Greater Nashville — Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville — is home to the world-class Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Currey Ingram Academy, and TNSTEP, the state's parent center. The hard part is knowing which help is genuinely excellent and how to reach the free options first. This is Nashville's own directory, ranked by real credentials (ABPP, BHCOE, Orton-Gillingham accreditation, COPAA, board-certification) — never by reviews or who pays. Start with the free Tennessee options, then the best evaluators, schools, 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). The earliest, no-barrier place to start if you have any concern about your baby or toddler.
Tennessee'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.
Tennessee's only federally funded Parent Training and Information Center — free training, workshops, IEP review and strategy, and support, with offices and bilingual staff across the state. A great first call.
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's TRIAD (Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders) — partnered with Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital — has provided autism evaluation, research, and treatment for 25+ years, among the most respected programs in the country.
Vanderbilt's Division of Developmental Medicine provides comprehensive neuropsychological and developmental evaluation of learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism for children up to age 18 — academic, board-certified diagnostic care.
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, instead of trusting star ratings.
Just outside Nashville, Currey Ingram Academy (Brentwood) is a JK–12 day and boarding school for students with learning differences — dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADHD, executive-function and processing deficits, and high-functioning ASD — using Orton-Gillingham and evidence-based instruction. 100% of graduates are accepted to college.
TNSTEP's parent specialists can help you compare additional Nashville-area school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences at no cost — statewide guidance from Tennessee's parent center.
A directory to compare additional special-education private schools across the Nashville region — a verified starting point when you need a program beyond Currey Ingram.
Erin Paske is a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT), Licensed Dyslexia Therapist, and Certified Advanced Barton Tutor pursuing a Ph.D. in Literacy Studies (reading disabilities/dyslexia). She founded the Nashville Dyslexia Center (Franklin / greater Nashville) with co-founder Steven Paske, CALT — structured-literacy dyslexia therapy by credentialed therapists.
The Academy's directory lists accredited Orton-Gillingham practitioners across greater Nashville — the gold-standard credential for a private dyslexia tutor, verified by training rather than advertising.
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 autism therapy provider with Donelson and Brentwood centers, offering ABA alongside occupational and speech therapy — accredited for clinical quality rather than chosen by ad spend.
A BHCOE-accredited ABA provider serving Nashville children on the autism spectrum from birth to age 21 — research-based applied behavior analysis, accredited for clinical quality.
The Behavioral Health Center of Excellence directory lists accredited ABA providers across greater Nashville (including Behavior Frontiers and Global Behavior Education Alliance) — the real quality bar for autism therapy.
Ebony Johnson, M.S., CCC-SLP, founded Magnolia Speech Therapy (Smyrna, serving Middle Tennessee) — a pediatric speech and occupational therapy practice that also offers language, social-skills, and feeding therapy for children across the Nashville area.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's directory lists speech-language pathologists who hold the CCC-SLP — the national mark of a fully qualified clinician.
Vanderbilt's Division of Developmental Medicine — closely tied to the Kennedy Center TRIAD — provides expert diagnosis and management of autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, and developmental delay by board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians in greater Nashville — 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 Nashville — 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.
The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families — including helping families advocate for special-education services. A no-cost route to legal assistance.
Middle Tennessee State University's speech-language and hearing clinic (Murfreesboro) offers low-cost evaluation and therapy for children with communication needs — delivered by graduate clinicians under ASHA-certified supervisors.
The Arc Davidson County & Greater Nashville offers free advocacy, education, and family support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — a warm, no-cost community resource alongside clinical services.
For children birth to 3, TEIS provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies — 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 Nashville 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 Nashville providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Nashville 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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