Autism services in Houston-area school districts

Autism services in Houston-area school districts start with a request for a special education evaluation. In Texas, the legal deadlines apply only when that request is in writing. Once a district gets a written request, it has 15 school days to answer and, if you consent, 45 school days to finish the evaluation. This guide covers eight districts (Houston, Katy, Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, Humble, Conroe, Pearland and Klein ISD), the autism strategies Texas rules tell ARD committees to consider, and what we could and could not find about private ABA therapists at school.

How do I request a special education evaluation in a Houston-area district?

Anyone can raise a concern, but a written request is the one that starts the timeline. Address it to the district’s director of special education or a campus administrator, and keep a dated copy. Say that you are requesting a full individual initial evaluation for special education, name your child, and list your concerns in plain words. A diagnosis letter helps but is not required.

The TEA timeline, as published on its Student Handbook Statement page:

There is a June 30 exception when consent arrives close to the end of the school year. If your consent comes in at least 35 but fewer than 45 school days before the last instructional day, the report is due by June 30. TEA says that exception stops applying if your child has three or more absences during the evaluation.

Some districts route the request through a campus team first. Houston ISD, for example, tells parents of enrolled students to contact the campus Intervention Assistance Team coordinator, who sets up a meeting. The team then either asks for your consent to evaluate or issues a written refusal. HISD’s page says the process must finish within 15 school days of your request.

If your child is under 3, the route is different. Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) serves birth to 36 months, and families with children 3 and older contact the school district special education director. For the evaluation side of getting an autism diagnosis outside school, see our autism evaluation guide.

Which office do I contact in each district?

The table lists the contact the district itself publishes for special education and Child Find, and whether the district publishes a policy on outside providers or observers. We checked each district’s own pages in October 2026. “Not published” means we did not find it on the pages we opened, not that the district has no policy.

Staff names and numbers change, so confirm before you rely on a person’s name.

What does the Texas autism supplement require?

Texas has a rule for students whose eligibility is autism: 19 TAC 89.1055, often called the autism supplement. It says the ARD committee must consider, at least annually, a list of eleven strategies. The committee has to address them in the IEP when needed. If it decides a strategy is not needed, the IEP has to say so and explain why.

In plain words, the strategies are:

1. Extended programming, such as a longer school day or extended school year, based on data
2. Structured daily schedules and help with changes in routine
3. In-home and community training to carry skills across settings
4. Positive behavior supports, including a behavior intervention plan built on a functional behavioral assessment
5. Futures planning
6. Parent and family training
7. Staff-to-student ratios that fit the activity and the child
8. Communication interventions
9. Social skills supports
10. Training for the staff working with your child
11. Research-based teaching methods, which the rule says include discrete-trial training, visual supports, applied behavior analysis, structured learning, augmentative communication and social skills training

Use that list as a checklist at the ARD meeting. “Consider” is the verb in the rule, so ask the committee to show you, strategy by strategy, what was decided and why. Items 3 and 6, home carryover and parent training, are closest to what a private ABA program works on. If your clinic-based team and the school are working on the same skills, ask whether the school team will accept shared data.

Can a private ABA therapist or RBT observe or work at school?

Two separate parties have to say yes: the school, which controls who comes on campus, and whoever pays for ABA, which decides whether it pays for time at school.

What the districts publish. None of the eight district pages we checked addresses private therapists, RBTs or outside observers. Houston ISD’s page contains no such text. Katy ISD’s page on independent evaluations does not mention outside providers either. Campus visitor rules are set by each district, and we did not find the visitor policy text for these districts.

What Texas Medicaid pays for. The Texas Medicaid Children’s Services Handbook (October 2026, section 2.3.8) lists services that are not a benefit. Two of them matter here:

• Services delivered by a behavior technician in the school setting as a shadow, as an aide, or to provide general support to the child
• ABA addressing academic goals

So Medicaid will not pay for an RBT to sit beside your child as a classroom aide. The same handbook does expect the ABA team to work with the school. The treatment plan has to include baseline data across the settings where treatment happens, which can include school, and a plan to coordinate care with school services once you sign a release of information. If you have commercial insurance, ask your plan whether it pays for any ABA time at school.

How to ask the school. Send a written request to the principal and the special education director. Include:

• The person’s name and credential (BCBA, LBA or RBT) and the provider they work for
• The purpose: observe, consult with the teacher, or attend the ARD meeting
• Proposed dates and how long each visit would last
• An offer to sign the district’s confidentiality and visitor forms

Ask for the answer in writing and ask which policy it rests on. Do not send anyone to campus before you have approval.

Sharing information. The Medicaid handbook ties school coordination to a release of information that you sign. Ask your ABA provider for its release form, and ask the school whether it needs its own form before staff can talk with the provider.

Can my child’s BCBA take part in the IEP?

Yes, if you invite them. Federal rule 34 CFR 300.321 lets the parent or the school invite people who know the child or have special expertise to the IEP team, which Texas calls the ARD committee. The person who invites them decides whether they have that knowledge or expertise.

• Tell the school ahead of time who is coming and in what role.
• Ask the BCBA to bring a one-page summary of current goals, recent data and any behavior plan.
• If the BCBA cannot attend, ask whether they can join by phone or video. Districts set that, so ask.
• Ask the committee to record in the minutes that the outside report was reviewed.

Texas Medicaid also pays for interdisciplinary team meetings about a child’s ABA care (procedure code 99366). The handbook says school representatives can take part, but the district itself is not paid for the meeting. Ask your BCBA whether such a meeting would help coordinate goals.

What happens at an ARD meeting?

ARD stands for Admission, Review and Dismissal. It is the meeting where the committee decides eligibility and writes the IEP. Federal rules give the school 30 days after it determines your child needs special education to hold the meeting that develops the IEP. You are a member of the committee.

Before the meeting:

• Ask for the evaluation report early. You are entitled to it no later than five school days before the eligibility ARD.
• Write down the three or four skills that matter most at home, and ask which IEP goal covers each.
• Bring your private provider’s report or goals if you have them, and ask the committee to note that they were reviewed.
• Ask the autism strategies question from above, by number.

If you disagree with something, the Notice of Procedural Safeguards the district sends you explains your options.

How do I fit after-school ABA around the school day?

For Medicaid’s hour guidelines and sample schedules, see our guide to how many hours of ABA per week.

School lets out at different times across districts and campuses, so ask what your provider can offer after your child’s school day ends. We did not find any district publishing a coordination policy with outside ABA providers, and we do not list session hours for any provider on this site. Ask each provider:

• Which weekday hours and weekend slots do you have, and how many are open now?
• Can sessions be at home, at a center or in the community, or by telehealth?
• How do you handle a child who is tired after a full school day?
• Will you share goals with the school team if I sign a release, and will you join an ARD?
• What is your cancellation policy for school events and early-release days?

Medicaid ABA can be delivered in the home, community or clinic setting for members age 20 or younger with an autism diagnosis, according to the HHSC family flyer, which also says an evaluation is needed to qualify. Browse by setting on our in-home, center-based and telehealth pages, or by Medicaid.

Where can I find ABA providers near my district?

District lines do not follow city lines, so check your own address with the district. As a rough guide, you can start with the city pages: Houston, Katy, Cypress, Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita, The Woodlands, Spring, Pearland and Missouri City. Any family can send a request, and profiles do not mean a provider has openings.