Northeast Louisiana — Monroe, West Monroe, and the rest of Ouachita Parish — has real, credentialed help for kids with special needs, anchored by St. Francis Medical Center and the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) speech, hearing, and literacy clinics. Your local districts — Ouachita Parish Schools and Monroe City Schools — each run special education. This is the region'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, Orton-Gillingham/CALT, COPAA, CCC-SLP, OTR-L, board-certification), never by reviews or who pays. In Louisiana your free front door is EarlySteps (birth–3) and your school district's evaluation and IEP for ages 3+. Start there, then the best evaluators, schools, reading specialists, therapists, doctors, and advocates near you.
✓ Every provider here is vetted by credentials, never pay-to-play. How we choose →
Northeast Louisiana's first specialty charter school built for students on the autism spectrum, integrating academics with ABA, speech, and occupational therapy in the classroom. Grades K-5 with a max of nine students per class.
Ouachita Parish Schools serves students ages birth to 21 with specialized programs — autism support, behavior, speech, and inclusion services — across its 36 schools. In northeast Louisiana the strongest specialized placements are most often within the public districts; insist on the right program through the IEP process.
Monroe City Schools' special-education office cooperatively builds each child's IEP with parents and provides speech therapy, hearing-impaired services, visually-impaired services, and adaptive physical education in the least restrictive environment — your free local path to specialized programming inside the city schools.
Louisiana's Parent Training and Information Center (run by Families Helping Families of Greater New Orleans, serving the whole state) offers free help weighing options and pushing for the right program through the IEP process — with the Northeast Louisiana office in Monroe as your local partner.
North Louisiana campus of Louisiana Key Academy, a tuition-free public charter dedicated solely to students with dyslexia. Holds IMSLEC accreditation (the highest national standard for structured-literacy/dyslexia instruction); every reading teacher is a Certified Academic Language Therapist or in training toward that credential. Daily 90-minute small-group (1-on-6) structured-literacy block plus full academics. Open to families across north-central Louisiana, including Monroe (~35 miles east). LKA has won the national YASS Prize for transformational education.
One of the few facilities in the state, and the only one in North Louisiana, offering a complete certified autism diagnosis via a multidisciplinary team that includes a pediatric psychiatrist, psychologist, behavior analyst, and speech-language pathologist.
Offers autism diagnostic evaluation alongside its clinical team of a BCBA, an SLP/BCBA, and RBTs who collaborate on goals and treatment. Diagnostic testing is available at the center.
The Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development is Louisiana's most comprehensive pediatric developmental center, with multidisciplinary teams that evaluate and treat autism, ADHD, and neurodevelopmental disorders. A drive from Monroe, it's the academic referral for complex diagnostic cases.
St. Francis Medical Center is the medical anchor of northeast Louisiana, home to the region's only pediatric ICU and Level III NICU, plus a pediatric neurology clinic. A strong local starting point for developmental concerns and referrals for 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 across northeast Louisiana, instead of trusting star ratings.
Louisiana law (the Bulletin 1903 dyslexia rules) requires districts to screen students for dyslexia indicators and provide multisensory, structured-literacy intervention. Ouachita Parish and Monroe City must offer this free — request dyslexia screening and services in writing, and know your rights before paying for private tutoring.
The University of Louisiana Monroe Literacy Clinic provides structured, evidence-based reading intervention through its education program — a credentialed, university-supervised local option for struggling readers, often at lower cost than private tutoring.
The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and the ALTA registry of Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALT) list accredited multisensory reading specialists — searchable near Monroe and West Monroe. The gold-standard credentials for a private dyslexia tutor, instead of trusting ads. (Avoid 'vision therapy' or Brain Balance — not evidence-based for dyslexia.)
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.
An applied behavior analysis practice founded in 2015 and owned and operated by Kimberly Peters, M.S., BCBA, providing evidence-based ABA for children with autism in the Monroe / West Monroe area.
A pediatric therapy clinic offering occupational, physical, and speech therapy for children, with locations serving Monroe, West Monroe, and Ruston.
The PAC Center provides BCBA-led applied behavior analysis alongside speech, occupational, and psychological therapy for children with autism across northeast Louisiana, including a Monroe location — a credentialed multidisciplinary local provider. Ask about BHCOE accreditation and your insurance's autism benefit.
Thrive Pediatric Therapy is a northeast Louisiana clinic specializing in pediatric occupational, physical, and speech therapy — credentialed CCC-SLP and OTR/L clinicians serving children with autism, sensory processing, ADHD, and developmental needs in the Monroe area.
The ULM Kitty DeGree Speech and Hearing Center (with the Carol Nichols Ray clinic) provides speech-language and hearing evaluation and therapy supervised by CCC-SLP faculty — a credentialed, university-run local option, often at reduced cost, plus social-skills groups for children with autism.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across northeast Louisiana, ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in Monroe, West Monroe, and Ruston find the nearest credentialed clinician.
St. Francis Medical Group's Pediatric Neurology Clinic in Monroe is the regional specialty option for evaluating seizures, developmental delay, and neurological concerns — a strong local medical starting point, with Ochsner's Boh Center as the academic referral for complex autism and developmental diagnoses.
For a formal autism or ADHD diagnosis, Ochsner's Boh Center — Louisiana's only comprehensive pediatric developmental center — offers multidisciplinary developmental-behavioral evaluation, the academic referral when a complex or definitive diagnosis is needed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians serving northeast Louisiana — 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 northeast Louisiana — the field's real professional standard.
The Monroe-based Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana is your local arm of the statewide Parent Training and Information Center — free help understanding 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 ULM Kitty DeGree Speech and Hearing Center provides CCC-SLP-supervised speech-language and hearing services — often at reduced cost through the university training clinic, a real low-cost option for Monroe families.
For children birth to 3, EarlySteps provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies in your natural environment — the earliest, no-barrier place to start in northeast Louisiana.
Louisiana Medicaid (and EPSDT for children) covers medically necessary therapies and ABA for eligible kids, and the Children's Choice and New Opportunities waivers fund home- and community-based services for children with developmental disabilities — a major low/no-cost path to services. Ask Families Helping Families to help you apply.
Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana offers free help understanding evaluations, IEPs, and your rights — a no-cost first call for any Monroe-area family navigating special education.
For children birth to 3 with a developmental delay or a diagnosed condition, EarlySteps — Louisiana's Part C early-intervention system, delivered locally through Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana in Monroe — provides free evaluation and services (speech, occupational, physical therapy, developmental instruction) in your home or child care. The earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Request a special-education evaluation in writing from your district — Ouachita Parish Schools or Monroe City Schools. Under Louisiana's Pupil Appraisal rules the district must complete the evaluation within 60 business days of your written consent, then hold an eligibility/IEP meeting. This is the free legal route to an IEP under IDEA.
Louisiana's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education or disability rights are denied. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
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.
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How do I start the special-education process in Monroe?
Put your request in writing to your child's school, asking for a full special-education evaluation — that is the legal first step. On A New Story you'll find a free, ready-to-send evaluation-request letter you can use today.
How long does a special-education evaluation take?
Once you give written consent, the school generally must complete the evaluation and hold an eligibility meeting within a set timeline (often around 60 days, though it varies by state). Putting your request in writing starts the clock.
Can my school district pay for a private special-education school?
Sometimes. If the public school can't provide an appropriate education, the district can be required to fund a state-approved nonpublic placement. It isn't automatic — it takes the right evaluation and advocacy — but families do it every year, including ones with limited funds.
What's the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?
An IEP provides specialized instruction and services under IDEA; a 504 plan provides accommodations under civil-rights law. A New Story's free guides walk you through which one fits your child.
Where can I find free special-education help in Monroe?
A New Story lists credential-vetted schools, evaluators, therapists, advocates, and the free public programs and parent centers in Louisiana — searchable by ZIP, and free forever.