Autism Schools in Colorado
Colorado has fewer real autism schools than most parents expect. This is the verified list, with what each one costs and who each one will actually take.
Budding Futures ABA provides in-home ABA therapy across Colorado. We do not run a school, so we have no reason to sell you one.
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Colorado has a handful of private schools that serve autistic students. It also has district autism programs running inside regular public schools. Online, those two things get mixed together constantly, and ABA therapy centers get listed as if they were schools.
So here is the honest version. Most autistic children in Colorado attend a regular public school, in a regular classroom, with support written into an IEP. The law is built that way on purpose, and for a lot of children it works well.
Which means the search that brought you here may be the wrong one. Before you hunt for a school, work out what support your child actually needs. That answer is usually easier to get, and it opens up more options.
The number nobody is talking about
We pulled Colorado's special education child count from 2012 through 2024, straight from the state and federal data files.
In 2012, autism was 1 in 18 Colorado special education students. By 2024, it was 1 in 9. On the current trend, it reaches about 1 in 7 by 2030.
Autism enrollment grew 180 percent over those twelve years. All of Colorado special education grew 36 percent. Autism is not simply rising along with everything else. It is taking a much bigger share of a system that is not growing to match.
Denver Public Schools is already feeling it. DPS told CBS Colorado in April 2026 that it has seen an 84 percent increase in autistic students in five years. It opened 14 Multi-Intensive Autism classrooms, with nine more planned. Each one caps at 10 to 12 students.
What that means for you, plainly: seats are getting tighter, and evaluations and placements are not getting faster. Planning early is worth more every year.
Private and specialized schools in Colorado
There are only a few. Read the last column before you fall in love with a school.
| School | Where | Who it serves | The catch nobody tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Joshua School | Englewood | Autism and developmental disabilities | You cannot enroll directly. It is district referral only, and your child's IEP must name a separate setting as the least restrictive environment. Your district refers and pays. |
| Temple Grandin School | Boulder | Neurodivergent students, autism and ADHD named | Grades 6 to 12 only. About 20 to 25 students in total. Tuition is $48,880 a year, with need based aid, and 24 percent of students receive it. |
| Havern School | Littleton | K to 8. Level 1 and level 2 autism alongside dyslexia, ADHD and language disorders | Not an autism only school. A 4 to 1 environment with speech and occupational therapy built into the school day. |
| Kishami Academy | Colorado Springs | Autistic and special needs students, grades 3 to 12 | Aimed at students who can access a fairly independent academic program. |
| Denver Academy | Denver | Grades 2 to 12, learning differences, class size of 14 or under | Not an autism school. A learning differences school that autistic students sometimes attend. |
Two names come up constantly and do not belong on this list: Firefly Autism and Alpine Autism Center. Both are respected organizations. Neither is a school. They are ABA therapy providers, and enrolling there is not the same as enrolling your child in school.
What the public districts actually offer
Most Colorado districts do not run an autism school. They run autism programs inside regular schools, and the model varies a lot by district. That difference is worth understanding before you move or transfer.
| District | What it runs |
|---|---|
| Denver Public Schools | Center based programs including Multi-Intensive Autism (MI-A), plus MI and MI-S. Placement is an IEP team decision. |
| Cherry Creek | A district Autism and Severe Needs Support Team. Integrated Learning Center programs in 40 of 45 elementary schools, and in every middle and high school. |
| Jeffco Public Schools | ASD Center Programs inside neighborhood schools, at a 1 to 2 adult to student ratio. No medical autism diagnosis required. |
| Douglas County | A dedicated Autism Team including BCBAs and RBT trained staff. Plum Creek Academy is a separate high school option. |
| Boulder Valley | Autism Intensive Learning Center sites. |
| Poudre, Fort Collins | An Autism Spectrum Disorder center based program, one of six center based options. |
| Colorado Springs D11 | Deliberately does not run separate autism schools. D11's stated philosophy is that students learn best in their neighborhood school, so support is built around the child in the building. |
| Academy District 20 | A Communication and Social Development program at eight schools. Not restricted by diagnosis, and not offered at the high schools. |
One point worth repeating, because parents get it wrong: you do not need a medical autism diagnosis to get into a Jeffco ASD Center Program. Eligibility is an educational decision made by the IEP team, not a medical one. Autism testing in Colorado is a separate process.
The thing schools will not do
A school will not provide ABA therapy just because a doctor recommended it.
This surprises people, so it is worth being direct. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a district has to provide what the IEP team decides your child needs in order to access their education. It does not have to follow every recommendation in a doctor's letter, and IDEA does not name ABA as a required service.
That is not a district being difficult. It is how the law is written.
So ABA usually comes from somewhere else. It comes through Health First Colorado or your private insurance, delivered by an ABA provider, at home or after school. Since May 3, 2024, Colorado Medicaid does allow school as a billing location for behavioral therapy, but the outside provider still has to follow the district's own written policy for private providers in the building. Districts differ, and plenty still decline.
More on how that works in practice: school-based ABA therapy in Colorado, after-school ABA therapy, and how we coordinate with schools.
Where Budding Futures fits
We are not a school, and we will not pretend to be one.
Budding Futures ABA provides in-home ABA therapy across Colorado. Our BCBAs work around the school day rather than competing with it, and our clinical director, Rachel Blackburn, BCBA, reviews every plan. When a district allows it, we coordinate with school staff so the goals line up. When it does not, we build the program at home and after school so the skills still carry into the classroom.
Most families we work with are covered by Health First Colorado at no cost, or through commercial insurance. We verify benefits before anything starts, and we are not running an assessment waitlist right now.
Our clinical standards, licensure and supervision are set out on quality and credentials.
What to look for when you tour a school
Every school will tell you it is inclusive and that it individualizes learning. Those words are free. Here is what to actually ask about, whether you are touring a private school like Temple Grandin School (TGS) or a district center program.
- Who teaches your child. Ask how many special education teachers, therapists and paraeducators are in the room, and whether staffing is team based. Ask what happens on a day when someone is out.
- How the therapies fit in. Integrated therapies matter. Havern builds speech and occupational therapy into the school day rather than pulling children out of class for it. Ask whether therapy is integrated or bolted on.
- Whether it is structured teaching or a general education classroom. Some autistic learners need specialized instruction in a small setting. Others do better in general education with support. The honest answer depends on your child, not on the school's philosophy.
- Sensory and regulation. Ask what the sensory supports actually are, where a child goes when they are overloaded, and how staff respond to aggression rather than just how they prevent it.
- Executive functioning and social skills. For older students, especially in a K-12 or middle and high school setting, ask how these are taught and measured, not just whether they are mentioned.
- Routine and transitions. Ask what a normal day looks like start to finish, and what happens when the routine breaks.
The Colorado Department of Education defines the autism category educationally and oversees special education services across the state. A school's marketing language is not the same as what your child is entitled to.
Questions Colorado parents ask about autism schools
Does my child need an autism school?
Can I just enroll my child at The Joshua School?
Do I need an autism diagnosis to get school support?
Will the school provide ABA therapy?
What does an autism school cost in Colorado?
Which Colorado district is best for autism?
Not sure what support your child actually needs?
We can talk through your child's goals, what the school is and is not likely to cover, and what in-home ABA would look like in your week. No pressure, just a real conversation.