County resource guide
Autism Resources in Portage County, Ohio
Local providers, school contacts, and support services for autism families in Portage County. Ohio statewide resources also apply.
Portage County — home to Ravenna, Kent, and Aurora — benefits from Kent State University's special education programs, which support the local workforce. The Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities coordinates Level One and Transitions waivers. Help Me Grow serves children under 3, and Akron Children's Hospital is accessible for specialized evaluation. OCECD provides free IEP advocacy statewide.
Immediate resources
Key contacts for Portage County
Phone numbers you can call today — no referral needed for most.
Federally funded PTI center serving Ohio families.
Provider directory
Local Providers7 providers in Portage County
About our listings
Provider listings on Autism Parent Club are submitted by practices or researched from public sources. All listings are reviewed for accuracy before publication. To suggest a correction, use the “Suggest a correction” link below.
Diagnostic 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.
Akron · multi-county
Autism Learning Partners — Akron
Center-based and in-home ABA therapy serving Summit County. BCBA-supervised with naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention approaches. Accepts most commercial insurance and Ohio Medicaid. Ohio requires commercial insurers to cover ABA therapy for autism.
Ohio's ABA insurance mandate applies to commercial plans. Ohio Medicaid accepted.
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.
Parent & family support
Parent groups, sibling programs, and family peer support.
Akron · multi-county
Autism Society of Greater Akron
Active Akron-area chapter with parent support groups, social skills programs, resource navigation, and family events across Summit County. Connected to the Autism Society of Ohio statewide network and the OhioASD resource directory.
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.
For providers
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Helpful guides
Guides for Portage County families
Step-by-step help on the topics that matter most.
School & IEP
Navigating the IEP process
Your rights under IDEA, how evaluations work, and what every IEP section means.
Finding help
ABA, OT, speech and waitlists
How to find qualified providers, navigate insurance, and get off waitlists faster.
Getting started
Where to start after diagnosis
A week-by-week checklist for the first 90 days — from evaluation to early intervention.
Benefits & money
SSI, Medicaid waivers, ABLE accounts
Federal benefits your child may qualify for and how to apply without losing your spot.
Mental health
Co-occurring conditions and support
Managing anxiety, ADHD, and depression alongside an autism diagnosis.
Daily life
Sensory processing and OT
Understanding sensory needs, sensory diets, and how occupational therapy helps.
Adulthood
Employment, housing, legal planning
Supported employment, housing options, guardianship alternatives, and ABLE accounts.
See all Ohio resources
Waivers, PTI centers, and state programs apply to all families in Ohio.
Ohio state guide →Nearby counties in Ohio
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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