Greater Memphis covers Shelby and Tipton counties — Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Cordova — plus Northern Mississippi just over the line (DeSoto County: Southaven, Olive Branch). 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 Tennessee options (Mississippi-side families use Mississippi 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, Tennessee's Early Intervention System (TEIS) provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention services (speech, OT, PT, developmental). Mississippi-side families (DeSoto County) use Mississippi First Steps. The earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Tennessee's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are denied, statewide. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
Tennessee's only federally funded Parent Training and Information Center, with a West Tennessee (Memphis) office — free IEP review and strategy, training, and support, with bilingual staff. A great first call.
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital Neuroscience Institute (with UTHSC) pediatric neuropsychology — including Division Chief Dr. Bearden, ABPP and Amanda DeCrow, PhD, ABPP — evaluates learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism. The metro's leading academic program.
The Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities (UTHSC) is a University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities providing interdisciplinary diagnostic evaluation for autism and developmental disabilities — a leading academic option for a formal diagnosis.
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 Germantown, Collierville, or DeSoto County), instead of trusting star ratings.
Just outside Memphis in Germantown, Bodine School serves grades 1–5 students diagnosed with dyslexia using an individualized, multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach — the average staff member has 450+ hours of post-graduate O-G training, with classes of 10 or fewer. A Southern Association of Independent Schools member.
Madonna Learning Center (Germantown) is a faith-based school and adult training center providing individualized academic and therapeutic education for students and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, starting at age 5.
TNSTEP can help you compare additional Memphis-area school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences at no cost — including district special-education programs and Mississippi-side options for DeSoto County families.
Katherine Mendez, M.A., CCC-SLP at the Memphis Speech & Hearing Center offers bilingual (Spanish/English) pediatric speech, language, and literacy/dyslexia services — plus developmental evaluations and special-education advocacy. A named standout for reading and language.
The Academy's directory lists accredited Orton-Gillingham practitioners across greater Memphis — searchable by area so you can find one near Germantown, Collierville, or Southaven. 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 Memphis nonprofit (since 1957), Harwood Center provides education, therapy, and ABA-based support for young children (18 months through the transition to kindergarten) with developmental disabilities or delays — accredited for clinical quality.
A BHCOE-accredited autism therapy provider with East Memphis and Bartlett centers offering ABA alongside occupational and speech therapy — covering the east and north sides of the metro.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across the metro (including Family Tree ABA in Collierville and Proud Moments), ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in Cordova, Collierville, or Southaven find the nearest.
Le Bonheur Children's (with UTHSC and the Boling Center) provides developmental-behavioral pediatric diagnosis and care for autism, ADHD, developmental delay, and learning concerns by board-certified specialists — the metro's leading academic children's program.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians across greater Memphis — 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 Memphis — the field's real professional standard.
Beyond information, TNSTEP offers free IEP review and strategy and trained parent support to help you prepare for and understand IEP meetings — a respected free alternative to hiring a private advocate first.
Memphis Area Legal Services provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families across Shelby and Tipton counties — a no-cost route to legal assistance, including some education and benefits matters.
One of the oldest centers of its kind in the U.S. (serving Memphis since 1947), the University of Memphis Speech & Hearing Center provides low-cost speech, language, and hearing evaluation and therapy for children — delivered by graduate clinicians under licensed, ASHA-certified supervisors (including bilingual and literacy/dyslexia services).
The Autism Society of the Mid-South provides free information, referrals, and family support across the Memphis metro — connecting families to vetted local autism services alongside clinical care.
For children birth to 3, TEIS provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies (DeSoto County / Mississippi-side families use Mississippi First Steps) — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Federally funded and free — they help Tennessee families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Tennessee's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Memphis 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 Memphis providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Memphis 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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