Northwest Arkansas is unusual in having a university outreach center built around autism specifically: the Arkansas Autism Resource and Outreach Center, housed at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. That sits alongside the same three-part structure every Arkansas city has — First Connections for children under 3, Fayetteville Public Schools' Child Find duty from age 3 on, and the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) for the CES Medicaid waiver.

This page keeps to what each of those has publicly posted: phone numbers, office locations, and the process each expects you to follow first.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Arkansas page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Fayetteville (Washington County).

Early intervention under 3: First Connections — Arkansas's Part C Early Intervention Program

First Connections covers the whole state, including Washington County, under the Department of Human Services' Division of Developmental Disabilities Services. A referral can come from a parent, a pediatrician, or a child care provider, made by phone or through the DHS online form, and a suspected delay is enough to start — a diagnosis isn't required. A service coordinator then arranges the evaluation and, where a child qualifies, builds an Individualized Family Service Plan with the family.

• First Connections — Arkansas's Part C Early Intervention Program
• Referral phone: 800-643-8258

New to early intervention? Read the plain-language guide first.

School districts and special education

Every Arkansas school district must locate, identify, and evaluate a child with a suspected disability from birth through 21 at no cost under federal Child Find law. Fayetteville Public Schools directs the request to its Special Services office, and children aged 3 through 5 typically go through early childhood special education before their district's kindergarten intake.

• Fayetteville Public Schools — Special Services Department, 479-973-8643; families are assigned an Achievement and Compliance Coach as their special-education contact
• Springdale School District — Special Services Administrative Annex, 409 North Thompson Street, Springdale; neighboring district in the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Fayetteville

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Fayetteville. That is a gap in our research, not a sign there is nothing here — and it does not stand between you and an evaluation. The school district evaluation above is free, and early intervention under 3 does not need a private diagnosis first.

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Arkansas DDS — Community and Employment Supports (CES) Waiver

DDS, the division of the Department of Human Services that runs First Connections, is also the state's long-term disability agency and administers the Community and Employment Supports waiver. Calling DDS Intake and Referral starts a clinical review that assigns your child a specialist and a waitlist position; slots open in that waitlist order, and the wait has been reported at up to a decade for some families. Medicaid-eligible children can draw on some services, such as Early Intervention Day Treatment, before a waiver slot comes open.

• Arkansas DDS — Community and Employment Supports (CES) Waiver
• Phone: 501-683-5687

Local organizations that help Fayetteville families

• Arkansas Autism Resource and Outreach Center (AAROC) — University of Arkansas Partners program built specifically around autism training, diagnosis navigation, and outreach for Northwest Arkansas families
• Autism Involves Me (AIM NWA) — local nonprofit supporting families in Benton, Washington, Carroll, and Madison counties
• Arkansas Support Network — Northwest Arkansas Family Support Office — 614 E. Emma, Suite 219, Springdale, 479-927-4100; licensed disability services provider with a Springdale office covering the Fayetteville area
• The Center for Exceptional Families (Arkansas's Parent Training and Information Center) — 888-360-9654; free statewide help understanding an IEP, evaluation, or waiver application

Documented waits and access notes

Wait times change. Each note below links to the public source it came from — confirm current status directly with the program.

• Once Fayetteville Public Schools has written consent to test a child, Arkansas guidance gives the evaluation team 60 calendar days to finish testing, and the district then has 30 more days to hold the meeting that decides eligibility. (source)
• First Connections is bound to a 45-calendar-day clock from the date Washington County families call in a referral to the date the initial IFSP meeting is held, with a service coordinator required to check in within the first week. (source)