Every figure on ChildEvaluation's data pages comes from a public government file. It is downloaded, checked, and published with its source attached. This page explains what we use, what we refuse to do with it, and where the data falls short.
We never divide school (state or federal), regional center, or Census figures into an autism rate for a state, county, district, or school. The only prevalence figures shown are CDC's own ADDM estimates, labeled with the communities they cover.
When an agency withholds a count, whether to protect privacy (marked * in CDE files, x in federal IDEA files) or over data quality (* in IDEA files), we store and show it as withheld. We never replace it with zero, an estimate, or a range.
Regional center data lists diagnoses in separate columns, and one person can appear in several. We show each diagnosis on its own and never total them.
Regional center figures describe whole catchment areas. We do not split or reassign them to counties, even where a center serves a single county.
We publish state, county, and district aggregates only. School-level rows in source files are skipped during import.
CDE county codes (01–58, alphabetical) differ from federal FIPS codes. Every county is matched by exact name to the Census Bureau's county file before any data is joined.
Each source has its own import program. It downloads the original file, stores an unaltered copy with its checksum, checks the file's structure against the published layout, and validates every row before anything is published. A failed check stops publication and keeps the last good data in place.
Census Day special-education enrollment by primary disability category, age range and program setting for state, county, district, DSEA and school aggregates.
TK–12 public school enrollment on Census Day by grade and student group for state, county, district and school aggregates.
Authoritative CDS code/name lookup with status and public district office contact fields (street address, phone, website).
Every license issued by each DCA board, with license type, number, status, expiration and the address of record. Used for county counts of active psychologists, licensed educational psychologists and occupational therapists, and to check individual provider licenses listed in data/reference/provider-licenses.json.
Child population estimates by age bracket for California and its counties.
Students served under IDEA Part B on each state's fall child count date, by disability category, age group and educational environment, for every state and outlying area.
Monthly counts of regional-center consumers by recorded diagnosis, by regional center.
ADDM Network identified autism prevalence among 8-year-olds in monitored communities, surveillance years 2000–2022.
Official service-area polygons for California's 21 regional centers.
Monthly counts of people at each regional center by status: intake (Diagnosis & Evaluation), Early Start, Lanterman Act active consumers, state-operated and provisional eligibility, split under and over 36 months of age. Cells of 1-10 people are redacted by DDS.
Fiscal-year spending on purchased services for each regional center and statewide: people counted, total expenditures, per-person expenditures, utilization of authorized services, and the share with no purchased services, by age group, race or ethnicity, primary language and disability.
School district boundary polygons for 2025-26 (elementary and high school districts overlap by design; unified districts cover both). Used to find which districts serve an address.
Each local educational agency's results on the IDEA State Performance Plan Indicators. We import Indicator 11 (eligibility determined within 60 days) and Indicator 12 (Part C to Part B IEPs in place by age 3) for Bay Area districts.
SELPA names, contacts and member districts, for a district-to-SELPA crosswalk.
These are the only measures shown on data pages. Each one has a fixed definition and a warning about what it does not mean.
| Measure | Definition | What it does not mean |
|---|---|---|
Students with autism as primary special-education categorycde.sped.autism_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is autism (CDE reporting category DC_AUT). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with speech or language impairment as primary special-education categorycde.sped.speech_language_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is speech or language impairment (CDE reporting category DC_SLI). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with specific learning disability as primary special-education categorycde.sped.learning_disability_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is specific learning disability (CDE reporting category DC_SLD). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with other health impairment as primary special-education categorycde.sped.other_health_impairment_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is other health impairment (CDE reporting category DC_OHI). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with intellectual disability as primary special-education categorycde.sped.intellectual_disability_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is intellectual disability (CDE reporting category DC_ID). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with emotional disturbance as primary special-education categorycde.sped.emotional_disturbance_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is emotional disturbance (CDE reporting category DC_ED). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with multiple disabilities as primary special-education categorycde.sped.multiple_disabilities_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is multiple disabilities (CDE reporting category DC_MD). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with orthopedic impairment as primary special-education categorycde.sped.orthopedic_impairment_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is orthopedic impairment (CDE reporting category DC_OI). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with deaf / hearing impairment as primary special-education categorycde.sped.deaf_hearing_impairment_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is deaf / hearing impairment (CDE reporting category DC_DFHI). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with hard of hearing as primary special-education categorycde.sped.hard_of_hearing_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is hard of hearing (CDE reporting category DC_HH). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with visual impairment as primary special-education categorycde.sped.visual_impairment_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is visual impairment (CDE reporting category DC_VI). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with traumatic brain injury as primary special-education categorycde.sped.traumatic_brain_injury_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is traumatic brain injury (CDE reporting category DC_TBI). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with established medical disability as primary special-education categorycde.sped.established_medical_disability_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is established medical disability (CDE reporting category DC_EMD). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Students with deaf-blindness as primary special-education categorycde.sped.deaf_blindness_primary_count | Students with an active IEP whose primary disability category is deaf-blindness (CDE reporting category DC_DB). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. |
Active licenses by address of recorddca.active_licensees | Licenses with status Current in the California Department of Consumer Affairs public licensee file, by license type and the county of the licensee's address of record. | Counts licenses with status Current whose public address of record is in the area. The address of record can be a home or a business and is not necessarily where the person practices; it includes people who are retired from clinical work, work only with adults, or are not taking new clients. This is a count of licenses, not of evaluators available to families. Speech-language pathologists are not included because DCA's public file for that board has not been updated since 2019. |
Students receiving special education (active IEP)cde.sped.total_students_with_iep | Total special-education enrollment on Census Day (CDE reporting category TA). | Includes preschool-age (3–5) and adult (19–22) students with IEPs. Not comparable to TK–12 enrollment without an approved metric definition. |
Share of special-education students reported under the primary autism categorycde.sped.autism_share_of_special_ed_pct | DC_AUT ÷ TA × 100, same school year, geography and charter scope. | Describes the composition of special education, not how common autism is among children. NULL when the numerator or denominator is suppressed, missing or zero. |
Students receiving special education, by age rangecde.sped.students_with_iep_by_age | Special-education enrollment for all disability categories within a CDE age range. | Age ranges cover all disability categories. CDE does not cross-tabulate autism by age in this file, so these are not autism counts by age. |
Students receiving special education, by race ethnicitycde.sped.students_with_iep_by_race_ethnicity | Special-education enrollment for all disability categories within a CDE race ethnicity reporting group. | Groups cover all disability categories; CDE does not cross-tabulate disability category by race ethnicity in this file. Describes who is enrolled in special education, not how often any group has a disability, and not school quality. |
Students receiving special education, by grade spancde.sped.students_with_iep_by_grade_span | Special-education enrollment for all disability categories within a CDE grade span reporting group. | Groups cover all disability categories; CDE does not cross-tabulate disability category by grade span in this file. Describes who is enrolled in special education, not how often any group has a disability, and not school quality. |
Students receiving special education, by gendercde.sped.students_with_iep_by_gender | Special-education enrollment for all disability categories within a CDE gender reporting group. | Groups cover all disability categories; CDE does not cross-tabulate disability category by gender in this file. Describes who is enrolled in special education, not how often any group has a disability, and not school quality. |
Students receiving special education, by english learnercde.sped.students_with_iep_by_english_learner | Special-education enrollment for all disability categories within a CDE english learner reporting group. | Groups cover all disability categories; CDE does not cross-tabulate disability category by english learner in this file. Describes who is enrolled in special education, not how often any group has a disability, and not school quality. |
Students receiving special education, by program settingcde.sped.students_with_iep_by_program_setting | Where special-education students are taught: time in a regular class, a separate school or other setting, or a preschool setting. | Program setting reflects each student's IEP placement on Census Day. Districts with more preschool or more students with significant needs will show different mixes, so a setting mix is not a measure of school quality. |
Students with autism as primary special-education category, by program settingcde.sped.autism_students_by_program_setting | Program setting for students whose primary disability category is autism (DC_AUT). | Counts students whose primary special-education eligibility category is reported by public schools on Census Day. It is not a count of all autistic children, not a clinical diagnosis count, and not a prevalence rate. Program setting reflects IEP placement on Census Day and is not a measure of school quality. |
Public school enrollment (Census Day, TK–12)cde.enrollment.tk12_total | Total students enrolled in TK–12 public schools on Census Day (CDE reporting category TA). | Shown for size context only. Dividing special-education autism counts by enrollment is not an autism prevalence estimate; that derived metric is disabled pending methodological review. |
Children ages 0–4census.acs.child_population_0_4 | ACS 5-year estimate: B01001_003E + B01001_027E (male + female). | A five-year survey estimate with a margin of error, not a single-year census count and not a diagnosis count. |
Children ages 5–9census.acs.child_population_5_9 | ACS 5-year estimate: B01001_004E + B01001_028E (male + female). | A five-year survey estimate with a margin of error, not a single-year census count and not a diagnosis count. |
Children ages 10–14census.acs.child_population_10_14 | ACS 5-year estimate: B01001_005E + B01001_029E (male + female). | A five-year survey estimate with a margin of error, not a single-year census count and not a diagnosis count. |
Children ages 15–17census.acs.child_population_15_17 | ACS 5-year estimate: B01001_006E + B01001_030E (male + female). | A five-year survey estimate with a margin of error, not a single-year census count and not a diagnosis count. |
Children ages 0–17census.acs.child_population_0_17 | ACS 5-year estimate: sum of B01001 male and female age cells under 18. | A five-year survey estimate. Margin of error for sums is approximated as the square root of the sum of squared component margins (Census guidance). |
Total population (all ages)census.acs.total_population | ACS 5-year estimate B01001_001E. | A five-year survey estimate. |
Children (0–17) as a share of total populationcensus.acs.child_share_pct | census.acs.child_population_0_17 ÷ census.acs.total_population × 100, same ACS vintage and geography. | Demographic context only. |
Regional-center consumers with autism spectrum disorder recordeddds.consumers.recorded_autism_diagnosis | DDS column "Autism": total number of consumers diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (per DDS data dictionary). | Counts people served by a regional center, not everyone with the condition. One person can have several diagnoses, so these counts cannot be added together. Figures cover the center's whole catchment area and are not split by county. |
Regional-center consumers with intellectual disability recordeddds.consumers.recorded_intellectual_disability | DDS column "ID": total number of consumers diagnosed with intellectual disability (per DDS data dictionary). | Counts people served by a regional center, not everyone with the condition. One person can have several diagnoses, so these counts cannot be added together. Figures cover the center's whole catchment area and are not split by county. |
Regional-center consumers with cerebral palsy recordeddds.consumers.recorded_cerebral_palsy | DDS column "CP": total number of consumers diagnosed with cerebral palsy (per DDS data dictionary). | Counts people served by a regional center, not everyone with the condition. One person can have several diagnoses, so these counts cannot be added together. Figures cover the center's whole catchment area and are not split by county. |
Regional-center consumers with epilepsy recordeddds.consumers.recorded_epilepsy | DDS column "Epilepsy": total number of consumers diagnosed with epilepsy (per DDS data dictionary). | Counts people served by a regional center, not everyone with the condition. One person can have several diagnoses, so these counts cannot be added together. Figures cover the center's whole catchment area and are not split by county. |
Regional-center consumers with fifth category recordeddds.consumers.recorded_fifth_category | DDS column "C5": total number of consumers diagnosed with fifth category (per DDS data dictionary). | Counts people served by a regional center, not everyone with the condition. One person can have several diagnoses, so these counts cannot be added together. Figures cover the center's whole catchment area and are not split by county. |
Students served under IDEA with autism, ages 3–5, not in kindergartenidea.partb.autism_early_childhood_count | IDEA Part B state file: "Total, Early Childhood" row, disability category "Autism", column "Age 3 to 5 (Early Childhood)". | Counts students served under IDEA Part B on the state's fall child count date whose disability category is autism. Eligibility rules and identification practices differ between states, so differences between states reflect those systems as well as children. Not a count of all autistic children and not a prevalence rate. |
Students served under IDEA with autism, ages 5 (in kindergarten) through 21idea.partb.autism_school_age_count | IDEA Part B state file: "Total, School Age" row, disability category "Autism", column "Age 5 (School Age)-21". | Counts students served under IDEA Part B on the state's fall child count date whose disability category is autism. Eligibility rules and identification practices differ between states, so differences between states reflect those systems as well as children. Not a count of all autistic children and not a prevalence rate. |
Students served under IDEA, all disability categories, ages 3–5, not in kindergartenidea.partb.all_disabilities_early_childhood_count | IDEA Part B state file: "Total, Early Childhood" row, disability category "All Disabilities", column "Age 3 to 5 (Early Childhood)". | Counts students served under IDEA Part B on the state's fall child count date whose disability category is autism. Eligibility rules and identification practices differ between states, so differences between states reflect those systems as well as children. Not a count of all autistic children and not a prevalence rate. |
Students served under IDEA, all disability categories, ages 5 (in kindergarten) through 21idea.partb.all_disabilities_school_age_count | IDEA Part B state file: "Total, School Age" row, disability category "All Disabilities", column "Age 5 (School Age)-21". | Counts students served under IDEA Part B on the state's fall child count date whose disability category is autism. Eligibility rules and identification practices differ between states, so differences between states reflect those systems as well as children. Not a count of all autistic children and not a prevalence rate. |
Share of school-age IDEA students served under the autism categoryidea.partb.autism_share_school_age_pct | Autism ÷ all disability categories × 100, students ages 5 (in kindergarten) through 21, same state and school year. | Describes the composition of special education, not how common autism is among children. NULL when the numerator or denominator is suppressed, missing or zero. |
Autism identified among 8-year-olds in CDC ADDM monitored communitiescdc.addm.identified_autism_per_1000_age8 | CDC Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network surveillance estimate, per 1,000 children aged 8. | Applies only to the sampled surveillance communities for each year. A state-named ADDM site covers specific communities, not the whole state, and is not a county or statewide rate. |
Initial evaluations completed within the 60-day timelinecde.apr.ind11_timely_initial_evaluation_pct | IDEA State Performance Plan Indicator 11, as printed in CDE's Local Level Annual Performance Report ("Rate of Eligibility Determined within 60 days"). | A compliance rate CDE calculates from records the district submits, for a 100% target set by federal law. CDE publishes the rate only, not how many children were counted, so a small district can swing widely from one year to the next. "Not calculated" means CDE judged the number of children too small. Reported compliance is not the same as appointment wait time. |
Children moving from Early Start with an IEP in place by age 3cde.apr.ind12_early_intervention_to_preschool_timely_pct | IDEA State Performance Plan Indicator 12, as printed in CDE's Local Level Annual Performance Report ("Rate of Part C to Part B Students with Timely IEPs"). | A compliance rate CDE calculates from records the district submits, for a 100% target set by federal law. CDE publishes the rate only, not how many children were counted, so a small district can swing widely from one year to the next. "Not calculated" means CDE judged the number of children too small. Reported compliance is not the same as appointment wait time. |
People on the regional center caseload, by statusdds.caseload.consumers_by_status | DDS Monthly Consumer Caseload report, Regional Center Caseloads by Status. | Everyone on the regional center's caseload at the end of the report month, by DDS status: intake (status 0, being evaluated), Early Start (status 1, under age 3), active under the Lanterman Act (status 2), state-operated (status 8) and provisional eligibility (status U, children under 5). DDS redacts cells of 1 to 10 people and builds its totals by rounding each redacted cell to the nearest ten, so a total can differ from the true count by a few people per redacted cell. Regional centers report for their whole catchment area, never by county. |
People counted for purchase-of-service reportingdds.pos.individuals_count | Individuals Count in DDS's Annual POS Report. | Fiscal year July to June. People counted are those active in January of the fiscal year or with any purchased service during it; someone who moved between regional centers can be counted at both. Spending covers services the regional center bought from vendors (purchase of service), not its own staff. Per-person spending divides by everyone counted, including people with no purchases, and is not adjusted for age or need: centers serving more adults in residential care spend more per person. DDS suppresses small cells. DDS changed how race and language are recorded late in FY 2024–25 and advises caution comparing those groups across years. |
Purchase-of-service spendingdds.pos.total_expenditures | Total Expenditures (sum of POS claims) in DDS's Annual POS Report. | Fiscal year July to June. People counted are those active in January of the fiscal year or with any purchased service during it; someone who moved between regional centers can be counted at both. Spending covers services the regional center bought from vendors (purchase of service), not its own staff. Per-person spending divides by everyone counted, including people with no purchases, and is not adjusted for age or need: centers serving more adults in residential care spend more per person. DDS suppresses small cells. DDS changed how race and language are recorded late in FY 2024–25 and advises caution comparing those groups across years. |
Purchase-of-service spending per persondds.pos.per_capita_expenditures | Per Capita Expenditures in DDS's Annual POS Report: total expenditures divided by everyone counted. | Fiscal year July to June. People counted are those active in January of the fiscal year or with any purchased service during it; someone who moved between regional centers can be counted at both. Spending covers services the regional center bought from vendors (purchase of service), not its own staff. Per-person spending divides by everyone counted, including people with no purchases, and is not adjusted for age or need: centers serving more adults in residential care spend more per person. DDS suppresses small cells. DDS changed how race and language are recorded late in FY 2024–25 and advises caution comparing those groups across years. |
Share of authorized services actually useddds.pos.utilization_pct | Utilized in DDS's Annual POS Report: total expenditures ÷ total authorized services × 100. | Fiscal year July to June. People counted are those active in January of the fiscal year or with any purchased service during it; someone who moved between regional centers can be counted at both. Spending covers services the regional center bought from vendors (purchase of service), not its own staff. Per-person spending divides by everyone counted, including people with no purchases, and is not adjusted for age or need: centers serving more adults in residential care spend more per person. DDS suppresses small cells. DDS changed how race and language are recorded late in FY 2024–25 and advises caution comparing those groups across years. |
Share of people with no purchased servicesdds.pos.no_purchased_services_pct | Percent with No Purchased Services in DDS's Annual POS Report (missing, zero or negative claims during the year) × 100. | Fiscal year July to June. People counted are those active in January of the fiscal year or with any purchased service during it; someone who moved between regional centers can be counted at both. Spending covers services the regional center bought from vendors (purchase of service), not its own staff. Per-person spending divides by everyone counted, including people with no purchases, and is not adjusted for age or need: centers serving more adults in residential care spend more per person. DDS suppresses small cells. DDS changed how race and language are recorded late in FY 2024–25 and advises caution comparing those groups across years. |
Held back pending review: Early Start consumers (unverified definition); Regional-center consumers, total (unverified definition). These columns appear in the source file but are not defined in the agency's data dictionary, so we do not publish them.
There is no public dataset of private-pay evaluation prices, so price ranges are the least certain numbers on the site. We label them by how much evidence stands behind them.
Editorial ranges compiled from general U.S. private-pay pricing that practices and family-advocacy organizations publish. They are not a statistical sample of Bay Area prices and are not tied to dated quotes. Wherever one appears, it is marked “illustrative.”
Once we have recorded at least 5 dated prices for an evaluation type, each from a named source (a practice's published fee, a quote recorded with permission, or a published report), the range is replaced by the lowest and highest observed totals, and each observation is listed on the cost page.
Neither kind is a statistically representative market price. A small set of observations can miss low-cost clinics and high-end practices, and fees change. Ask every provider for a complete written estimate.
We have not yet recorded dated price observations, so every range on the site is illustrative today.
Import history, validation results, and open alerts are public. The same published figures are available as JSON.
Found an error? Email hello@childevaluation.com and we will correct it and note the change.
Editorial policy