Local resources in Parma
Ordered by review count, then name. Providers cannot pay to be listed, ranked, or edited.
11 resources in Parma
1. Achieving Stars Therapy — Parma
A second Parma option, with Medicaid named and no travel required.
Ages 18 months to 15 years
2. Bluebell ABA — Parma
ABA provider covering Parma. This page publishes little beyond the service area, so confirm ages, funding and address by phone.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
3. Bright Beginnings
Bright Beginnings is the intake provider for Cuyahoga County's Early Intervention programme, taking referrals from family members, caregivers, childcare centres or medical providers and coordinating a skills assessment. It serves infants and toddlers birth to age three with a medical diagnosis or developmental delay; autism is on Ohio DODD's approved eligibility list.
Ages Birth to age 3
4. Childwise ABA — Parma
Names Parma specifically rather than folding it into Cleveland, which is worth confirming when you ask about travel.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
5. Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities runs services across the lifespan from its Parma office at 6149 West 130th Street: in-home early intervention for children birth to two, delivered with Bright Beginnings setting goals alongside the family, through leisure programmes for seniors, plus speech-language, occupational and physical therapy.
Ages Birth through adulthood
6. Heartland ABA — Parma
At-home ABA in Parma that accepts Medicaid and publishes no waitlist, covering toddlers through young adults. Confirm current availability by phone since no address or hours are published.
Ages Ages 18 months to 21Wait No waitlist
7. MetroHealth Autism Assessment Clinic (MAAC)
MetroHealth's Autism Assessment Clinic, inside Parma Medical Center, organises diagnostic evaluation into age-banded clinics — birth to 6, 6 to 18, and 18 and older — plus a Hispanic Clinic for Spanish-speaking households, with a multidisciplinary team of developmental behavioural paediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and speech-language therapists.
Ages Birth through adulthood
8. Rec2Connect
Rec2Connect connects autistic children and adults, and others with additional needs, to aquatics, fitness and social-group recreation across seven northeast Ohio counties including Cuyahoga, through its Razorsharks Swim Team, Aquatic Therapy/Adapted Aquatics, Hiking Club, Fit Friends, CardioDrumming and Bike Connect, delivered in person or by telehealth.
Ages Children and adults
9. Spring & Sprout Pediatric Dentistry
Paediatric dental care for autistic children with desensitisation-based approaches, behavioural management, and sedation dentistry when needed.
Ages Children
10. STEPS Academy (STEPS Center for Excellence in Autism)
STEPS Academy is a specialised school in Parma for autistic students and those with related developmental differences, serving ages 2 1/2 through 22 with programming built around speech therapy, occupational therapy, social skills and ABA. Willow Farms adds therapeutic-farm vocational training, and Insightful Minds Community of Learning offers a nontraditional, experiential-learning setting.
Ages 2 1/2 to 22 years
11. Wonder Star ABA — Parma
Home- and school-based ABA in Parma that follows the child rather than requiring a centre visit. No address, hours or funding details are published on this page.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
The short answer for Parma
- Under 3: call Bright Beginnings, Cuyahoga County's early-intervention program, at 216-698-7500 — no diagnosis is required before services can start.
- 3 and up: request a school evaluation in writing from Parma City Schools' Department of Exceptional Students (440-885-8788) or, for the Berea area, its Director of Pupil Services (216-898-8300, ext. 6247).
- MetroHealth's Neurodevelopmental Center — one of the region's autism evaluation clinics — is physically located in Parma, at Parma Medical Center (440-592-3740).
- The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities (216-241-8230, eligibility line 216-736-2673) is the local gateway to Individual Options and Level One Medicaid waivers.
Parma is a city within Cuyahoga County, so it shares the county's early-intervention program and disability-services board with Cleveland — and it happens to host, physically within city limits, one of the region's dedicated autism evaluation clinics. Parma City Schools and neighboring Berea City Schools each publish their own Child Find contacts.
This page lists the doors that are open to Parma families right now, with a phone number, the source, and the date each fact was checked.
Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Ohio page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Parma (Cuyahoga County).
Early intervention under 3: Ohio Early Intervention, delivered in Cuyahoga County as Bright Beginnings
Children from birth to 3 with a developmental delay or disability qualify for Ohio Early Intervention, run in Cuyahoga County under the name Bright Beginnings through the county's Board of Developmental Disabilities. A documented diagnosis isn't required to start — a developmental delay or even a parent's concern is enough — and services are delivered at home or in the community. The evaluation and the resulting family service plan cost nothing.
- Ohio Early Intervention, delivered in Cuyahoga County as Bright Beginnings
- Referral phone: 216-698-7500
New to early intervention? Read the plain-language guide first.
School districts and special education
Parma City Schools and neighboring Berea City Schools both carry Ohio's statewide Child Find duty: locate and evaluate children with suspected disabilities from birth through 21, at no cost to families. Parents, relatives, and anyone else with a concern can notify the district directly; staff then determine whether a formal evaluation is warranted, generally within the state's 30-day response and 60-day post-consent windows.
- Parma City School District — Department of Exceptional Students, Director Megan McCaskey, (440) 885-8788, 6800 Commonwealth Blvd., Parma Heights
- Berea City School District — Director of Pupil Services Lori Sancin, 216-898-8300, ext. 6247
Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Parma
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.
- MetroHealth — Neurodevelopmental Center (Autism and Neurobehavioral Clinic) — physically located at Parma Medical Center; evaluates autism in children 18 months to 5 years (Spanish-language assessments up to 18 years) across up to four visits and roughly six hours of cognitive testing, specialist evaluation, and care planning; requires a prior referral to MetroHealth Child Psychology, Speech Therapy, or Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics before the autism assessment is scheduled · 440-592-3740
Disability services and waivers: Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Parma shares its county board of developmental disabilities with the rest of Cuyahoga County. The board handles eligibility determination — using age-scaled criteria, from one documented delay for children birth to 2 up to standardized instruments plus diagnosis for older children and adults, with income explicitly not a factor — and is the access point for Ohio's Medicaid home- and community-based waivers, chiefly Individual Options and Level One, both assessed by documented need rather than ranked by application date since a 2018 statewide policy change. Its Family Supports Program (216-736-2947) funds respite care, camp and recreation costs, and adaptive equipment for families not already on a waiver.
- Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities
- Phone: 216-241-8230 · eligibility line 216-736-2673
Local organizations that help Parma families
- Lifeworks Autism Services — successor to Milestones Autism Resources; Help Desk, resource directory, ABA, and employment services for Northeast Ohio families, based in Shaker Heights, 216.320.8710
- Achievement Centers for Children — operates a blended-learning Autism School serving 17 Northeast Ohio districts, reached through your school district's referral, plus occupational, physical, and speech therapy; (440) 577-8886
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.
- Cuyahoga County's Bright Beginnings program, which also serves Parma, has 45 calendar days from a referral to finish the evaluation and hold the first IFSP meeting under Ohio's Part C timeline. (source)
- Parma City Schools' 60-day-from-consent window for evaluations exists inside a statewide 90-calendar-day cap from referral, so the shorter of the two governs in practice. (source)
- Families sharing Cuyahoga County's board of developmental disabilities with the rest of the county have seen Individual Options or Level One waiver waits reported at roughly two to ten years. (source)
- Ohio's fully-funded-plan autism mandate extends coverage through age 21 and allows the ABA hours it requires to be capped at 20 per week. (source)
Paying for support in Parma
Because Parma sits in Cuyahoga County, the same statewide rules apply here as across the rest of Ohio: Ohio Revised Code 3923.84 makes most fully-insured plans pay for autism screening, diagnosis, and treatment, excluding self-funded and ACA marketplace coverage. The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities is where local families start Individual Options and Level One Medicaid waiver applications — sorted by documented need since 2018, not by application date.
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 Parma parents
Sources
- [1]Ohio Early Intervention (statewide referral system). Open source
- [2]Ohio Administrative Code 3301-51-06 — evaluation timelines. Open source
- [3]Ohio Revised Code 3923.84 — coverage for autism spectrum disorder. Open source
- [4]Disability Rights Ohio — DD Medicaid waiver waiting lists. Open source
- [5]Parma City Schools — Department of Exceptional Students. Open source
- [6]Berea City School District — Child Find. Open source
- [7]MetroHealth — Neurodevelopmental Center. Open source
- [8]Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Open source
- [9]Cuyahoga County Board of DD — Bright Beginnings early childhood / early intervention. Open source
- [10]Lifeworks Autism Services (successor to Milestones Autism Resources). Open source
- [11]Achievement Centers for Children — Autism School. 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.