academy is a Lafayette therapeutic education program for children with autism spectrum disorder or developmental delay, using the Unique Learning System curriculum delivered with applied-behavior-analysis principles and multidisciplinary supports — a specialized placement your IEP team can consider.
Education Destination is a Lafayette nonprofit educational center offering a K–12 academic and social-learning program for students with learning challenges, with students able to earn a diploma — a small, specialized alternative when a traditional classroom isn't working.
Louisiana's School Choice Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities can help eligible students with disabilities access approved nonpublic schools — worth checking with the Louisiana Department of Education if you're seeking a specialized placement.
The Academic Language Therapy Association lists Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALTs) — clinicians with deep, supervised training in structured-literacy (Orton-Gillingham-based) dyslexia intervention. CALT is a gold-standard credential to look for in an Acadiana dyslexia therapist, instead of trusting ads.
The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators lists accredited O-G practitioners — searchable across Acadiana. Another evidence-based, structured-literacy 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.
Aspire Behavioral Health Center is Acadiana's only Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE)-accredited ABA program — the quality credential to verify in any ABA provider. BCBA-led applied behavior analysis for children with autism, just north of Lafayette in Carencro.
The Therapy Center of Acadiana has provided ABA therapy in greater Lafayette since 2011 — an established local applied-behavior-analysis provider for children with autism. Verify current BCBA supervision and credentials.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Speech, Language & Hearing Center provides speech-language evaluation and therapy delivered by graduate clinicians under ASHA-certified CCC-SLP supervision — a credentialed, lower-cost local option for ongoing speech services.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across Acadiana, ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in Lafayette, New Iberia, or Abbeville find the nearest credentialed clinician.
Our Lady of Lourdes Children's Health offers pediatric neurology and developmental services in Lafayette — the local medical home for evaluating and managing autism, ADHD, and developmental conditions, with LSU Health and New Orleans/Baton Rouge academic centers as the referral for complex cases.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians serving the Lafayette area — 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 Acadiana — the field's real professional standard.
Families Helping Families of Acadiana is the region's Parent Training and Information Center — free information & referral, peer-to-peer support, and education/training to help you understand your rights, evaluations, and the IEP process. A respected free resource before hiring a private advocate.
Louisiana's protection & advocacy agency offers free legal information and advocacy for special-education rights — a no-cost first stop before hiring a private advocate or attorney.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Speech, Language & Hearing Center (Burke-Hawthorne Hall) provides low-cost speech-language and hearing evaluation and therapy delivered by supervised graduate clinicians — a strong-value option for ongoing services in Acadiana.
Families Helping Families of Acadiana offers free information & referral, peer support, and trainings for families of children with disabilities across the region — a no-cost first call to navigate every system on this page.
For children birth to 3, EarlySteps provides free developmental evaluation and early-intervention therapies in your child's natural environment — the earliest, no-barrier place to start in Acadiana.
Easterseals Louisiana provides disability services and family supports (and is a longtime EarlySteps partner) across the state — a helpful, accessible nonprofit hub for families in Acadiana navigating services.
Federally funded and free — they help Louisiana families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Louisiana's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Lafayette 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 Lafayette providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Lafayette 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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