Greater New Orleans spans several parishes — Orleans, Jefferson (Metairie, Kenner), St. Bernard (Chalmette), and the Northshore in St. Tammany (Mandeville, Covington). 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/CALT, COPAA, CCC-SLP, board-certification) — never by reviews or who pays. Start with the free Louisiana options, 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 developmental delay or a qualifying condition, Louisiana's EarlySteps provides free developmental evaluation and early-intervention services in your child's natural environment (home, child care, community) — cognitive, motor, communication, social-emotional. The earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Louisiana's federally mandated protection & advocacy system — free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are denied. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
Louisiana's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center for Greater New Orleans (since 1991) — free help with your rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, meetings, and dispute resolution. All LaPTIC services are free. A great first call.
Children's Hospital New Orleans pediatric neuropsychologists assess thinking, attention, language, memory, and behavior — informing school and medical decisions — for school-age children through early adulthood with conditions affecting cognition or learning. The metro's leading academic program.
LSU Health New Orleans and Ochsner Health provide pediatric neuropsychological and developmental evaluation for autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities — giving families a second strong academic option across the metro.
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 Metairie, Kenner, or the Northshore), instead of trusting star ratings.
Ecole Classique (Metairie) works with PreK–12 students who have a range of language-based learning disorders, including dyslexia — small classes and individualized support for learners who need an alternative to a traditional classroom.
Park Place Christian Academy's Dyslexia Center pairs classroom instruction with dyslexia therapy using an Orton-Gillingham-based curriculum — structured-literacy support for students with dyslexia in the Greater New Orleans area.
Families Helping Families can help you compare additional New Orleans-area school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences at no cost — including district special-education programs and Louisiana Key Academy, the state's tuition-free dyslexia charter network.
Thrive Therapies (Greater New Orleans) includes a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) and International Dyslexia Association member who has worked as a dyslexia interventionist at a specialized dyslexia school — a named standout for structured-literacy dyslexia therapy.
SpeakEasily SLP (Mike Zinni, M.S., CCC-SLP) specializes in speech-language therapy plus academic support for reading, literacy, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, using evidence-based practices — a named, dual-skill reading and language specialist.
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 ABA provider with 20+ years of experience, serving New Orleans in learning centers, homes, the community, and in partnership with schools — research-based applied behavior analysis, accredited for clinical quality rather than ad spend.
A BHCOE-accredited New Orleans ABA provider offering customized, evidence-based early-intervention ABA for children ages 2–6 with autism and their families — accredited for clinical quality.
Crane Rehab Center Pediatrics (Metairie) is led by Lori Reyes, MA, CCC-SLP, a pediatric speech-language pathologist with 17+ years of experience treating children with communication disorders — a named standout for speech and language therapy on the Jefferson Parish side.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across the metro (including Within Reach and Gulfsouth Autism Center in New Orleans, Metairie, and Covington), ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in Kenner, Chalmette, or the Northshore find the nearest.
Children's Hospital New Orleans (with LSU Health) developmental-behavioral pediatrics provides expert diagnosis and management of 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 New Orleans — 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 New Orleans — the field's real professional standard.
Beyond information, Families Helping Families provides free help preparing for IEP meetings and navigating dispute resolution — IEP facilitation, mediation, state complaints, and due-process options. A respected free alternative to hiring a private advocate first.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families across the New Orleans region — a no-cost route to legal assistance, including some education and benefits matters.
LSU Health New Orleans' Department of Communication Disorders offers low-cost speech, language, and hearing evaluation and therapy for children — delivered by graduate clinicians under licensed, ASHA-certified supervisors. A university-clinic option in the metro.
Families Helping Families offers free autism and developmental-disability resource navigation across Greater New Orleans — connecting families to vetted local services, alongside clinical care, at no cost.
For children birth to 3, EarlySteps provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies in your child's natural environment — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
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.
A short message — your child, your New Orleans 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 Orleans providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted New Orleans 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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