Sonoma County — Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Windsor, Sebastopol, and the rest of wine country — has strong, credentialed help for kids with special needs, anchored by the North Bay Regional Center in Santa Rosa, with UCSF Benioff and the UC Davis MIND Institute within reach for complex diagnosis. Your local districts — Santa Rosa City Schools, Petaluma City Schools, and Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified, all members of the Sonoma County SELPA — each run special education. This is Sonoma'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 California your free front door is Early Start (birth–3) through the North Bay Regional Center, and your school district's evaluation and IEP for ages 3+. Many North Bay families are Spanish-speaking — bilingual help is noted throughout. Start there, then the best evaluators, schools, reading specialists, therapists, doctors, and advocates near you.
✓ Every provider here is vetted by credentials, never pay-to-play. How we choose →
State-certified nonprofit serving students in grades 7-12 with dyslexia and language-based learning differences through individualized programs that integrate educational therapy and multisensory remediation. Small, structured setting focused on students who struggle in mainstream classrooms.
Long-standing Sonoma nonprofit (founded 1945) whose high school became a California Department of Education-certified nonpublic school in 2023, providing customized education plans paired with trauma-informed mental health and behavioral support for adolescents with significant emotional and academic needs. Staffed by youth-development and behavioral-health clinicians.
Anova Center for Education runs a California Department of Education-certified nonpublic school (NPS) in Santa Rosa for K–12 students with autism, learning disabilities, and other neurodevelopmental needs, blending academics with behavior analysis, speech, social cognition, and occupational therapy. Districts can fund an NPS placement through the IEP when a child's needs can't be met in-district.
The Sonoma County SELPA, administered by the Sonoma County Office of Education, coordinates special education across 44 districts and charters — including Santa Rosa City Schools, Petaluma, and Cotati-Rohnert Park. Many strong specialized placements (autism, behavior, life-skills programs) sit within the public districts; insist on the right program through the IEP process and call the SELPA at (707) 524-2750 with questions.
Matrix Parent Network & Resource Center, California's federally funded Parent Training & Information Center for Marin, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma, offers free, often bilingual help weighing options and pushing for the right program through the IEP process — invaluable before agreeing to any placement.
Northern California's leading autism-focused school, serving students with autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, and emotional/neurodevelopmental impairments K-12 using its signature Anova Method of Education.
Therapeutic nonpublic day school operated by Victor, serving students with emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, autism, intellectual disability, and other health impairments with high staff ratios and integrated mental-health services.
Trauma-informed nonpublic high school on the Hanna Center campus in Sonoma (about 15 miles from Santa Rosa), serving IEP students who need a small, supportive therapeutic environment.
County-operated special-education program serving Santa Rosa students ages 3-22 with special day classes, speech/OT/PT therapies, deaf/hard-of-hearing and vision services, behavioral support, and an 18-22 transition program.
These public schools and programs have a solid track record in special education — but we don’t re-check them every year. Staff, leadership, and programs change from building to building and year to year. Treat this as a strong starting point, and confirm the current fit for your child.
SCOE operates specialized public classrooms across the county serving 300+ students daily, ages 3-22, with autism, developmental, cognitive, emotional, and medically fragile profiles, using research-based methods (TEACCH, Discrete Trial, PECS, Pivotal Response Training). Free to eligible families. Programs change year to year, so confirm current placement options with the district.
Board-certified in pediatric neuropsychology (American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology), providing comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of children, adolescents, and adults for autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, and neurological/genetic conditions. Serves Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, and Marin.
Licensed psychologist in private Sonoma County practice with over 30 years conducting comprehensive psychological assessments of children, adolescents, and adults on the autism spectrum and with ADHD and learning disabilities. Provides diagnostic evaluations used for school and clinical planning.
The UC Davis MIND Institute — about 90 minutes from Santa Rosa — is a nationally regarded interdisciplinary center for autism, fragile X, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, offering comprehensive evaluation by developmental specialists. UCSF Benioff Children's is the other Bay Area academic option. The referral for complex cases.
Family Guidance & Therapy Center runs a diagnostic and testing center in Petaluma with services in Santa Rosa, providing autism diagnostic assessments and comprehensive psychological evaluations by licensed clinicians — a credentialed local option for evaluation closer to home than Sacramento.
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 Sonoma County, instead of trusting star ratings.
California now requires districts to screen students in kindergarten through 2nd grade for risk of reading difficulties, including dyslexia, and to follow the state's Dyslexia Guidelines with evidence-based, structured-literacy intervention. Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and every Sonoma district must offer this free — request 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 — searchable near Santa Rosa, Petaluma, or Rohnert Park. Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and Barton are the evidence-based, structured-literacy methods to look for; the gold-standard credential for a private dyslexia tutor, instead of trusting ads.
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.
Multidisciplinary autism provider offering BCBA-supervised, evidence-based ABA therapy alongside occupational, physical, and speech therapy for children with autism, developmental delay, and sensory and learning needs. Provides assessment, early intervention, and social-skills programming.
Autism Spectrum Therapies provides BCBA-led applied behavior analysis for children with autism in Santa Rosa — in learning centers, the home, the community, or in partnership with schools — with BHCOE accreditation. ACES (1160 N Dutton Ave) is another long-standing BCBA-led provider, and EP Behavior Consulting offers bilingual ABA across Sonoma County.
Santa Rosa Speech & Language Services provides evidence-based evaluation and treatment for children with speech, language, voice, and cognitive-communication needs, delivered by ASHA-certified (CCC-SLP) speech-language pathologists — a credentialed local clinic. Pair with an OTR/L occupational therapist for sensory and fine-motor needs.
The Swain Center, serving Sonoma County since the 1980s, provides speech-language evaluation and therapy and social-skills groups, led by ASHA-certified (CCC-SLP) speech-language pathologists, including a board-certified specialist in child language (BCS-CL) — a deep, credentialed local resource for communication needs.
The BHCOE directory lists accredited ABA providers across Sonoma County, ASHA ProFind lists CCC-SLP speech therapists, and AOTA lists OTR/L occupational therapists — searchable by zip so families in Santa Rosa, Petaluma, or Rohnert Park find the nearest credentialed clinician.
Dr. Cathryn Ross is a Santa Rosa pediatrician specializing in developmental-behavioral pediatrics — a local medical option for developmental concerns, autism, and ADHD, with the UC Davis MIND Institute and UCSF Benioff as the academic referrals for the most complex diagnoses.
For a child with autism or another developmental disability, the North Bay Regional Center conducts its own evaluation to determine eligibility for lifelong services — a free public diagnostic and service pathway alongside the medical route. Start with intake at (707) 569-2000.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' directory helps you find board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians serving Sonoma County and the North Bay — 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 Sonoma County — the field's real professional standard.
Matrix Parent Network is California's federally funded Parent Training & Information Center for the North Bay (Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma) — free, often bilingual help understanding your rights, evaluations, and the IEP process. A respected free resource before hiring a private advocate.
California's protection & advocacy agency offers free legal information and advocacy for special-education rights, including its SERR manual in English and Spanish — a no-cost first stop before hiring a private advocate or attorney.
The Santa Rosa RiteCare Childhood Language Center provides speech, language, and literacy services for children from birth to age 12 free of charge, regardless of race, religion, or financial status — a remarkable no-cost option for young children with communication needs.
For children birth to 3, the North Bay Regional Center provides free developmental evaluations and Early Start early-intervention services — the earliest, no-barrier place to start in Sonoma County. Call the warmline at (800) 646-3268.
The Child Parent Institute provides counseling, parent education, and family support across Sonoma County on a sliding scale, with bilingual services — a low-cost local resource for families navigating behavioral and developmental challenges alongside special education.
Matrix Parent Network offers free, often bilingual help understanding evaluations, IEPs, and your rights — a no-cost first call for any North Bay family navigating special education.
For children birth to 3 with a developmental delay or disability, the North Bay Regional Center — California's regional center for Sonoma, Napa, and Solano counties — provides free evaluation and Early Start services: intake, assessment, service coordination, speech, occupational and physical therapy, and developmental support. Call the Early Start warmline at (800) 646-3268. The earliest, no-barrier place to start.
Request a special-education evaluation in writing from your district — Santa Rosa City Schools, Petaluma City Schools, or Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified. In California the district must give you an assessment plan within 15 days, and once you sign consent it has 60 calendar days to complete the evaluation and hold an eligibility/IEP meeting. This is the free legal route to an IEP under IDEA.
California's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency — free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are denied, including its SERR (Special Education Rights and Responsibilities) manual in English and Spanish. A powerful free resource before you pay anyone.
Federally funded and free — they help California families understand their rights, the IEP/504 process, evaluations, and meetings. A great first call.
California's protection & advocacy agency — free legal-rights information and help if your child's rights are being denied.
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How do I start the special-education process in Santa Rosa?
Put your request in writing to your child's school, asking for a full special-education evaluation — that is the legal first step. On A New Story you'll find a free, ready-to-send evaluation-request letter you can use today.
How long does a special-education evaluation take?
Once you give written consent, the school generally must complete the evaluation and hold an eligibility meeting within a set timeline (often around 60 days, though it varies by state). Putting your request in writing starts the clock.
Can my school district pay for a private special-education school?
Sometimes. If the public school can't provide an appropriate education, the district can be required to fund a state-approved nonpublic placement. It isn't automatic — it takes the right evaluation and advocacy — but families do it every year, including ones with limited funds.
What's the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?
An IEP provides specialized instruction and services under IDEA; a 504 plan provides accommodations under civil-rights law. A New Story's free guides walk you through which one fits your child.
Where can I find free special-education help in Santa Rosa?
A New Story lists credential-vetted schools, evaluators, therapists, advocates, and the free public programs and parent centers in California — searchable by ZIP, and free forever.