Local resources in Arlington
Ordered by review count, then name. Providers cannot pay to be listed, ranked, or edited.
13 resources in Arlington
1. Action Behavior Centers — North Arlington
A third Action Behavior Centers site in the Arlington area, on the same 18-month-to-13-year age policy as the chain's other Texas centres. Confirm which of the three Arlington-area sites is closest before booking.
Ages 18 months to 13 years
2. Action Behavior Centers — South Arlington
In-centre ABA therapy for children 18 months to 8 years old, with an at-home ABA option that continues to age 13. The centre also offers autism evaluations, including the ADOS-2, at no cost.
Ages 18 months to 8 years in centre; at-home therapy to 13Wait Advertises immediate access — says children can start therapy right away
3. Behavioral Innovations — Arlington
A chain ABA centre for younger autistic children, from 18 months to age 10 — families whose child is older will need a different provider once that window closes.
Ages 18 months to 10 years
4. Behavioral Innovations — North Arlington
The chain's second Arlington-area location — check which of the two Behavioral Innovations sites is nearer for your family.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
5. Beyond Care Therapy — Arlington
An in-home ABA option for Arlington families. Ages, funding and wait were not stated in the pages we found — confirm directly.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
6. BlueSprig Autism — Arlington
A national ABA chain with an unusually wide age band, grouping children into four programme stages rather than one blanket age cap. Ask about current openings, since chain centres in this metro can run a waiting list.
Ages 0 to 18 years
7. Children's Health — Center for Autism Care
A joint programme between Children's Health and UT Southwestern offering autism evaluation and diagnosis, ABA therapy from 18 months, neurodevelopmental neurology, psychiatry, psychology, neuropsychology, and speech and occupational therapy — all delivered at the Dallas and Plano centres, not in Arlington.
Ages Children and adolescents (ABA from 18 months)
8. Emora Health — Arlington
Online autism testing with a licensed psychologist, done from home with no travel to an office.
Ages Ages 5 and up — children, teens and young adultsWait Says the average first appointment comes within 30 hours, and most families finish the full evaluation in 3 to 4 weeks
9. Galliant Autism Care — Arlington
In-home and school-based ABA covering Arlington and Irving, for children up to 11. It publishes that it does not take Medicaid as primary coverage, which matters if that is a family's only plan.
Ages 1 to 11 years
10. Key Autism Services — Arlington
An in-home ABA option for families who would rather have therapy at home than travel to a centre. Ages, funding and wait were not stated on the page we found — confirm directly.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
11. Prospera Healthcare — Arlington
An in-home ABA provider covering the North Texas region, including Arlington. It points to Texas Medicaid's 2022 ABA coverage rule but does not confirm its own panel status — ask when you call.
Ages Ages not published in the sources we saw — ask when you call
12. RISE Adaptive Sports
Everything is free, and the membership covers the whole family — siblings included — so an outing is not a cost decision every time.
Ages Participants and their families
13. Shine Behavioral — Arlington
A one-site, multi-therapy centre pairing ABA with speech, OT and sensory work, plus a linked K-6 school. Older teens are only taken on a private-pay basis, at a published minimum of three hours a week.
Ages 2 to 12 years (private pay to 18)
The short answer for Arlington
- Under 3: ECI of North Central Texas, operated by MHMR of Tarrant County, takes referrals at 1-800-754-0524 or 817-446-8000 — any adult can call, and a diagnosis isn't required first.
- 3 and up: Arlington ISD's Special Education office can be reached at (682) 867-0800; Mansfield ISD, which also covers part of the Arlington area, is at 817-299-4300.
- Arlington ISD describes special education as serving children ages 3-21 and directs families to SPEDTex (1-855-773-3839) as an additional information resource.
- Long-term Medicaid waiver services route through MHMR of Tarrant County at 817-335-3022, the same countywide authority that covers Fort Worth.
- United Way of Tarrant County runs the region's 2-1-1 line at 817-258-8000 for families who aren't sure which service to call first.
Arlington sits in the Mid-Cities between Dallas and Fort Worth, but for autism-related public services it shares Tarrant County's systems with Fort Worth: the same early-intervention contractor, the same disability-waiver authority, and a state-mandated Child Find duty carried by whichever school district actually covers your street address, whether that's Arlington ISD or a neighboring district like Mansfield.
Below are the specific referral lines, timelines, and web pages those Tarrant County organizations and Arlington-area districts publish for exactly this purpose.
Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Texas page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Arlington (Tarrant County).
Early intervention under 3: Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
Under Texas's Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) system, any child from birth through age two with a developmental delay can be referred by a parent, physician, grandparent, or care provider, and a diagnosis is not a precondition for that referral. Arlington falls under Tarrant County's ECI contractor, operated as ECI of North Central Texas by MHMR of Tarrant County: calling starts the process, staff schedule a first visit to determine eligibility, and a qualifying child receives a free Individualized Family Service Plan built with the family. MHMR also staffs Help Me Grow North Texas, a related line for expecting families and children ages 0-5 who need a broader developmental screening. ECI services continue up to a child's third birthday, when the family transitions toward the school district's process instead.
- Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
- Referral phone: 1-800-754-0524 or 817-446-8000 (ECI of North Central Texas)
New to early intervention? Read the plain-language guide first.
School districts and special education
IDEA's Child Find provision requires Texas districts and open-enrollment charters to find and evaluate any student suspected of having a disability, from birth to 21, and the district — not the family — pays for it. A written request to the campus or district special education office sets the clock running. Arlington sits across parts of more than one independent school district, so the exact Child Find contact depends on your street address rather than on the city listed in your mailing address.
- Arlington ISD — Director of Special Education Cindy Brown, (682) 867-0800; serves children ages 3-21
- Mansfield ISD — covers part of the Arlington area; Special Education office 817-299-4300, serving ages 3-21 (birth-21 for vision or hearing impairments)
Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Arlington
We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Arlington. 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: MHMR of Tarrant County (My Health My Resources) — Arlington's LIDDA
Arlington's long-term IDD services run through the same county authority as the rest of Tarrant County: MHMR of Tarrant County, a unit of local government under a board the Tarrant County Commissioners Court appoints. MHMR enrolls families onto the HCS and Texas Home Living Medicaid waiver interest lists at 817-335-3022. The CLASS, DBMD, and MDCP interest lists are handled differently — those go through the state's own toll-free line, 877-438-5658, rather than through MHMR.
- MHMR of Tarrant County (My Health My Resources) — Arlington's LIDDA
- Phone: 817-335-3022 (general services) · 877-438-5658 (state interest list line)
Local organizations that help Arlington families
- United Way of Tarrant County — operates the local 2-1-1 referral line, 817-258-8000, covering both Arlington and Fort Worth
- Autism Society of Texas — statewide information and referral line, 512-479-4199; Spanish support available
- SPEDTex — the state's special education parent helpline, cited directly by Arlington ISD: 1-855-773-3839 or inquire@spedtex.org
- Disability Rights Texas — the state's federally designated protection-and-advocacy agency; direct legal help when rights are violated
- Navigate Life Texas — state-supported plain-language resource site for Texas families of children with disabilities
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.
- Once a parent signs consent, Texas law gives Arlington ISD or Mansfield ISD 45 school days to finish the full individual evaluation, and that count pauses for any stretch of three or more consecutive absent school days. (source)
- After the evaluation report is finished, Texas requires the district to convene the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee — the state's name for what most states call the IEP team — within 30 calendar days to decide eligibility. (source)
- Texas's insurance mandate lets commercial plans cap ABA reimbursement at $36,000 a year once a covered child turns 10, though there's no dollar ceiling at all for a diagnosis made before that birthday. (source)
Paying for support in Arlington
Ongoing, non-clinical autism support in Texas is largely a Medicaid waiver question, since the state has no separate lifetime autism fund outside these programs. Arlington sits in Tarrant County, where My Health My Resources (MHMR) of Tarrant County is the designated local authority for IDD services and waiver enrollment, reachable at 817-335-3022; the CLASS, DBMD, and MDCP interest lists are instead joined through the state's own toll-free number, 877-438-5658. There's no fast-tracking based on need on these lists — your sequence number is locked in on the day you register.
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 Arlington parents
Sources
- [1]MHMR of Tarrant County — Early Childhood Intervention (ECI). Open source
- [2]MHMR of Tarrant County — homepage. Open source
- [3]Arlington ISD — Special Education. Open source
- [4]Mansfield ISD — Special Education. Open source
- [5]United Way of Tarrant County. Open source
- [6]Texas HHS — Early Childhood Intervention Services. Open source
- [7]Texas HHS — ECI Program Search (find your contractor by address). Open source
- [8]Texas HHS — Children's Autism Program. Open source
- [9]TMHP — Texas Medicaid ABA benefit effective February 1, 2022. Open source
- [10]Texas Insurance Code §1355.015 (autism coverage mandate). Open source
- [11]SPEDTex. Open source
- [12]Autism Society of Texas. Open source
- [13]Disability Rights Texas. Open source
- [14]Navigate Life Texas. 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.