Greater Richmond covers the city plus Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover counties — Glen Allen, Midlothian, Mechanicsville, Short Pump, and south to Petersburg. This directory is built so a family ANYWHERE in central Virginia can find genuinely excellent help nearby, not just options clustered downtown. It's ranked by real credentials (ABPP, BHCOE, Orton-Gillingham/Wilson accreditation, COPAA, board-certification) — never by reviews or who pays. Start with the free Virginia options (Early Intervention is run by your local Infant & Toddler Connection), 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, Virginia's Infant & Toddler Connection (the Greater Richmond local system serves the city, Henrico, and beyond) provides free developmental evaluation and early-intervention services — speech, OT, PT, developmental. The earliest, no-barrier place to start, wherever you live in central Virginia.
Virginia's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal information, advocacy, and a special-education attorney referral list when a child's special-education rights are denied. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
Virginia's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center — free help understanding your rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings, with services and support statewide. A great first call.
The Child Neurology division at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU includes board-certified neuropsychologists who evaluate a child's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning — learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism — at central Virginia's leading academic children's hospital (Children's Pavilion).
The disAbility Law Center of Virginia and the Brain Injury Association of Virginia maintain referral lists of qualified neuropsychologists and evaluators in the Richmond area — a credible way to find a private evaluator beyond the hospital system.
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 Midlothian, Glen Allen, or Mechanicsville), instead of trusting star ratings.
Riverside School (Richmond) is the only school in Virginia accredited by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators — one of about 18 nationwide — serving K–8 students with dyslexia and language-based differences since 1974. The gold standard for structured literacy in central Virginia.
The New Community School is a co-educational college-prep day school (grades 5–12) for students with dyslexia and language-based learning differences — many arrive from Riverside's elementary program, continuing structured language instruction through high school.
The Faison Center serves students with autism at its Richmond and Peninsula campuses — highly individualized, evidence-based programs with staffing ratios up to 1-to-1 for students who need intensive support.
The Sarah Dooley Center for Autism at St. Joseph's Villa (Richmond) is a day school dedicated to students with autism spectrum disorder — communication, academic, and behavioral support in a specialized environment.
READ (Reading Education Associates), led by educator Anna Hatfield on Monument Avenue in Richmond, is a tutoring center specializing in reading, dyslexia, and early literacy using Orton-Gillingham approaches — individualized, multisensory instruction for struggling readers across the Richmond area.
The Academy's directory lists accredited Orton-Gillingham practitioners across greater Richmond — searchable by area so you can find one near Midlothian, Glen Allen, or Mechanicsville. The gold-standard credential for a private dyslexia tutor.
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 Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico, and Prince George counties — research-based applied behavior analysis for autistic children across the metro, accredited for clinical quality rather than ad spend.
A BHCOE-accredited Richmond ABA provider (accredited through 2027) — individualized applied behavior analysis for children on the autism spectrum, verified for clinical quality.
The Behavioral Health Center of Excellence directory lists accredited ABA providers across greater Richmond (including Proud Moments and Compass in Glen Allen) — searchable by zip so a family in Midlothian, Hanover, or Petersburg finds the nearest accredited center.
Treehouse Pediatric Therapy in Richmond, led by occupational therapists Marti Flanagan and Laurie Lanning, provides occupational, speech, physical, and feeding therapy for children from birth through 21 — in clinic, in schools and preschools, at home, and online across the Richmond 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, searchable anywhere in greater Richmond.
Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU's developmental-behavioral pediatrics team provides expert diagnosis and management of autism, ADHD, and developmental concerns by board-certified specialists — central Virginia's leading academic children's hospital.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians across greater Richmond — 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 Richmond — the field's real professional standard.
Beyond information, PEATC's trained staff help you prepare for and understand IEP meetings at no cost — a respected free alternative to hiring a private advocate first, available statewide.
The Legal Aid Justice Center provides free legal help to low-income Virginia families on special-education, school-discipline, and related matters — a no-cost route to real legal representation across the Richmond region.
University speech-language clinics offer low-cost evaluation and therapy delivered by supervised graduate clinicians. ASHA's directory helps you locate the nearest accredited program serving the Richmond region.
The Autism Society of Central Virginia provides free information, referrals, and family support across greater Richmond — connecting families to vetted local autism services alongside clinical care.
For children birth to 3, the Infant & Toddler Connection provides free developmental evaluations and early-intervention therapies through your local system — the earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Federally funded and free — they help Virginia families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
Virginia's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
A short message — your child, your Richmond 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 Richmond providers from the vetted directory above.
A clear written plan, plus a vetted Richmond 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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