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City guide · North Carolina

Autism in Winston-Salem

Local entry points for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County families: early intervention referral, district Child Find contacts, a hospital-based autism clinic, and how North Carolina funds autism care — every fact sourced.

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Local resources in Winston-Salem

Ordered by review count, then name. Providers cannot pay to be listed, ranked, or edited.

3 resources in Winston-Salem

1. Autism Society of North Carolina

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Parent supportSliding-scale respite grants for low-income familiesStatewide (North Carolina)

North Carolina's statewide autism nonprofit, offering training, support groups and a helpline that Winston-Salem families can call.

Ages All ages

2. Children's Developmental Services Agency — Winston-Salem

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DiagnosisMedicaidSliding scaleForsyth, Davidson, Davie, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin Counties

Free developmental evaluations and therapy services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays. Multi-disciplinary interventions delivered in natural environments.

Ages Birth to age 3

336-713-7412Suite 341, 2200 Cloverdale Ave., Winston-Salem, NC 27103

The short answer for Winston-Salem

  • Under 3: call the Winston-Salem CDSA at 336-713-7412 to begin a referral to North Carolina's Infant-Toddler Program. A parent, doctor, or other caregiver can refer, and a diagnosis isn't needed to start.
  • Age 3 and up: submit a written evaluation request through Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools; the district's Child Find page outlines how referrals are handled.
  • For a diagnosis, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist runs an Autism Community Connections Clinic — a single-visit, multidisciplinary evaluation combining a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, and occupational therapist (336-713-7429).
  • The UNC TEACCH Autism Program's Greensboro Center (919-966-1000) also covers Forsyth County as a second diagnostic and therapy pathway.
  • Medicaid behavioral health and the NC Innovations Waiver both route through Partners Health Management (1-888-235-4673) locally, though the statewide waiver registry held nearly 19,000 names as of a 2025 legislative count.

Winston-Salem is the seat of Forsyth County and home to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's academic medical center, which runs its own multidisciplinary autism clinic alongside the same statewide public structure every North Carolina family uses: a county-level agency for early intervention before age 3, a school district Child Find duty from 3 on, and a regional public authority for Medicaid behavioral health and the state's long-waitlisted autism waiver.

This page names those specific doors for Forsyth County — the CDSA that runs early referrals, the district responsible for Child Find, the hospital autism clinic families ask about most, and the local Medicaid system — with every phone number and program name checked against the source that publishes it.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the North Carolina page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Winston-Salem (Forsyth County).

Early intervention under 3: North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program (NC ITP), delivered locally by the Winston-Salem CDSA

Forsyth County's door into Part C early intervention is the Winston-Salem CDSA, hosted at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's Brenner Children's — one of 16 regional Children's Developmental Services Agencies statewide that carry out the NC Infant-Toddler Program. A parent, physician, allied health worker, or teacher can start a referral over the phone, by fax or letter, in person, or with the state's NC ITP Referral form, without needing a diagnosis first. The CDSA's staff review developmental and medical background and run the assessments that decide whether a child under 3 is eligible. There's no charge to any family for screening, evaluation, or service coordination, whatever a household's income or insurance looks like.

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

School districts and special education

Statewide, the NC Department of Public Instruction's Exceptional Children Division coordinates Child Find — the legal duty to locate and evaluate children from birth through 21 who may have a disability — while each district manages its own evaluation intake. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, already a combined city-county district, is the sole public school system covering Winston-Salem. Families should note that the Winston-Salem CDSA's own coverage area extends into neighboring Davidson, Davie, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin counties, so a family just outside Forsyth may deal with a different district's Child Find team while keeping the same CDSA.

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Winston-Salem

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.

  • Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist — Autism Community Connections Clinic — a multidisciplinary evaluation combining a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, and occupational therapist in a single visit, part of the health system's broader Pediatric Development and Behavior service · 336-713-7429
  • UNC TEACCH Autism Program — Greensboro Center — diagnostic evaluation, intervention and therapy services, education, and consultation for individuals on the autism spectrum, covering Forsyth County as part of UNC's statewide TEACCH network; call ahead to confirm the current referral process · 919-966-1000

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Partners Health Management (Forsyth County's LME/MCO)

Regional public managed-care organizations called LME/MCOs administer North Carolina's Medicaid-funded behavioral health, substance use, and I/DD services, and Forsyth County's is Partners Health Management. Partners handles local access to the NC Innovations Waiver — the state's home- and community-based Medicaid waiver for autism and other I/DD — through a Tailored Plan, the only NC Medicaid plan type that currently opens waiver services. Because demand for Innovations far outstrips its funded slots, applicants are placed on a Registry of Unmet Needs instead of enrolled directly; a bill filed in the state Senate in 2025 counted nearly 19,000 people on that registry across North Carolina. A family can ask Partners to register a child well before a diagnosis is complete, and can also ask about NC Medicaid's 1915(i) option for interim, comparable services that don't affect a family's place in line.

Local organizations that help Winston-Salem families

  • Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC) — North Carolina's parent training and information center, headquartered nearby in Davidson, NC; free statewide help for families of children with disabilities, birth through 26 (704-892-1321, helpline 1-800-962-6817)
  • The Arc of North Carolina — Triad Region — based in Salisbury, serving the Piedmont Triad including Forsyth County; housing, care management, and advocacy support (704-637-1521)

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.

  • A 2025 North Carolina Senate bill (S246) reported nearly 19,000 people statewide on the NC Innovations Waiver waiting registry, and stated the list had roughly doubled in the prior decade while only about 2,000 new slots were added statewide over that same period. (source)
  • Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools has to complete the full path — evaluation, eligibility meeting, and IEP — within 90 calendar days of a written referral, a North Carolina deadline that applies with no extension allowed. (source)
  • The Winston-Salem CDSA, based at Brenner Children’s, is bound by the same federal Part C rule as every regional CDSA: developmental assessment and the first IFSP meeting inside 45 days of referral. (source)
  • Forsyth County families on the NC Innovations Waiver’s registry have reported waits of a decade or longer, a gap driven by how slowly the state adds new funded slots compared with new registrations. (source)

Paying for support in Winston-Salem

Partners Health Management, the LME/MCO for Forsyth County, is where local families register for NC Medicaid behavioral-health services and the NC Innovations Waiver — a program so oversubscribed that a 2025 bill in the state legislature cited nearly 19,000 people on its waiting registry. Medicaid itself pays for ABA directly for enrolled autistic children, while North Carolina's state-regulated private insurance mandate separately caps ABA-type coverage at $40,000 a year for members under 19.

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 Winston-Salem parents

Sources

  1. [1]NCDHHS — NC Infant-Toddler Program (NC ITP). Open source
  2. [2]NCDHHS — NC ITP Children's Developmental Services Agency Directory. Open source
  3. [3]NC DPI — Exceptional Children Division (Child Find). Open source
  4. [4]Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools — Child Find. Open source
  5. [5]Davidson County Schools — Exceptional Children. Open source
  6. [6]Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist — Pediatric Development and Behavior. Open source
  7. [7]UNC TEACCH Autism Program — Regional Centers. Open source
  8. [8]UNC TEACCH Autism Program — Greensboro Center. Open source
  9. [9]NC Medicaid — Behavioral Health and I/DD Tailored Plans. Open source
  10. [10]NC Medicaid — NC Innovations Waiver. Open source
  11. [11]NC Medicaid — Program-Specific Clinical Coverage Policies (8F, RB-BHT for ASD). Open source
  12. [12]NC General Assembly — Senate Bill 246 (2025), Innovations Waiver slot expansion. Open source
  13. [13]Autism Speaks — North Carolina state-regulated insurance coverage (SB 676). Open source
  14. [14]Partners Health Management. Open source
  15. [15]Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC). Open source
  16. [16]The Arc of North Carolina — Triad Region. Open source
  17. [17]Disability Rights NC — IEP referral process (90-day timeline). Open source
  18. [18]NCDHHS — NC Infant-Toddler Program, step by step (45-day timeline). Open source
  19. [19]Vaya Health — NC Innovations Waiver (wait-time description). 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.