Fort Lauderdale sits in Broward County, where early intervention is run by a dedicated children's diagnostic hospital and the local Arc chapter administers grant funding raised through Florida's autism specialty license plate — two pieces of infrastructure many Florida counties don't have.

This page lists those doors along with a hospital autism program, school Child Find contacts, and the state's Medicaid waiver office, each with a phone number or URL behind it.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Florida page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to South Florida (Broward County).

Early intervention under 3: Gold Coast Early Steps (Children's Diagnostic & Treatment Center)

Early Steps is Florida's early intervention program for children from birth to 36 months, delivered at no cost and with no income requirement. In Broward County it is run as Gold Coast Early Steps through Children's Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale. Any adult who knows the child — a parent, relative, pediatrician, or child care provider — can start a referral without a diagnosis in hand. A multidisciplinary team evaluates the child across six developmental domains, and if eligible, a service coordinator helps the family write an Individualized Family Support Plan.

• Gold Coast Early Steps (Children's Diagnostic & Treatment Center)
• Referral phone: (954) 728-1101 (Gold Coast Early Steps) · 1-800-218-0001 (statewide referral line)

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

School districts and special education

Under Florida's Child Find rule, every district must locate, evaluate, and serve resident children with disabilities from birth through age 21, at no charge to the family. A written request to your child's school gets the process moving, and the district then has 60 school days from your written consent to finish the evaluation. Fort Lauderdale families near the county line sometimes cross into Palm Beach County's system as well, so both districts are listed here.

• Broward County Public Schools — the district reports serving more than 32,000 students with disabilities; Exceptional Student Education main line (754) 321-3400
• Palm Beach County School District — Exceptional Student Education (561) 434-8740

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Fort Lauderdale

These are hospital and university programs with public intake information. Listing here is informational — it is not a recommendation, and it is not medical advice. Public school evaluation is free and does not require any of these.

• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital — Autism Services — diagnostic evaluation by board-certified, fellowship-trained pediatric neurologists, personalized treatment planning, medication management, neuropsychology consultation, genetic testing, and an autism family support group · 954-265-2423

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) — Southeast Region

APD is Florida's state agency for long-term developmental-disability services and runs the iBudget Medicaid waiver, which funds home and community-based supports. Broward County is served by APD's Southeast Region office in Fort Lauderdale. Once a child is found eligible, they are placed on the iBudget waitlist by application date rather than urgency of need, across seven priority tiers — so families are encouraged to apply as soon as a delay is suspected, even before a diagnosis is finalized. A separate crisis-enrollment path exists for households facing homelessness or an immediate safety emergency.

• Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) — Southeast Region
• Phone: (954) 467-4218

Local organizations that help Fort Lauderdale families

• Arc Broward — early intervention and developmental services for toddlers and children, programs through adulthood, and administration of Florida's Autism Specialty License Plate grant program; (954) 746-9400
• UM-NSU CARD — the regional Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, offering free diagnostic support, training, and referrals for Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties; (305) 284-6563
• Museum of Discovery and Science — Sensory-Friendly Sunday — free early-access morning on the fourth Sunday of each month, with a lower-light, lower-sound IMAX screening before general admission opens

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.

• In October 2025, a Broward parent publicly advocated for a new district-managed charter school specifically for autistic students who need intensive support, arguing this population is significantly underserved, as the district pursued a broader 'Redefining Our Schools' restructuring tied to an $85-90 million enrollment-driven budget shortfall. (source)
• The Broward ESE Advisory Council runs an active Autism Committee (ACE) that holds monthly meetings with district staff and elected a new executive board for the 2025-2026 term. (source)
• The Florida Department of Law Enforcement introduced the Florida Spectrum Alert on June 24, 2026, a rapid-notification system specifically for a missing child under 18 whom law enforcement reasonably believes has autism spectrum disorder and is in danger; Broward families can subscribe to alerts and are asked to call 911 with any leads. (source)
• Florida holds Early Steps statewide, Broward included, to finishing both the evaluation and the initial family support plan within 45 days of referral — the same window IDEA's Part C sets nationally. (source)
• Once Broward County Public Schools finds a child eligible for exceptional student education, state rule requires the IEP meeting to happen within 30 calendar days of that finding. (source)