This is an independent guide, not a government office. We are not Orange County Government, the Orange County Department of Mental Health, or NYS OPWDD, and we cannot determine eligibility or enrol anyone in a program. For official help call the county Developmental Disabilities Services Division on 845‑291‑2600 or see orangecountyny.gov.

Orange County NY
DD Connection An independent guide for families

Autism

Autism support in Orange County, by age

What exists at each stage, and which door you knock on. The system changes hands three times as a child grows, and the handovers are where families lose time.

This page replaces the old Autism Resource Kit that lived at this address. That kit was written in 2007 and its contact details and programme names are long out of date, so republishing it would do more harm than good. What follows is the same map, pointed at the offices that exist now.

Birth to age 3: Early Intervention

Early Intervention is a county-run programme for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities. You do not need a referral from a doctor to ask for an evaluation, and a parent can make the referral themselves. In Orange County it runs through the Department of Health.

This is the single most time-sensitive stage on this page. Eligibility ends at the third birthday, and the transition to preschool services has to be arranged in advance.

Ages 3 to 5: Preschool special education

Responsibility moves from the county Early Intervention programme to your school district's Committee on Preschool Special Education. This handover is a common place for services to lapse, because it is a different office with a different process. Ask about it while your child is still two.

Ages 5 to 21: School-age special education

Your school district's Committee on Special Education is responsible, and support is delivered through an IEP. If you disagree with what is offered, that is a special education matter with its own appeal rights, separate from anything OPWDD does. See advocacy and school.

Around age 14 onward: transition planning

Transition planning is supposed to start in the teens, and is where school-based support is supposed to connect to adult services. In practice families often discover the adult system only when school ends, by which point the OPWDD eligibility process has not begun.

Do this early

If your teenager is likely to need adult services, start OPWDD eligibility well before school ends. Call the Front Door on 866-946-9733. The determination and the wait for staffing both take time, and starting at graduation is starting late.

Age 18 and over: adult services

Adult support comes through OPWDD eligibility and a Care Coordination Organization, covering community habilitation, respite, day services, employment support and residential options. The route is the same one described in services, eligibility and access.

Two other things become relevant at 18: decision-making, where guardianship is not the only option and supported decision-making is recognised in New York, and Medicaid, which underpins most adult services.

A note on therapies

Families ask constantly about ABA, speech therapy and occupational therapy. Which of these are funded, and through which system, depends on age, diagnosis, insurance and eligibility, and it genuinely differs case to case. Your care manager, school district or insurer is the accurate answer, and anyone telling you there is one universal rule is guessing.

If someone is in danger right now

Call 911. For a mental health crisis in Orange County, the Mental Health Association operates a 24/7 line on 1-800-832-1200, and you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline anywhere in the US.

Verified against Orange County and NYS OPWDD published guidance, 2026-08-31.