Autism Resources in Petersburg County, Alaska

4 providers in Petersburg and nearby, plus 12 national programs. Waitlists change often, so it’s worth calling a few.

How we check listings

Filter by age

0 providers in Petersburg County. Filter by your child’s age — including 18+, which is the hardest to find anywhere.

Based in Petersburg County

Diagnostic clinics

1 provider

Formal autism evaluations by developmental pediatricians, psychologists, or neuropsychologists.

SEARHC Petersburg Medical Center — Pediatric Referrals

Petersburg, AK

SEARHC's Petersburg Medical Center is the primary healthcare facility for the Petersburg Borough in Southeast Alaska. Located on Mitkof Island between Wrangell and Juneau, Petersburg is accessible by Alaska Marine Highway ferry and small aircraft. Developmental screenings and referrals are available locally; comprehensive autism evaluations require ferry or flight to Juneau (~100 miles north) or Ketchikan.

Petersburg is a Norwegian fishing heritage community ferry-connected to Juneau and Wrangell. SEARHC serves Alaska Native and all community members. Juneau is the nearest specialist hub.

All ages

Early Intervention (0–3)

1 provider

Free services for children under 3 under IDEA Part C.

Alaska Early Intervention — Infant Learning Program (Petersburg)

Petersburg, AK

Alaska's Part C EI program serves children birth to 3 in the Petersburg Borough. Juneau ILP staff may cover Petersburg with telehealth and periodic in-person visits via ferry. FREE for eligible children. Early referral is especially important in this small island community.

FREE under IDEA Part C. Juneau ILP office coordinates services for Petersburg. Ferry access makes periodic in-person visits more feasible than fly-in communities.

Accepting new patientsAges birth–3Telehealth

Also serving Petersburg County

These 14 are based elsewhere, or operate nationally, and list Petersburg County in the area they cover. Worth calling to confirm how far they actually travel, and whether telehealth or in-home visits are an option.

Respite care

3 providers

Respite care providers giving families a break — in-home, center-based, and overnight.

Respite through Alaska's HCBS waivers — sometimes family-directed

Statewide, AK · serves several counties

Respite is funded through Alaska's Home and Community-Based Services waivers, administered by the Division of Senior and Disabilities Services, and for some waiver categories it can be family-directed — meaning you arrange and direct the care rather than accepting an agency roster. Easterseals Alaska also runs respite services directly. Given the IDD Registry implies a wait beyond fourteen years, ask what is available outside the waiver as well.

The Aging & Disability Resource Center line is the practical first call. Ask specifically whether family-directed respite applies to your waiver category.

ARCH National Respite Locator

Searchable by state, AK

A free national directory of respite providers and programs, run by ARCH, the National Respite Network and Resource Center. ARCH says it is not a complete list, so it works best alongside…

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

ARCH's advice is to contact your State Respite Coalition or Lifespan Respite program first. Before you pay out of pocket, also check what your state's Medicaid waiver funds.

Your state's Lifespan Respite program

39 states and DC have been funded, AK

Lifespan Respite programs are federally funded, state-run programs that help family caregivers of children or adults, regardless of special need, find and pay for respite.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

ARCH lists every state's Lifespan Respite contact and respite coalition on this page. Ask specifically about voucher or stipend programs — that is the part families most often miss.

Advocacy & legal

1 provider

Legal advocates, special education advocates, and disability rights organizations.

Stone Soup Group

Anchorage, AK · serves several counties

Alaska's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center: a statewide nonprofit giving free support to families caring for children with special needs, including help with special education and IEPs.

All ages

Activities, clubs & recreation

10 providers

Clubs, sports, camps, and social programs that welcome autistic children and teens — inclusive, adaptive, and special-needs specific.

ACEing Autism

227 programs in 32 states, AK

Tennis clinics for kids, teens and, in some locations, adults on the autism spectrum.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Cost varies by location and scholarships are available. Use the Find a Program search on their site with your zip code.

American Camp Association — camp finder

About 3,900 camps, AK

A free searchable directory of about 3,900 camps, with a filter for disabilities and other special needs alongside distance, activities, session length and cost. A good single starting…

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Choose day or overnight, then use the "Disabilities and Other Special Needs" filter. Specialized camps can fill early, so start looking in the winter before.

Best Buddies

All 50 states — find your local program, AK

One-to-one friendship matching between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities, with programs from elementary school through college and adulthood, plus…

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

A national organization, not a local listing — use the finder on their site, or call 1-800-89-BUDDY, to locate your nearest program.

Ages elementary school through adult

Easterseals — camps and recreation

Local Easterseals across the country, AK

Day and residential camps for children and adults with disabilities, plus sports, social activities and community outings run by local Easterseals.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Programs vary a great deal between locations — use the Find your Easterseals search on the page and check what yours actually runs.

iCan Shine (iCan Bike)

Camps hosted in different towns each year, AK

Teaches people with disabilities to ride a conventional two-wheeled bicycle over a five-day camp, 75 minutes a day. iCan Shine says about 80% of participants ride independently by the end…

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Check their Camp Locations page for dates — camps run in different towns each year, so somewhere near you may host this year and not next.

KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now)

Six cities only: Chicago, DC–Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, St. Louis, AK

Free, non-competitive, one-to-one recreation for youth ages 5 to 21 with physical or developmental disabilities, led by trained volunteer coaches.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Free to families. KEEN runs in six cities plus two university campus chapters (Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia) — outside those, it is not available yet.

Ages 5–21
See all 10 activities, clubs & recreation providers

Little League Challenger Division

Through local Little Leagues — use the League Finder, AK

Little League's adaptive baseball program for anyone with a physical or intellectual challenge.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Use the League Finder on their site to locate the nearest Challenger division, or ask about starting one. Little League's rule is that a player who can take part in regular Little League with reasonable accommodations should do so.

Ages 4–18 (to 22 if in school); Senior League 15+

Miracle League

300 leagues — check for one near you, AK

Baseball for children and adults with physical or mental disabilities, played on custom-designed rubberized turf fields that accommodate wheelchairs and other assistive devices.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Use the Find a Miracle League page on their site — there are 300 leagues, so coverage is good but not universal.

Special Olympics

Nationwide — find your local program, AK

Year-round sports training and competition for children and adults.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Eligibility requires an intellectual disability, a cognitive delay measured by formal assessment, or significant learning or vocational problems due to cognitive delay, identified by an agency or professional. If your child is autistic without a cognitive delay, have a direct conversation about fit before signing up rather than after. Ask your local program about any costs.

Ages 8+ (Young Athletes: 2–7)

TOPSoccer (US Youth Soccer)

Through local soccer clubs, AK

The Outreach Program for Soccer — recreational soccer for children and adults with intellectual, emotional or physical disabilities, offered through local US Youth Soccer clubs.

A national program with local chapters — we have not verified a chapter in this county. Use their finder to locate the nearest one.

Find your state association's TOPSoccer clubs through the link on their page, or ask your state association office directly — it is often not advertised on the club's own website.

Not sure which kind of therapy you need?

Start with our plain-language guide to ABA, speech and OT — what each one is, and questions to ask on the first call.

Read the guide

For providers

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About autism services in Petersburg County

Petersburg Borough is a small fishing community in Southeast Alaska accessible by air and ferry. SEARHC provides regional health services; specialized autism evaluations require travel to Ketchikan or Juneau. PARENTS Inc. (AK PTI) provides free statewide advocacy.

Helpful guides

Guides for Petersburg County families

Step-by-step help on the topics that matter most.

See all Alaska resources

Waivers, PTI centers, and state programs apply to all families in Alaska.

Alaska state guide →

Common questions

Answered from the providers currently listed for this county — these update as the directory does.

How many autism providers serve Petersburg County, Alaska?

We list 4 providers serving Petersburg County, covering early intervention (0–3), respite care, diagnostic clinics and advocacy & legal. Some are based in the county and others serve it from nearby areas. Every listing is reviewed by a person before it is published.

Are there telehealth autism services for Petersburg County families?

Yes — 1 provider serving Petersburg County offers telehealth or virtual sessions. This is often the fastest route to support for families in rural areas or on long local waitlists.

Does Medicaid pay for autism services in Alaska?

Alaska families can apply to the IDD Waiver, entered through the DD Registry, a Medicaid waiver that can fund respite, therapies and in-home support. The typical wait is 721 on the registry with about 50 taken off a year — an implied 14+ years, and your place is usually set by the date you apply — so applying early matters even if you are unsure what services you need. Many waivers also disregard parental income, so families who don't qualify for regular Medicaid often still qualify here.

What if I can't find an autism provider in Petersburg County?

If none of the Petersburg County providers is the right fit, these Alaska counties currently have the most listed providers: Anchorage County (15), Fairbanks North Star County (13), Kenai Peninsula County (13), Juneau County (12). Many providers travel or offer telehealth, so it is worth calling even if they are not based nearby. You can also tell us about a provider we are missing.

Nearby counties in Alaska

You know things we don’t

Still missing from Petersburg County

These are the things no database has and every parent knows. If you can answer one of them, another family in Petersburg Countygets an afternoon back. It takes about a minute and you don’t need to know the business details — a name and a rough location is enough for us to check.

We check everything before it goes up, and nobody pays to be listed. How we verify.

Get told when this page changes

New provider in Petersburg County? We'll email you.

One email when we verify a new provider in Petersburg County — no newsletter, no digest, nothing else. Some counties hear from us a few times a year and some stay quiet for months; we would rather send you nothing than send you filler.

We store your address and county, and nothing else. How we handle it.

See something that needs fixing?

Providers move, phone numbers change, and links break — it happens. If anything on this page is out of date, wrong, or no longer working, please tell us and we’ll fix it. Keeping this accurate for autism families is the whole reason we’re here.

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Help the community

Know a great provider in Petersburg County?

If a therapist, clinic, or specialist helped your family, tell us about them and we’ll add them to the directory so other families can find them too.

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For providers

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