Houston sits inside the largest county in Texas, and nearly every public system an autistic child touches here has a Harris County front door: a local early intervention program, district Child Find offices, two large hospital evaluation programs, and the county's own intake for disability services.

The systems are real, and so are the queues. This page lists the doors, the phone numbers, and the publicly documented waits — so you can start everything that can be started in parallel.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Texas page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Houston metro (Harris County).

Early intervention under 3: Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)

ECI serves children from birth to 36 months. Anyone can refer — a parent, doctor, grandparent, or child care provider — and no diagnosis is required first. In Harris County, The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD runs an ECI program (referrals also by email: ecireferrals@theharriscenter.org), and Easterseals Greater Houston serves Harris and surrounding counties; the state's ECI Program Search shows which program covers your address. After a referral, ECI has 45 calendar days to complete the evaluation and write the family service plan (IFSP), and planned services must begin within 28 calendar days of your signature. Evaluation and the IFSP are free. Ongoing services use a sliding-scale family cost share, and families whose child has Medicaid, SSI, or CHIP — or whose income is below 300% of the federal poverty level — pay nothing.

• Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
• Referral phone: 713-970-4800 (The Harris Center ECI referral line)

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

School districts and special education

Every Texas district and public charter must identify, locate, and evaluate children with suspected disabilities from birth through 21 — the Child Find duty — at no cost to families. Start with a written evaluation request to your child's campus or the district special education office; several Houston-area districts publish a direct intake email or phone line. Houston ISD describes a 15-school-day window to respond to a request, then 45 school days to complete the full evaluation once you give written consent.

• Houston ISD — largest district in Texas; private-school and homeschool evaluations via privateschoolevaluation@houstonisd.org
• Cypress-Fairbanks ISD — Child Find covers birth to 21
• Katy ISD — Special Education Department (281) 396-2630
• Fort Bend ISD — evaluation intake: 281-634-1681, MRWintake@fortbendisd.gov
• Conroe ISD — Montgomery County; Special Education 936-709-7813
• Aldine ISD — Special Education 281-985-6053
• Klein ISD — Child Find contact 832-249-4353
• Pasadena ISD — evaluation requests: sped@pasadenaisd.org
• Spring Branch ISD — start by calling 713-251-1700, or Region 4 ESC at 713-462-7708
• Alief ISD — southwest Harris County

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Houston

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.

• Texas Children's Hospital — Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics and Autism — diagnostic evaluation by a psychologist or developmental pediatrician; primarily an evaluation center, not ongoing therapy. The Autism Program accepts new referrals for children under 12, and the referral must come from your child's provider — parent self-referrals are not accepted · 832-822-3704 · the hospital publicly reports a wait of about six to nine months for behavioral and developmental evaluations
• UTHealth Houston — Dan L Duncan Children's Neurodevelopmental Clinic — comprehensive developmental-behavioral assessment (autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, intellectual disability) in the Texas Medical Center; accepts Medicaid; appointments are scheduled directly with the clinic · 713-500-8300

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD (Harris County's LIDDA)

Texas routes long-term disability services through 39 local authorities called LIDDAs, and Harris County's is The Harris Center. It handles eligibility intake and adds names to the HCS and Texas Home Living Medicaid waiver interest lists; the CLASS, DBMD, and MDCP lists are handled by the state's interest list line at 877-438-5658. Position on every list is set by the date a name was added — not by how much a child needs services — and a child can be added before any diagnosis is complete. Most families add their child's name as early as possible and keep their address and phone current with the state so they do not lose their place.

• The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD (Harris County's LIDDA)
• Phone: 713-970-7799 (IDD intake) · 877-438-5658 (state interest list line)

Local organizations that help Houston families

• Partners Resource Network — PATH Project — the federally funded parent center for the Houston region; free help with IDEA rights and the ARD/IEP process (1-800-866-4726)
• Autism Society of Texas — information and referral with trained specialists (512-479-4199 ext. 2); Houston chapter covers Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Chambers, and Galveston counties; Spanish support available
• 2-1-1 Texas / United Way HELPLINE — free, confidential, 24/7 referral line for the Houston region — dial 2-1-1 or 1-877-541-7905
• The Arc of Harris County — Right to Learn education advocacy for students ages 3–21, plus parent support groups including Spanish-speaking and sibling groups
• SPEDTex — the state special education helpline: 1-855-773-3839, weekdays, with email and live chat
• Navigate Life Texas — state-supported plain-language site for Texas families of children with disabilities
• Disability Rights Texas — the state's protection and advocacy agency; direct legal help when rights are violated

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.

• Texas waiver interest lists are very long. Reporting on state data presented to the Texas House Human Services Committee in May 2026 described people waiting 17–18 years on the HCS and CLASS lists, with more than 198,000 people across six state interest lists as of March 2026. (source)
• Slot releases are small relative to the lists: the state announced 285 CLASS interest-list slots statewide for July 2026. (source)
• Texas Children's publicly states the approximate wait for behavioral and developmental evaluations is six to nine months, and its Autism Clinic does not accept parent self-referrals. (source)
• In a July 7, 2026 letter, the Texas Education Agency found Houston ISD violated two IDEA provisions in its special education restructuring — students' right to be educated near home, and the requirement to convene the IEP team before changing a campus assignment — and ordered corrective action by October 9, 2026. HISD remains under state intervention through June 1, 2027. (source)
• The state-funded Children's Autism Program (focused ABA through local contractors) is capped: ages 3–15, 180 hours per 12 months, 720 hours lifetime. The state directs families to call 2-1-1 to find the nearest contractor. (source)
• Family to Family Network, a 35-year-old Houston navigation nonprofit, closed permanently on July 31, 2025. If you find it referenced elsewhere, use the PATH Project, The Arc of Harris County, SPEDTex, or 2-1-1 instead. (source)
• Once the FIIE report is finished, Texas law gives the district 30 calendar days to convene the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee — the name Houston-area districts use for what most states call the IEP team. (source)
• Houston-area families with a Texas-regulated commercial plan can see ABA reimbursement capped at $36,000 a year once a child turns 10, though there's no such ceiling for a diagnosis made earlier. (source)