Orlando sits at the center of a fast-growing Central Florida region, and Orange County families have more evaluation and therapy options nearby than most Florida cities on this list — two hospital systems with developmental pediatrics programs, a long-running parent-founded autism society, and a regional early-intervention office with its own local number.

This page lists those doors along with the phone numbers behind them, plus the state agency that runs Florida's Medicaid waiver waitlist for Orange County.

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

Early intervention under 3: Central Florida Early Steps

Early Steps is Florida's early intervention system for children from birth to 36 months, free to every eligible family regardless of income. Central Florida Early Steps, based in Orlando, covers Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties; any adult who knows the child can start a referral, and no diagnosis is required beforehand. Once referred, the child is screened or evaluated, and if found eligible, a service coordinator works with the family to write an Individualized Family Support Plan describing what services will be delivered and where.

• Central Florida Early Steps
• Referral phone: 407-317-7430 ext. 2121 (Central Florida Early Steps) · 1-800-218-0001 (statewide referral line)

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

School districts and special education

Florida's Child Find rule requires every district to locate, evaluate, and serve resident children with disabilities from birth through age 21 at no cost to the family. Send a written evaluation request to your child's school to start the process; the district then has 60 school days from the date you sign consent to finish the evaluation. Families near Orlando's northern suburbs sometimes fall under Seminole County's system instead of Orange County's, so both are listed here.

• Orange County Public Schools — the district reports roughly 37,800 students in exceptional student education, birth through age 22; (407) 897-6420
• Seminole County Public Schools — main district line (407) 320-0000

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Orlando

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.

• AdventHealth Medical Group Developmental Pediatrics at Orlando — developmental-behavioral pediatric evaluation for ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and developmental delays in speech, cognition, and physical ability, formerly known as the Center for Child Development · 407-898-6005
• Nemours Children's Health — Central Florida behavioral pediatrics — the Nemours Early Autism Intervention Program and a broader behavioral pediatrics team offering autism evaluation, plus REACH, a low-stimulation program for autistic and sensory-sensitive patients across Nemours' Orlando facilities · (407) 650-7715 · physician referral through Nemours' NemoursLink referral system is generally used

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) — Central 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. The Central Region office, based in Orlando, handles eligibility and waitlist registration for Brevard, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties. Once a child is found eligible, they are placed on the iBudget waitlist in one of seven priority categories, ordered by the date of application rather than the severity of need — so applying as soon as a delay is suspected, even before a diagnosis is finalized, is worth doing. A separate crisis-enrollment path exists for families facing homelessness or an immediate safety emergency.

• Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) — Central Region
• Phone: (407) 245-0440

Local organizations that help Orlando families

• Autism Society of Greater Orlando — parent-founded in 1996, one of Florida's oldest autism organizations; social skills groups, law-enforcement training, and an annual Autism Walk & Family Fun Day; (407) 855-0235
• UCF CARD — the regional Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, offering free consultation, referrals, and training across seven Central Florida counties; 1-800-928-8846
• Quest, Inc. — Quest Kids Academy — a 25-plus-year Central Florida nonprofit that opened a new downtown Orlando campus for ages 5-22 in fall 2025, combining ABA-based therapy with academics and life-skills instruction; financial aid available through the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities
• Central Florida Miracle League — adapted baseball at Trotter's Park for children and adults with disabilities; (407) 308-2220
• Florida Pediatric Therapy — speech, occupational, physical, and feeding therapy serving Orlando, Kissimmee, and Lake Nona; accepts CMS Medicaid, Early Steps, and Family Empowerment/Unique Abilities scholarships
• Family Network on Disabilities of Florida — Parent to Parent — statewide, trained-volunteer parent matching program that lists Orange County among the counties it serves; (800) 825-5736

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.

• Central Florida Miracle League's baseball field at Trotter's Park sat unusable after flooding for years — league president Mike Houlihan told a local reporter it 'would not drain' and made wheelchair access difficult — until a roughly $80,000 community-funded replacement field, reported as completed in a story published January 31, 2026. (source)
• Florida's legislature rejected three autism-safety bills backed by the Autism Society of Greater Orlando during the session ending May 1, 2025 — measures covering school elopement protocols, classroom cameras, and law-enforcement autism training — and the organization said it planned to keep pushing for them. (source)
• A University of South Florida research project tracking Florida's iBudget Medicaid waiver waitlist found more than 22,000 people waiting as of January 2023, with many having waited over a decade for services. (source)
• FDLE began issuing Florida Spectrum Alerts on June 24, 2026, a notification system built specifically for a missing child under 18 reasonably believed to have autism spectrum disorder and to be in danger of serious harm; residents can sign up for alerts and are asked to call 911 if they see one. (source)
• Central Florida Early Steps operates under the same statewide 45-day target Florida reports for every region — evaluation and initial family plan finished within 45 days of referral. (source)
• Once Orange County Public Schools finds an Orlando student eligible for exceptional student education, the IEP meeting must follow within 30 calendar days under Florida rule. (source)