ABA therapy in Pearland and Missouri City: who to call first

Finding ABA therapy in Pearland and Missouri City starts with your home address. These two cities sit in different counties and different school districts, and each county has its own early intervention programs and its own intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) authority. This guide shows who to call in Brazoria, Fort Bend and Harris counties, and covers Sugar Land and Friendswood too. It ends with questions to ask before you choose a provider.

Which county and school district am I actually in?

City names don’t line up with county or district lines here. Pearland is mainly in Brazoria County, but parts of it extend into Fort Bend and Harris counties. Pearland ISD serves most of the city. Alvin ISD serves other parts, including most of Shadow Creek Ranch, and Fort Bend ISD serves a smaller part. Clear Creek ISD, Houston ISD and Pasadena ISD also reach into the city, according to a general reference entry.

Missouri City is mostly in Fort Bend County with a small piece in Harris County. Fort Bend ISD serves the Fort Bend County part, and Houston ISD serves the Harris County part. Sugar Land is in Fort Bend County, and Fort Bend ISD and Lamar CISD both serve parts of it. Friendswood straddles Galveston and Harris counties and is split between Friendswood ISD and Clear Creek ISD along Clear Creek.

These boundaries come from a general reference source, not from the districts. Before you rely on them, look up your own address on the district’s website or call the district office.

Which ECI program serves Pearland and Missouri City?

ECI is the Texas program for children from birth to 36 months. A child can qualify with a diagnosis that is likely to cause delay, with hearing or vision loss, or with a developmental delay of at least 25 percent (33 percent if the delay is only in expressive language). The evaluation, case management and the individual family service plan are free. Other services may carry a sliding-scale family cost share, and Texas says no family is turned away for inability to pay.

The state’s ECI search tool says programs serve every county, that one search can return several programs, and that you can contact any of them. That program either takes your referral or passes you to the right one. So you don’t need to work out the “correct” program before calling.

Here is how the state’s county listings look for our area. HHSC lists these programs. We don’t rank or recommend them.

• Brazoria County: BACH, referral line (979) 849-2447.
• Fort Bend County: BACH, Easterseals Greater Houston ((713) 838-9050, ext. 385), Katy ISD’s ECI Project Tyke ((281) 237-6647) and Texana Center’s Project GROW ((281) 238-1800).
• Harris County: BACH, Bay Area Rehabilitation Center ((281) 838-4477, ext. 276), The Harris Center ((713) 970-4800), Easterseals Greater Houston and Katy ISD’s Project Tyke.
• Galveston County (for Friendswood): Bay Area Rehabilitation Center, (281) 838-4477, ext. 276.

If you don’t want to sort through that list, call the HHS Office of the Ombudsman at 877-787-8999, choose a language, then option 3 for ECI. Easterseals Greater Houston also lists this number as a referral line, and says anyone, including a parent or doctor, can make a referral.

Who do I call at the school district for an evaluation?

From age 3, the public route is a special education evaluation through the district where you live. A written request to the district’s special education director or an administrator starts a clock. The district must answer within 15 school days with a written notice saying whether it will evaluate. If it agrees, it must finish the evaluation within 45 school days of getting your written consent, with extensions for absences and a June 30 rule near the end of the school year.

Fort Bend ISD’s own referral page adds that a verbal request is allowed, but only a written one triggers the 15-school-day response. Put it in writing and keep a copy. The same district says a child who isn’t enrolled in school can still be evaluated through the district where the family lives.

The district contacts below come from each district’s own page.

• Pearland ISD: Special Programs, 281-485-3203. Its Child Find page lists no named contact or email. It describes starting with the teacher or principal and notes that a parent request can start a referral.
• Alvin ISD: the Coordinator of Special Education Child Find and Evaluations, 281-245-2791. The page says ages 0 to 3 are served through ECI and ages 3 to 21 through the district.
• Fort Bend ISD: the Special Education Intake Center, 281-634-1351, or MRWintake@fortbendisd.gov for children who don’t attend a district campus. For Child Find questions, the Program Manager for Evaluation and Related Services is at 281-634-1681.

We did not verify contacts for Clear Creek ISD, Friendswood ISD, Lamar CISD or Houston ISD. If your address falls in one of those, start from the district’s special education page.

Who covers each city?

The table lists the county, ECI programs, district contact and IDD authority for each city. It is built from the HHSC ECI and LIDDA directories and the districts’ pages. Where a city spans more than one county or district, the row says so.

The IDD authority phone numbers from HHSC’s directory are:

What is the local IDD authority and why does it matter?

Every Texas county has a local intellectual and developmental disability authority, or LIDDA. It is the local door to state-funded IDD services, including the Medicaid waiver interest list. The directory entries above show which center covers which county. You use the one for the county where you live, so a Pearland family in Brazoria County calls Gulf Coast Center, while a Missouri City family in Fort Bend County calls Texana Center.

Call early, because the waiting lists are long. Gulf Coast Center’s website notes that more than 122,000 Texans are waiting for slots in one Medicaid waiver program. We cover how the list works and what to do while you wait in our guide to the Texas Medicaid waiver interest list in Houston. Neither authority’s main web page spelled out the intake steps, so call the numbers above and ask.

How does this connect to ABA therapy?

The free public routes and ABA are separate tracks, and you can use both. ABA through Texas Medicaid is for members age 20 or younger with an autism diagnosis, delivered by a licensed behavior analyst, and an evaluation is needed to qualify. HHSC’s family flyer says to ask your child’s doctor, your health plan or the TMHP Contact Center at 800-925-9126, and to use TMHP’s online provider look-up to find licensed behavior analysts.

If you don’t yet have a diagnosis, our guide to autism evaluation in Houston covers that step. To browse profiles, see ABA therapy in Pearland (3 profiles) and ABA therapy in Missouri City (1 profile). You can also filter by Medicaid or in-home ABA therapy. A profile is a listing, not a promise of an opening. Ask every provider about availability directly.

Where can parents find support and sensory-friendly outings nearby?

We only list places with a current official page.

• Hope For Three (Sugar Land): a nonprofit supporting autism families. Its site lists Family Assistance grants for approved autism-related services (Fort Bend County residents only), caregiver and teen programs, and resource referrals. The office phone is 281-245-0640, and its site lists events through November 2026.
• Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land: its page says sensory-friendly events run three times a year during the hour before opening, with pre-registration required. Sensory backpacks with ear defenders and fidgets can be checked out at the box office. The page listed no specific dates, so check the museum’s events page.

We could not confirm a current official page for a Pearland or Missouri City parent group, or for sensory hours at libraries in these cities. If you know of one that is active, tell us through the Contact page and we’ll check it.

What should I ask a provider before I choose?

These questions apply anywhere in Houston Metro. If you live near a county line, start with the first three.

1. Do you serve my address, and do you offer in-home, center-based or both?
2. Do you accept my plan? If we use Medicaid, is the supervising analyst a licensed behavior analyst?
3. What do you need from us to start: a diagnosis, an evaluation, a referral or prior authorization?
4. When could sessions realistically begin, and how do you handle a waitlist?
5. Do you offer after-school or weekend sessions, so my child doesn’t have to miss school?
6. How are goals chosen, and how do I take part in them?
7. How do you coordinate with my child’s school or ECI team?
8. How often will I see data or progress notes, and who is my contact if something is wrong?

If you need a different setting, browse the telehealth ABA or center-based ABA listings. Our guide to in-home vs center-based ABA in Houston compares the two settings.