Autism Diagnosis in Manchester, New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, early intervention is called Family Centered Early Supports and Services (FCESS), for children birth to age three. It is delivered through the state's area agency system, requires no diagnosis or physician referral, and the evaluation is free. For the greater Manchester region, the Moore Center is the area agency and a sensible first call for families of very young children.

For diagnostic evaluations, Manchester-area families have a few hubs. Easterseals NH (with Manchester locations) offers pediatric therapies alongside diagnostic and autism evaluation. Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester runs the Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Services (BANDS) program, a multidisciplinary developmental/autism specialty service. For more complex or northern cases, Dartmouth Health Children's in Lebanon serves as a referral center with an ADOS clinic, an autism care clinic, and neurodevelopmental clinics. Most of these require a referral from your child's primary care provider, so start there.

On funding: New Hampshire's autism insurance mandate requires state-regulated plans to cover diagnosis (self-funded ERISA plans are exempt — check your plan documents), and NH Medicaid covers medically necessary evaluation for eligible children.