Southeastern Connecticut — New London, Norwich, Groton, Waterford, East Lyme, Ledyard, and the rest of New London County, home to Naval Submarine Base New London and many Navy families — has strong, credentialed help for kids with special needs, anchored by Connecticut Children's and United Community & Family Services (UCFS), with Yale a short drive away. Your local districts — New London, Norwich, Groton, Waterford, and East Lyme — 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, COPAA, CCC-SLP, OTR-L, board-certification), never by reviews or who pays. In Connecticut your free front door is Birth to Three (birth–3) and your school district's evaluation and IEP for ages 3+. Military families: ask about EFMP and the TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration. Start there, 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 a developmental delay or a diagnosed condition, Connecticut's Birth to Three System provides free evaluation and multidisciplinary early intervention — speech, occupational, and physical therapy and special instruction, usually in your home. By law the assessment and your initial IFSP must be completed within 45 calendar days of referral. Services are covered by state and federal funds, Medicaid, and insurance. The earliest, no-barrier place to start; in our area Reachout Inc. is a regional Birth to Three provider.
Request a special-education evaluation in writing from your district — New London, Norwich, Groton, Waterford, or East Lyme. The district must convene a Planning and Placement Team (PPT), and once you consent, complete the evaluation and hold the eligibility/IEP meeting within 60 school days. This is the free legal route to an IEP under IDEA.
Connecticut'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.
Connecticut Children's Autism Spectrum Assessment Program (ASAP) — a collaboration of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics and Speech-Language Pathology for children 12 months through adolescence — gives a timely initial diagnostic evaluation so services can start. Its Preschool Evaluation Program assesses children under five. The academic referral for complex cases in the region.
United Community & Family Services, a nonprofit community health center in Norwich, runs a Program for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders with comprehensive assessments, medication management, and behavioral and social-communication intervention in one place — a credentialed local diagnostic option close to home.
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 southeastern Connecticut, instead of trusting star ratings.
Norwich Public Schools runs specialized autism and intervention programs within an inclusion model, and New London, Groton, Waterford, and East Lyme run their own as well. In southeastern Connecticut the strongest specialized placements are most often within the public districts; insist on the right program through the PPT and IEP process.
LEARN is the regional educational service center for southeastern Connecticut (the New London area), running specialized public programs and schools — autism, emotional/behavioral, and significant-needs placements — that districts use when a child needs more than the home district can provide. Often the first specialized step your PPT can access before a private placement.
CPAC, Connecticut's Parent Training and Information Center (based in Niantic, right in our area), offers free help weighing options and pushing for the right program through the PPT/IEP process — for families of children birth to 26, including those at Naval Submarine Base New London. Invaluable before paying for placement help.
Connecticut law requires universal reading screening in kindergarten through grade 3 and evidence-based, explicit, systematic, multisensory structured-literacy intervention, overseen by the state's Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities. New London, Norwich, and every area district must offer this free — request dyslexia screening and services in writing, and know your rights before paying for private tutoring.
The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators lists accredited O-G practitioners across southeastern Connecticut — searchable near New London, Norwich, or Groton. The gold-standard credential for a private dyslexia tutor, instead of trusting ads. (Wilson Reading is another evidence-based structured-literacy option.)
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.
InBloom Autism Services' Norwich Learning Center provides BCBA-led applied behavior analysis for children with autism, with a learning-readiness program and individualized therapy spaces — a credentialed local center-based ABA option (UCFS and other CT DSS-approved providers also serve the area). Ask about BHCOE accreditation and TRICARE for military families.
Sky's the Limit Therapy provides pediatric occupational therapy for children with autism, sensory processing differences, ADHD, and learning disabilities, serving New London, Waterford, Norwich, East Lyme, Old Lyme, Groton, and Ledyard — a credentialed local OT clinic.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across southeastern Connecticut, ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in New London, Norwich, or Groton find the nearest credentialed clinician.
Connecticut Children's Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics evaluates and cares for children with autism, ADHD, developmental delays, and learning disorders, including a Preschool Evaluation Program and a Transition to Adulthood clinic — the academic medical referral for complex diagnoses in the region.
Navy families at Naval Submarine Base New London (in Groton) should enroll in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) and ask about the TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration, which covers ABA for eligible dependents. EFMP coordinates assignments and services around your child's needs — a key, no-cost military benefit.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians serving southeastern Connecticut — 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 southeastern Connecticut — the field's real professional standard.
CPAC is Connecticut's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center, based in Niantic — free help understanding your rights, evaluations, and the PPT/IEP process, staffed by parents of children with disabilities. A respected statewide free resource before hiring a private advocate.
Connecticut'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.
United Community & Family Services is a nonprofit community health center serving New London County with sliding-scale, income-based pediatric, behavioral health, and autism/neurodevelopmental services — a major low-cost path for families regardless of insurance.
For children birth to 3, Connecticut Birth to Three provides free developmental evaluations and multidisciplinary early-intervention therapies, with a 45-day timeline to your initial IFSP — the earliest, no-barrier place to start in New London County.
For Navy families at Naval Submarine Base New London, the TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration covers ABA therapy for eligible dependents with autism — a major low/no-cost path to services. Pair it with EFMP enrollment.
CPAC offers free help understanding evaluations, IEPs, and your rights — a no-cost first call for any New London County family navigating special education.
Federally funded and free — they help Connecticut families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Connecticut's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your New London 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 New London providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted New London 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.
Tell us about your child →