Greater Louisville covers Jefferson, Oldham, and Bullitt counties — Louisville, Jeffersontown, St. Matthews, Shively, Pewee Valley — plus Southern Indiana across the river (Jeffersonville, New Albany). This is a true yellow pages of the best, most relevant help for a child with special needs, built so a family ANYWHERE in the metro can find genuinely excellent care nearby — named experts and therapists, not just directories. It's ranked by real credentials (ABPP, BHCOE, Orton-Gillingham, COPAA, CCC-SLP, board-certification) — never by reviews or who pays. Start with the free Kentucky options (Indiana-side families use Indiana First Steps), 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 developmental delay or a qualifying condition, Kentucky's First Steps (KEIS) provides free developmental evaluation and early-intervention services — speech, OT, PT, developmental intervention, playgroups, social work. (Southern Indiana families use Indiana First Steps.) The earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Kentucky's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal-based individual advocacy and education when a child's special-education rights are denied. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
Kentucky's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center — free help understanding your rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings, plus webinars and resources linking families to disability supports. A great first call.
Norton Children's Neuropsychology in Louisville — including Bradley S. Folley, PhD, ABPP (board-certified in clinical neuropsychology) — provides comprehensive evaluation of learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism, with advanced services through the Norton Neuroscience Institute.
The University of Louisville's Weisskopf Child Evaluation Center (with Norton Children's), established 1966, provides interdisciplinary diagnostic evaluation — developmental-behavioral pediatricians, psychologists, SLPs, and OTs together — for autism, developmental delay, learning disability, ADHD, and more.
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 St. Matthews, Jeffersontown, or across the river in Southern Indiana), instead of trusting star ratings.
The de Paul School is Louisville's original school for learning differences — K–8 students with dyslexia, ADHD, processing disorders, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, taught with the Orton-Gillingham approach. One of the nation's preeminent independent schools for language-based learning differences.
KY-SPIN can help you compare additional Louisville-area school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences at no cost — including district special-education programs and Indiana-side options for Southern Indiana families.
The Academy of Orton-Gillingham's directory of accredited instructional programs (including OGA-accredited programs at area schools such as Holy Trinity's Clifton Campus) is a verified way to find structured-literacy dyslexia education near you.
Sheila Blandford, a lifelong speech-language pathologist and founder of Louisville/Kentucky Dyslexia Associates, has evaluated and tutored 150+ children and adults for dyslexia — a named, dual-discipline reading and language specialist.
The Orton-Gillingham Center of Pewee Valley (Jill MacNiven) provides certified Orton-Gillingham dyslexia tutoring on the east side of the metro in Oldham County — important coverage for families outside the city center.
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 Louisville autism provider offering individualized 1:1 ABA — the Kosair Charities East Campus serves ages 3–11 and the Mid City location serves teens and young adults 12–21+ building life skills. Accredited for clinical quality rather than ad spend.
A BHCOE-accredited autism therapy provider with Louisville East and South centers offering ABA alongside feeding, occupational, and speech therapy — coordinated care on both sides of the metro.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across the metro (including Adapt For Life and Cultivate in Louisville), ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in Shively, Pewee Valley, or Southern Indiana find the nearest.
UofL Physicians Speech-Language Pathology provides testing and therapy for children with speech, language, swallowing, and cognitive disorders — CCC-SLP clinicians with extensive pediatric experience.
Norton Children's Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (the UofL Weisskopf Center) provides expert diagnosis and management of autism, ADHD, developmental delay, and learning disorders by board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians — the metro's leading academic program.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians across greater Louisville — 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 Louisville — the field's real professional standard.
Beyond information, KY-SPIN's trained staff help you prepare for and understand IEP meetings at no cost — a respected free alternative to hiring a private advocate first.
The Legal Aid Society provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families across the Louisville region — a no-cost route to legal assistance, including some education and benefits matters.
Spalding University's speech-language clinic in Louisville offers low-cost evaluation and therapy for children with communication needs — delivered by graduate clinicians under licensed, ASHA-certified supervisors, right in the metro.
FEAT of Louisville provides free family support, resources, and connection for families affected by autism across the metro — a warm, no-cost community resource alongside clinical care.
For children birth to 3, Kentucky's First Steps provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies (Southern Indiana families use Indiana First Steps) — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Federally funded and free — they help Kentucky families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Kentucky's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Louisville 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 Louisville providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Louisville 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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