Greater Portland — Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Vancouver (WA) — is home to OHSU's Institute on Development & Disability, dedicated dyslexia and autism schools, and a free university speech clinic. The hard part is knowing which help is genuinely excellent and how to reach the free options first. This is Portland'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 Oregon 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.
Oregon's EI/ECSE program provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention services (speech, OT, PT, developmental) for children birth to 5 — earlier and broader than most states. The earliest, no-barrier place to start if you have any concern about your child.
Oregon'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.
Oregon's sole federally funded Parent Training and Information Center — free help understanding your rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings, with resources vetted alongside Disability Rights Oregon. A great first call.
OHSU's Pediatric Neuropsychology Clinic — where Susanne W. Duvall, PhD, ABPP-CN and Amanda Ball, PsyD, ABPP-CN practice within the Institute on Development & Disability — provides comprehensive evaluations of learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism at Oregon's academic medical center.
OHSU's Child Development and Rehabilitation Center brings together developmental pediatrics, psychology, speech-language pathology, and neuropsychology for multidisciplinary evaluation of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders.
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.
Founded in 2005 to serve students with dyslexia, Park Academy (Tigard) teaches grades 3–8 with daily small-group structured literacy tailored to each learner — addressing language processing, attention, memory, processing speed, and executive function while aligning to Oregon grade-level standards.
Oregon's only dedicated year-round private school for children, teens, and young adults affected by autism, Victory Academy (Wilsonville) is approved by the Oregon Department of Education and accredited through Cognia — with a five-year high-school program and a post-graduation 'Compass' program.
FACT Oregon's parent specialists can help you compare additional Portland-area school options for dyslexia, autism, and learning differences at no cost — vetted, statewide guidance from Oregon's parent center.
Westside Dyslexia Solutions (West Hills, Portland) provides individual, in-person Orton-Gillingham reading, spelling, and handwriting tutoring from an instructor certified at the Associate level by the Orton-Gillingham Academy — a verified, credentialed Portland dyslexia specialist.
The Academy's directory lists accredited Orton-Gillingham practitioners across greater Portland — 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 ABA provider serving Portland — research-based applied behavior analysis for autistic children, accredited for clinical quality rather than chosen by ad spend.
A BHCOE-accredited provider delivering ABA in-home and in-community for children with autism and developmental delays — including services in the family's native language, accredited for clinical quality.
The Behavioral Health Center of Excellence directory lists accredited ABA providers across greater Portland (including Early Autism Services and Play Connections in Beaverton) — the real quality bar for autism therapy.
Whole Circle Pediatric Therapy (Portland) pairs occupational and speech therapists with 25+ years of combined experience — neurodiversity-affirming care including Gestalt Language Processing, AAC, and responsive feeding. A named CCC-SLP + OTR/L standout under one roof.
ASHA ProFind lists speech-language pathologists who hold the CCC-SLP and AOTA lists licensed occupational therapists (OTR/L) — national credentials to verify, searchable anywhere in greater Portland.
OHSU Doernbecher's developmental pediatricians and Autism Clinic provide expert evaluation and diagnosis of autism, intellectual disability, learning disabilities, and neurodevelopmental disorders — seeing more children with autism characteristics than any other provider in Oregon and SW Washington.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians in greater Portland — 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 Portland — the field's real professional standard.
A Portland special-education law practice with an attorney-and-advocate team handling IEP, FAPE, and disability-rights cases — legal representation when a school district isn't meeting its obligations.
Legal Aid Services of Oregon provides free civil legal help to income-eligible families across the Portland region — a no-cost route to legal assistance, including some education and benefits matters.
Portland State University's Oregon Scottish Rite Clinic offers free, donation-based speech and language evaluation and therapy — including programs for young children — delivered by graduate clinicians under licensed, ASHA-certified speech-language pathologists, in person and via telepractice.
FACT Oregon offers free in-person and virtual trainings, one-on-one support, and resource navigation for Oregon families — a rich free resource for learning your rights alongside clinical services.
For children birth to 5, Oregon's EI/ECSE program provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Federally funded and free — they help Oregon families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Oregon's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Portland 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 Portland providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Portland 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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