County resource guide
Portage County, Ohio
Local providers, school contacts, and support services for autism families in Portage County. Ohio statewide resources also apply.
Local providers
5 listedDiagnostic clinics
Formal autism evaluations by developmental pediatricians, psychologists, or neuropsychologists.
Ravenna
Akron Children's Hospital — Portage Outpatient Center
Akron Children's Hospital provides developmental pediatric services to Portage County families through outpatient locations accessible from Ravenna and Kent. Portage County is within the core Akron Children's service area for autism evaluations and specialty care.
Early Intervention (0–3)
Free services for children under 3 under IDEA Part C.
Ravenna
Portage County Help Me Grow — Early Intervention
Ohio's Help Me Grow early intervention program for Portage County children birth to age 3. Free evaluations and therapy for children with developmental delays. Administered through the Portage County Board of DD.
FREE under federal law. No diagnosis required for evaluation.
ABA therapy
Applied Behavior Analysis therapy — typically requires insurance authorization.
Kent · multi-county
Hopebridge — Kent/Portage County
Center-based ABA therapy serving Portage County families in the Kent and Ravenna area. BCBA-supervised with multidisciplinary approach. Accepts most commercial insurance and Ohio Medicaid.
Speech therapy
Speech-language pathology, AAC, pragmatic language, and feeding.
Kent
Kent State University — Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic
Kent State University's Communication Sciences and Disorders clinic provides speech-language evaluations and therapy at reduced cost, supervised by licensed SLPs. Serves autistic children and adults working on language, social communication, and AAC. Located on the Kent campus in Portage County.
University training clinic — reduced-cost services supervised by licensed SLPs.
Advocacy & legal
Legal advocates, special education advocates, and disability rights organizations.
Ravenna
Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Portage County DD Board provides service coordination, eligibility determination, and connection to county and state-funded disability supports. The local gateway to Ohio's developmental disability service system covering all ages and life stages.
Ohio county DD Boards are unique. Apply early — HCBS waiver waitlists can be long.
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See all Ohio resources
Waivers, PTI centers, and state programs apply to all families in Ohio.
Ohio state guide →