Autism Schools & Special Education in Boston, Massachusetts

Most autistic children in the Boston area are educated in their public schools through an IEP — and Massachusetts also has one of the country's deepest benches of specialized private autism schools for kids who need more. This page explains both paths and how families move between them.

Massachusetts special education law (Chapter 766) predates and in some ways exceeds the federal IDEA, and the state approves a network of private special-education schools that districts can be required to fund. That means Boston-area families have real options — but also a system that rewards knowing your rights. Here we cover how special education works locally, where the well-known autism schools are, and how placement and funding actually happen.