Local resources in Dearborn
Ordered by review count, then name. Providers cannot pay to be listed, ranked, or edited.
15 resources in Dearborn
1. ACCESS — Behavioral Health
ACCESS's Behavioral Health department, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, offers bilingual English/Arabic outpatient mental health treatment — individual and family counselling, psychiatric care, case management and peer support — on a sliding fee scale based on ability to pay.
Ages All ages
2. Advance ABA Care — Dearborn
Advance ABA Care's Dearborn clinic offers in-home, community and in-clinic therapy for ages 2 to 21, and names several specific ABA teaching approaches it uses. It accepts Medicaid alongside other insurance.
Ages Ages 2 to 21
3. Akoya — Dearborn
Names Dearborn specifically rather than folding it into a Detroit catchment, which is worth confirming at the first call.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
4. Autism Alliance of Michigan — MiNavigator
A free statewide navigator a Dearborn family can call without a referral or a diagnosis. It finds services rather than providing them, which makes it a useful first call when you do not yet know what you are looking for.
Ages All ages
5. Behavior Frontiers — Dearborn
Behavior Frontiers runs a centre-based ABA clinic in Dearborn accepting most major insurance and Medicaid. Ages served and hours are not published on the location page, so confirm directly.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
6. Bright Behavior Therapy — Dearborn
Bright Behavior Therapy runs a BHCOE-accredited ABA clinic in Dearborn. Its site does not publish ages, address or funding details specific to this location, so confirm directly.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
7. Carelinks ABA — Dearborn
In-home ABA therapy reaching Dearborn from a multi-city Michigan provider; confirm current availability and wait times directly, since a listed coverage area does not guarantee an open slot.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
8. Centria Autism — Dearborn
A Dearborn branch of Centria Autism, a large multi-state ABA provider, offering personalised centre-based care. As with other large-chain branches, current wait times aren't published on the page.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
9. Children's Hospital of Michigan — Autism Center
Children's Hospital of Michigan's Autism Center, based at the DMC Specialty Center in Dearborn, offers occupational therapy as part of its programme and accepts Medicaid, Aetna, Blue Cross and Cigna among other insurers, alongside private pay. As part of the Detroit Medical Center system, it refers families to the Autism Alliance of Michigan for help finding an ABA provider.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
10. Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network
Applied behaviour analysis, diagnostic evaluation, family support, speech-language therapy, and occupational therapy for Wayne County residents with Medicaid.
Ages All ages
11. Early On Michigan — Wayne County
Dearborn families reach Early On through Wayne County's intake on the statewide line, so the first step is a phone call rather than a clinic visit. It covers birth to three only, which means a child who has already turned three is outside this programme.
Ages Birth to age 3
12. Gateway Pediatric Therapy — Dearborn
Gateway Pediatric Therapy's Dearborn clinic, part of a six-location Michigan network, offers ABA therapy for ages 0 to 21 with Board Certified Behavior Analysts, delivered either in the clinic's customised treatment space or in the family's home.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
13. Magnet ABA — Dearborn
Magnet ABA's Dearborn location frames its programmes around independence and social connection rather than listing specific age or funding details on its page.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
14. Michigan Adaptive Sports
An introduction-focused programme rather than a competitive club, which suits a first attempt at organised sport. Listed via the Autism Alliance of Michigan's provider directory.
Ages Young children through adults
15. The Stepping Stones Group — Dearborn Autism Learning Center
The Stepping Stones Group's Dearborn Autism Learning Center combines ABA with diagnostic evaluation and psychological therapy under one roof. Ages, funding and wait details specific to this site are not published.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
The short answer for Dearborn
- Under 3: Early On Michigan takes referrals statewide at 1-800-327-5966 or via 1800earlyon.org. Any parent, relative, or physician can start the referral, and no diagnosis is required first.
- Ages 3 and up: Dearborn Public Schools' Special Education Office can be reached at 313-827-7050; families outside the district can use Wayne RESA's regional referral hotline at 734-334-1393.
- For Medicaid-funded ABA, call Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network's Access Call Center at 1-800-241-4949, which screens by phone before connecting a family to services.
- Dearborn Public Schools lists Child Find, a 504-plan process, and an emotional support hotline among its published special-education services.
- Michigan's insurance mandate (MCL 500.3406s) requires most state-regulated plans to cover autism care, but self-funded employer plans fall outside that state requirement.
Dearborn Public Schools runs its own Special Education Department with named coordinators for families who live inside the district, and Wayne RESA — the county's intermediate school district — adds a regional referral hotline that sorts requests by age, from Early On transitions through kindergarten-and-up Child Find.
For Medicaid-funded therapy, Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network manages the county's public behavioral health system, including the state's autism ABA benefit. This page lists the phone numbers each office has published, plus statewide organizations for families who need broader help getting oriented.
Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Michigan page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Dearborn (Wayne County).
Early intervention under 3: Early On Michigan
Early On serves the entire state as a single program for children from birth to age three, and Dearborn families reach it exactly as anyone else in Michigan does: by phone or online referral from a parent, relative, or physician, with no diagnosis required to get started. Once a referral is made, the family must receive written notice of their rights within 10 calendar days, and the local program has 45 calendar days to complete the evaluation and hold the first Individualized Family Service Plan meeting. A child is eligible with either a documented 20 percent delay in a developmental area or a diagnosed condition expected to cause one. Wayne RESA coordinates Early On countywide, including for Dearborn families, and later manages the transition into preschool special education once a child turns three. The evaluation is free.
- Early On Michigan
- Referral phone: 1-800-327-5966 (1-800-EARLY-ON)
New to early intervention? Read the plain-language guide first.
School districts and special education
Dearborn Public Schools maintains its own Special Education Department, with a team of named coordinators handling evaluation, transportation, and records for students who live within the district, and the department lists Child Find as one of its core published services. Wayne RESA, the countywide intermediate school district, backs every district in Wayne County with a single referral hotline sorted by age, which any Dearborn family can use if unsure who to call first.
- Dearborn Public Schools — Special Education Department — office at 18700 Audette, Dearborn, MI 48124; (313) 827-7050; lists Child Find among its published services
- Wayne RESA — Special Education and Early Intervention Services — countywide referral hotline (734) 334-1393; routes families by age from Early On through kindergarten-and-up Child Find
Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Dearborn
We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Dearborn. 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.
Disability services and waivers: Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN)
Rather than a separate statewide disability-waiver agency, Michigan routes Medicaid-funded behavioral health, including the autism ABA benefit, through each county's Community Mental Health Services Program. In Wayne County — and so for Dearborn families — that agency is Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. DWIHN's own materials describe 'no wrong door' intake: a parent, pediatrician, teacher, or therapist can each start the process by calling the Access Call Center, which checks Medicaid status, runs a CMH screening, and completes an autism screening tool over the phone. A child who screens positive is scheduled for an autism case management intake, where a clinician confirms eligibility and builds an Individualized Plan of Service, typically authorizing 5 to 25 hours of ABA per week based on medical necessity. DWIHN separately coordinates broader intellectual and developmental disability services, including Michigan's Habilitation Supports Waiver.
- Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN)
- Phone: 1-800-241-4949
Local organizations that help Dearborn families
- Autism Alliance of Michigan — MiNavigator — free statewide navigation line for diagnosis, school, and funding questions (877-463-2266); based nearby in Southfield
- Michigan Alliance for Families — federally funded parent training and information center for special education rights, birth through age 26, with Arabic-language support (800-552-4821)
- The Arc Michigan — statewide advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families
- Michigan 211 — free 24/7 referral line covering food, housing, and family-crisis support, in 180-plus languages — dial 211 or 844-875-9211
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.
- Michigan's autism insurance mandate (MCL 500.3406s) allows insurers to cap the annual benefit by the child's age — $50,000 through age 6, $40,000 for ages 7 to 12, and $30,000 for ages 13 to 18 — instead of guaranteeing an unlimited yearly benefit. (source)
- Dearborn Public Schools' own Special Education Department page separately lists an emotional support hotline for students and families, alongside its Child Find, 504-plan, and specific-learning-disability identification services — worth knowing if a family needs support beyond an evaluation referral. (source)
- Dearborn Public Schools' multidisciplinary evaluation team, working with Wayne RESA where needed, has a single 30-school-day window from signed consent to cover both the evaluation and the first IEP Team meeting. (source)
- Under Michigan's Medicaid Autism Benefit, a diagnosed child or young adult under 21 can typically be authorized for 5 to 15 ABA hours a week on a focused plan, or 16 to 25 hours weekly if the plan is comprehensive. (source)
Paying for support in Dearborn
Under Michigan's autism insurance law (MCL 500.3406s), most state-regulated health plans must pay for diagnosis and treatment, though the annual dollar benefit can shrink as a child moves from early childhood into the teen years. Dearborn's Medicaid autism benefit is delivered through Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, the county's public behavioral health authority, since Michigan has no separate stand-alone disability-waiver office.
Nothing here is a recommendation — we list what exists, note what a provider says about itself, and let parents tell you the rest.
Common questions from Dearborn parents
Sources
- [1]Michigan MiLEAP — Early On Michigan. Open source
- [2]1-800-EARLY-ON — Early On Michigan. Open source
- [3]Dearborn Public Schools — Special Education Department. Open source
- [4]Wayne RESA — Special Education and Early Intervention Services. Open source
- [5]Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network — Autism Services. Open source
- [6]Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network — Children's Services. Open source
- [7]CMHA of Michigan (via CMHPSM) — Habilitation Supports Waiver. Open source
- [8]Michigan Legislature — MCL 500.3406s (autism insurance mandate). Open source
- [9]Michigan DIFS — Autism Spectrum Disorder Health Coverage. Open source
- [10]Autism Alliance of Michigan — MiNavigator. Open source
- [11]Michigan Alliance for Families. Open source
- [12]Michigan 211. Open source
Last checked 2026-08-11. Programs and links change — confirm with the agency before relying on any detail. This page is information, not legal or medical advice.