Special-education help for Mississippi families.

First Steps is Mississippi's IDEA Part C program, run by the Mississippi State Department of Health. It 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, with a service coordinator and team who work right in your home and community. There is no income test and no diagnosis required. This is the single best first call for a baby or toddler.

You can refer your own child — you don't need a doctor to do it. Call the Mississippi State Department of Health's First Steps line or use the MSDH Early Intervention page to start; a service coordinator is assigned to walk your family through every step. They come to you.

Mississippi's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center gives free, one-to-one help understanding your rights, the evaluation, and the IEP/504 process — staffed by parent specialists who have been through it themselves. They explain what the school must do, help you prepare for meetings, and answer questions at no cost. Call MSPTI before you pay any private advocate.

Beyond one-to-one help, MSPTI runs free workshops and publishes plain-language guides on evaluations, IEP goals, discipline, and dispute resolution — a good way to walk into your next meeting knowing exactly what to ask for.

Disability Rights Mississippi is the state's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency. It provides free legal-rights 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 before you ever hire a lawyer.

The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS) Office of Vocational Rehabilitation provides free help for students with disabilities (often starting around age 14) to prepare for work, college, and independent living — Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS): job exploration, work-based learning, workplace-readiness training, and self-advocacy instruction. Ask your school's transition staff or your local MDRS district office to assign a VR transition counselor, and invite them to your child's transition IEP meetings.

Yes — Mississippi has a Katie Beckett pathway (the TEFRA option), formerly called Disabled Child Living at Home (DCLH). It lets a child under 19 with long-term disabilities or complex medical needs qualify for Mississippi Medicaid based on the CHILD's needs and disability — NOT the parents' income — when the child needs an institutional level of care. That Medicaid card then pays for therapies (speech, OT, PT, ABA), equipment, and care at home. Apply through the Mississippi Division of Medicaid (Aged, Blind & Disabled application + Disabled Child documents).

Mississippi also runs three 1915(c) home- and community-based waivers that serve children — including the Intellectual Disabilities/Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) waiver — which can fund respite, supports, and services beyond what the school provides. These waivers have waiting lists that can run for years, so the single most important move is to get your child's name on every list TODAY through the Mississippi Division of Medicaid; eligibility is tied to the child's needs, not just family income.

You can ask your school district in writing for a special-education evaluation at any time. Once you sign consent, Mississippi follows the federal IDEA timeline: the district must complete the evaluation within 60 calendar days of receiving your consent, then hold an eligibility/IEP meeting and — if your child qualifies — write an IEP. Put the request in writing and date it; the clock starts then. You have the right to everything in your language, to bring anyone you want 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, and due process). Your PTI above (MSPTI) explains all of it for free.

The Mississippi Department of Education Office of Special Education sets the rules every district must follow (for children ages 3–20), runs the state complaint, mediation, and due-process systems, and publishes the Mississippi Dyslexia Handbook. Mississippi law (MS Code § 37-173-15) requires districts to screen for dyslexia in the spring of kindergarten and fall of first grade, and to notify you if your child fails — a powerful early lever for families. 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 in the Delta, the Pines, or the Coast.

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