Start with government-funded services
These are the heavy hitters. If you haven't explored them yet, everything else can wait.
Every US state runs an Early Intervention program for children under three, funded under IDEA Part C. Eligibility criteria vary by state but tend to be broad, and you can self-refer, no pediatrician gatekeeping required. By law, the evaluation must happen within 45 days of referral, and services begin within weeks of eligibility confirmation. EI typically covers speech-language services, occupational therapy, developmental therapy, and parent coaching, mostly delivered in your home, and it's free regardless of income in most states. Search "Early Intervention [your state]" to find the phone number, and make the call today, not tomorrow.
For ages 3 to 5, IDEA Part B requires your local school district to evaluate any child suspected of having a disability. Request the evaluation in writing; the district typically has 60 days from your signed consent. If your child qualifies, they get an IEP and services, which might mean itinerant speech therapy (the SLP travels to your daycare or home), a center-based preschool with embedded therapy, or parent consultation. Also free regardless of income.
Once your child turns 5, the same IEP pathway applies through the school, with services happening during the school day. It's usually less intensive than private therapy, but it's consistent and free.
Parent training you can access tonight
The Hanen Centre, a Canadian nonprofit specializing in parent-mediated speech therapy, sells its full "It Takes Two to Talk" program, but its website offers free handouts and articles covering the core techniques: OWL (observe, wait, listen), following your child's lead, and the four levels of communicators. Many SLPs build their entire approach around these strategies, so reading the handouts puts you and your future SLP on the same page before you've even met.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) publishes free parent-facing pages on late talkers, autism communication, AAC basics, and more. The writing is clinical, but it's still useful as a starting framework.
The resource most parents skip, and most parents need, is content by autistic adults who were once nonspeaking or minimally speaking children. They've written extensively about what helped, what caused harm, and what they wish their parents had understood earlier. Worth your time: Naoki Higashida's The Reason I Jump, Ido Kedar's Ido in Autismland, essays by Mel Baggs, blogs like Neuroclastic and Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, and identity-first autism advocacy accounts on social media. My honest opinion: the perspective shift you get from autistic-authored content is worth more than most clinical handouts. It reframes what communication actually looks like, and that changes how you respond to your kid in real time.
Apps and printable boards
Several AAC apps offer genuinely free tiers: Cboard (free, open-source, basic AAC with picture symbols), Avaz Free (the free tier of a well-known AAC app), and TouchChat Lite versions (free demos with limited vocabulary). These are stripped down but functional enough to get started. If your child takes to AAC, you'll eventually want a paid version with broader vocabulary (TouchChat with WordPower, Proloquo2Go, and LAMP Words for Life typically run $150 to $300, often covered by insurance with an SLP prescription), but free is enough for the first few months of exploration.
For something simpler, search "free core word board print" or visit PrAACtical AAC's website for PDFs you can print, laminate, and stick on the fridge. Twelve core words on a single board (more, all done, help, want, stop, go, and so on) is a legitimate starter system. Project Core (project-core.com) has free downloadable resources built specifically for kids with complex communication needs. This is what Dana used: a piece of paper and a laminator. It works.
Don't skip the library
Most public libraries run toddler story time with songs and finger plays that build language, and many now offer sensory story time designed for kids with sensory needs. Some larger library systems even lend sensory toys, talking books, and AAC devices. Ask the children's librarian directly. A lot of libraries have someone who knows the autism-friendly resources in your area better than your pediatrician does. Libraries are wildly underused for this.
Free video content worth vetting
Look for SLP parent coaches who post short practice videos, especially those who work with autistic kids and describe their approach as neurodiversity-affirming. Bilinguistics posts free videos on naturalistic language teaching. The Autism Helper offers some free content alongside paid materials. Meaningful Speech has free introductory content on gestalt language processing (their paid course is well-regarded, and the free material holds up too).
One filter worth applying: some popular speech therapy content online still uses compliance-based ABA framing, where the goal is getting the child to perform on command rather than communicate authentically. Skip those. Look for creators who talk about communication, not obedience.
Find people slightly ahead of you
Local autism parent groups (Facebook is still the easiest way to find them) are goldmines. The parents in those groups know which clinics have the shortest waits, which SLPs are great, which schools actually follow through on IEPs, and what state-specific funding exists that nobody advertises. The most useful resource during a waitlist is usually another parent who is 6 to 24 months ahead of you on the same path. They know things the providers don't. Find them, and ask specific questions.
Some larger faith communities and YMCAs also run free or low-cost autism-inclusive programs, playgroups, parent support, sometimes therapy referrals. Worth checking even if you're not religious. The community access is the point.
Six things to try at home tonight
- Narrate. Talk through routines with short, repeatable phrases. "Shoes on. Shoes on. We're putting shoes on."
- Wait. After you say something, count to 10 in your head before saying anything else.
- Honor any communication. Looks, reaches, sounds, words, gestures all count.
- Read books daily. Whatever you already have on the shelf.
- Stop quizzing. Narrate and model words instead of demanding output.
- Follow your child's interests. Whatever they love becomes the topic.
These six habits are the foundation of nearly every speech therapy approach. They cost nothing, need no app, and you can start at tonight's dinner.
When free isn't enough
If you've been doing this work for three months with no movement at all, push harder on professional access. Even a single paid consultation with an SLP (typically $150 to $300) can give you a tailored plan that makes the free resources far more effective.
If your child is regressing while you wait, losing words, losing gestures, pulling further inward, free resources alone won't cut it. Push for an earlier therapy slot, pay privately if you can manage it, and look into hospital-based programs. Regression is a different situation, and it calls for urgency.
This is general information, not medical or therapeutic advice. Talk to a qualified speech-language pathologist about what's right for your child.
Free resources will never replace one-on-one therapy, but while you're waiting for that spot to open up, they're genuinely useful, and they lay groundwork your future therapist can build on rather than start from scratch. So how do you tell a good free resource from a waste of time? Check three things: whether it's written or vetted by qualified SLPs or autistic adults, whether the language it uses is affirming, and whether it's aimed at communication rather than compliance. If a resource clears all three, it's probably worth your time. Early Intervention quality is genuinely uneven. Some programs are excellent, others do the bare minimum. If yours falls into the second camp, lean on home practice and free community resources to fill the gaps. Even an imperfect EI program still gives you a baseline to build on. As for paid courses, they can be worth it if the budget allows. Programs like Hanen and Meaningful Speech, along with certain courses written by SLPs, teach real techniques rather than empty promises. Steer clear of anything that guarantees specific outcomes or claims it can "fix" autism. The good ones are honest about what they can and can't do. On AAC apps: the free versions are actually free, not free trials in disguise. They're limited in vocabulary and features but still functional. If your child takes to AAC, the fuller paid versions (TouchChat with WordPower, Proloquo2Go, LAMP Words for Life) usually cost $150 to $300 as a one-time purchase, and insurance will often cover them if an SLP writes a prescription. You also don't need to wait for an SLP's blessing to start AAC. There's no prerequisite for giving your child a way to communicate. Print a core word board, model it yourself during everyday routines, and let your child explore it. An SLP can refine your approach down the road, but nothing is stopping you from starting now. If you only do one thing today, make it this: call your state's Early Intervention program if your child is under 3, or send a written evaluation request to your school district if they're 3 or older. Both are legal rights, and the clock on them starts the moment you make the request. For more on this, see the Speech Therapy Waitlist Survival Guide, the pillar guide on speech therapy at home for autistic kids, tips on getting off the waitlist faster, or why it's worth pursuing early intervention and private therapy together. You might also find it helpful to browse the full library of parent guides, or check out specific pieces like 10-minute speech practice for toddlers who won't sit still, what 10 minutes a day actually did for one child's speech, guidance on whether a 3-year-old's speech should be 75% understandable to strangers or whether a 4-year-old who's still hard to understand is cause for concern, and practical starting points like getting an AAC device through insurance, a plain-English starter guide to AAC and PECS, another plain-English AAC guide, and when and how to start AAC with toddlers.