Autism Testing in the Inland Empire: A Verified Directory for Children and Adults

Key takeaways

• Autism is diagnosed by a clinical evaluation done by a licensed psychologist or physician. As the CDC puts it, there is no medical test, such as a blood test, that diagnoses autism; the evaluation combines a developmental history, direct observation and standardized measures.1
• For a child there are three separate doors, and they can be used together: a medical diagnostic evaluation through your health plan, a free school evaluation through the district, and a free eligibility evaluation through Inland Regional Center. Each answers a different question.
• IEHP members can be referred to the Inland Empire Autism Assessment Center of Excellence in San Bernardino and Riverside, which states that eligible IEHP children are evaluated at no cost. Kaiser members are evaluated inside Kaiser.
• Adults can be evaluated too. Inland Empire practices and several California telehealth services evaluate adults, with self-pay prices from about $950 for a telehealth evaluation to $6,000 for a full in-person battery.
• “Verified” here means checked against each provider’s own website on September 24, 2026. Nobody called an office or checked a licence for this page; licence numbers are the ones each practice publishes, and search.dca.ca.gov lets you check any of them. Nothing here is an endorsement, and details change, so confirm before you book.

How an autism evaluation works

An autism evaluation is a clinical judgment made against the DSM-5-TR criteria, the diagnostic manual published in 2022.1 A thorough evaluation includes a detailed developmental and medical history, a structured interview with parents or, for adults, with the person and often someone who knew them as a child, direct observation of social communication and behavior, and standardized instruments. Depending on the age and the question, it may also measure language, cognition, adaptive skills, sensory responses and attention, because ADHD, anxiety, language disorders and learning differences often travel with autism or imitate it. Our essays on when it is not autism and on autism and ADHD together go deeper.

In California, the clinicians who diagnose autism are licensed psychologists and physicians, including developmental-behavioral pediatricians, child neurologists and psychiatrists.2 For a child, the report you want is one that a health plan, the Regional Center and the school will each accept, so ask about that before you book.

Which door fits?

Children under 3: start with Early Start

If your child is under 36 months and you are worried about eye contact, response to their name, words, play or lost skills, you do not need a diagnosis to get help. Call Inland Regional Center’s Early Start intake line directly: (909) 890-4711 for San Bernardino County or (909) 890-4763 for Riverside County. A parent can refer, the evaluation is free, and the center says the developmental assessments and the family service plan must be completed within 45 days of the referral date.3 Early Start ends on the third birthday, and federal rules require a transition conference at least 90 days before it, so the hand-off to the school district’s preschool special-education program is planned rather than sudden.16 A child aged 3 or 4 who does not yet meet the full Lanterman definition but has significant limitations in at least two areas can be found provisionally eligible for Regional Center services until age 5.9 At the same time, ask your pediatrician for a developmental screening. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends autism-specific screening at the 18- and 24-month visits, and a positive screen is enough for a referral to a diagnostic evaluation.4 Early intervention does not wait for the diagnosis, and neither should you. Our guide to early signs of autism by age describes what to look for.

Children and teens 3 to 21: three doors, used together

The medical door. Ask your child’s doctor for a referral to an autism diagnostic evaluation. With IEHP, a full autism evaluation needs a referral from a licensed physician or a behavioral health provider; call Member Services at 1-800-440-4347 and ask for the Behavioral Health Department if you are not sure where to start.5 IEHP members can be referred to the Inland Empire Autism Assessment Center of Excellence, which evaluates from birth until the 21st birthday and states that eligible IEHP children are evaluated at no cost. Kaiser members can call Kaiser’s Southern California mental health line at 1-833-579-4848 without a referral and ask how autism evaluations are arranged at their medical center.6 Commercial plans cover a diagnostic evaluation by an in-network psychologist, usually with prior authorization for the testing codes.

The school door. Ask the district in writing for a special education assessment. The district has 15 calendar days, not counting school breaks longer than five school days, to give you a written assessment plan, and 60 calendar days after you sign it to complete the assessment and hold the IEP meeting, unless you agree in writing to an extension.7 A school finding of autism eligibility is made for school purposes and does not by itself establish a clinical diagnosis, and a medical diagnosis does not automatically create an IEP, so most families use both.8 Our essay on IEP vs. 504 plans explains what each plan can offer.

The Regional Center door. For age 3 and older, Inland Regional Center decides eligibility for developmental services under the Lanterman Act. Autism is one of the qualifying conditions, along with intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and closely related conditions; ADHD is not one of the categories, so ADHD by itself does not make a person eligible. A diagnosis alone is not enough: the condition must also be a substantial disability, which the law defines as significant functional limitations in three or more of seven areas (self-care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, independent living and economic self-sufficiency), and families are more often found ineligible on that test than on the diagnosis.9 Call the intake line for your county, (909) 890-3148 for San Bernardino County or (951) 826-2648 for Riverside County, not the front desk. Initial intake must happen within 15 working days of your call, and the eligibility assessment within 120 days of that intake, or within 60 days if a delay would put the person’s health or safety at risk. There is no charge for the diagnosis and eligibility assessment.9 If your child already has a medical diagnosis, bring the report; if not, the Regional Center arranges its own evaluation.

Why the diagnosis matters for treatment. California law requires state-regulated health plans to cover behavioral health treatment for autism, including applied behavior analysis, and Medi-Cal covers medically necessary behavioral health treatment for members under 21 when a licensed physician, surgeon or psychologist recommends it.10 Medi-Cal’s letter says that coverage applies regardless of diagnosis, so for a Medi-Cal member the recommendation matters more than the label; commercial coverage is tied to the autism diagnosis. That is why the report should come from a licensed psychologist or physician. Our essay on how to judge autism therapy explains what to look for once treatment starts.

Adults

More adults are asking whether they are autistic, and the answer can bring real clarity. Adult evaluations look at current traits, a childhood history where one is available, masking, sensory patterns and co-occurring conditions such as anxiety, depression and ADHD. The result should be a report with a clear conclusion and practical recommendations for work, school, relationships and care.

Three things to know before choosing an adult evaluator. First, a clinician treating you while you are in California generally must hold a California license, even for a telehealth company based elsewhere; the Medical Board of California states this directly for physicians, and the same professional rules apply to telehealth as to in-person care.11 Second, a short telehealth evaluation that ends in a diagnostic letter is a different product from a full in-person evaluation with a written report; the letter may be enough for self-understanding and some accommodations, while a college, employer or agency may require the full report. Third, ask whether your plan covers the evaluation; several telehealth companies list commercial plans but exclude Medicare and Medi-Cal. Read The Blueprints Arrive After the House Is Built for what a late diagnosis can and cannot change.

Adults whose autism or other developmental disability began before age 18 may also qualify for Inland Regional Center services; eligibility is decided at intake, and the evaluation is free.9

Four resources help once the question is answered, whatever the answer. The AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit lets an autistic adult build a one-page accommodations report to hand to any clinician. The Job Accommodation Network publishes free guidance on workplace accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The California Department of Rehabilitation offers vocational rehabilitation and job supports. The Autism Society Inland Empire runs adult groups and local resource navigation.

Start with your insurance

IEHP and other Medi-Cal plans. With IEHP you do not need a referral for an initial mental health assessment; a full autism evaluation does need a referral, from a licensed physician or a behavioral health provider. Call Member Services at 1-800-440-4347 and ask for the Behavioral Health Department.5 Psychological testing by a psychologist is not on IEHP’s published list of behavioral health services that skip prior authorization, so testing generally has to be authorized in advance.12 Molina members can call (888) 665-4621; a mental health assessment with a licensed provider needs no referral.13 The directory below marks the practices that publish IEHP or Medi-Cal on their evaluation pages; they are grouped in the insurance lists at the end of the directory.

Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Southern California members can call the mental health line at 1-833-579-4848 to schedule with a mental health clinician without a referral from a Kaiser physician; general appointments are 1-833-574-2273. Ask the department how an autism evaluation is arranged at your medical center, because that routing varies.6 As with any HMO, testing outside Kaiser is usually covered only when Kaiser authorizes the referral.

Commercial plans. A diagnostic evaluation by an in-network psychologist is usually covered, often with prior authorization for psychological testing codes 96130 to 96139.14 Confirm the individual evaluator, the office and the exact product on your card, not just the brand.

Paying yourself. Ask for a written estimate that covers intake, testing, scoring, the report and feedback. If you are uninsured or not using insurance, federal law entitles you to a Good Faith Estimate when you schedule care in advance or when you ask for one.15 Lower-cost options in this region include the Loma Linda University Resiliency Clinic (sliding scale), the UC Riverside SEARCH Center screening clinic for young children (no charge to date, screening only), and, for everyone under 21, the Regional Center and school routes above.

Getting care with us

The directory

Providers are grouped by area. Each entry shows what the practice itself publishes: offices, phone numbers, ages, format, cost and insurance, followed by the caveat we would want a patient to know. A practice with offices in more than one area is listed once, under its first area, with a pointer from the others. Use the filters to narrow the list to children or adults, an area, a health plan or a format. “Not published” means the practice’s website does not say; ask when you call. Where a practice does school-style (psychoeducational) evaluations by a Licensed Educational Psychologist, or is an ABA company that arranges evaluations rather than performing them, the entry says so. License numbers shown are the ones each practice publishes on its own site; you can verify any California license at search.dca.ca.gov.

What this list did not do: call any office, verify any licence, confirm any wait time or check any insurance contract. Websites change and contracts end, so confirm with the office and your plan before you book. How this directory was built, and its limits has the full note.

Nine questions to ask before you book

These are the questions we would ask on your behalf. Most can be answered by the front desk in a five-minute call.

1. Do you evaluate for this age and this question? Say the age and whether you want an ADHD evaluation, an autism evaluation or both.
2. What kind of evaluation is it? A clinical diagnostic evaluation, psychological testing, a full neuropsychological evaluation or a school-style assessment.
3. Who does the testing and who signs the report? Ask for the name and license type. A supervised trainee or technician may do parts of the testing; a licensed psychologist should supervise and sign. You can check any California license at search.dca.ca.gov.
4. Where does the testing happen, and is any of it by video? The office on the website is not always where testing takes place.
5. Are you in network with the exact plan on my card, for testing? A clinic can be in network for therapy and not for testing. Ask them to confirm the evaluator, the location and the product name on your card.
6. Is a referral or prior authorization needed, and who requests it? Ask what happens if authorization is denied.
7. What is the total cost in writing? Intake, testing hours, scoring, report, feedback session and the cancellation policy.
8. Will the report do what I need? Treatment planning, school or college accommodations, workplace accommodations, Regional Center eligibility or ABA authorization each have their own requirements.
9. What is the wait? The first appointment, the testing dates, the feedback visit and the written report are four different dates.

What to bring, and what happens after

Bring old report cards or school records, any earlier evaluations or IEPs, a list of current medications, and the names of a teacher, partner or parent who can complete rating scales. Adults are usually asked about childhood, so a parent’s or sibling’s memory helps. Sleep well the night before testing and bring glasses or hearing aids.

After testing, you should get a feedback session and a written report that states the diagnosis, explains the reasoning and makes specific recommendations. Share it with your prescriber, your child’s school or a college disability office as needed. If something in the report does not match what you see at home, say so at the feedback visit; a good evaluator wants that information.

How this directory was built, and its limits

This list grew out of a public-source research inventory of 130 evaluation resources in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, nearby counties and California telehealth. Every entry here was then checked against the provider’s own website on September 24, 2026: office addresses, phone numbers, ages served, what the practice says it evaluates, published fees and published insurance lists. Entries whose websites no longer support the service, or that only offer therapy, ABA or legal evaluations, were left out.

What this page cannot do: it did not call any office, verify any license, confirm any wait time or check any insurance contract. Websites change, clinicians move and contracts end. Confirm everything with the office and with your health plan before you book. Listing here is not an endorsement, no provider paid to appear, and we have no financial relationship with any of them. If you find an error, contact us and we will fix it.

Sources

1. American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5-TR release, March 18, 2022. psychiatry.org. CDC, “Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder”: “There is no medical test, such as a blood test, to diagnose the disorder. Doctors look at the child’s developmental history and behavior to make a diagnosis.” cdc.gov

2. CDC, “Diagnosing Autism” (for healthcare providers): specialists include “neurodevelopmental pediatricians, developmental-behavioral pediatricians, child neurologists” and child psychologists. cdc.gov. California Business and Professions Code § 2903 (the practice of psychology includes “assessment, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and intervention”). leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

3. California Department of Developmental Services, “Early Start”: “eligible infants and toddlers (birth – three years of age).” dds.ca.gov. Inland Regional Center, “Eligibility”: “All developmental assessments and an Individualized Family Service Plan must be completed within 45 days of your referral date”; Early Start intake lines (909) 890-4711 (San Bernardino County) and (909) 890-4763 (Riverside County). inlandrc.org

4. CDC, “Clinical Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder”: “All children should be screened specifically for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during well-child doctor visits at 18 months and 24 months.” cdc.gov

5. IEHP Member Handbook (2024): no referral needed for an “Initial mental health assessment”; Member Services 1-800-440-IEHP (4347). IEHP UM_BH 06, “Criteria for Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Treatment,” effective July 1, 2025: “Members may be referred to IEHP for an Autism Evaluation by a licensed physician or a behavioral health provider.” providerservices.iehp.org

6. Kaiser Permanente, “Mental Health Services in Southern California”: no referral required; 1-833-579-4848. healthy.kaiserpermanente.org. Appointments line 1-833-574-2273. healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/support

7. California Education Code § 56029, § 56043, § 56321 and § 56344 (15 calendar days for the assessment plan; 60 calendar days from written consent to complete the assessment and hold the IEP meeting). leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

8. 34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)(1): “Autism means a developmental disability … that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.” govinfo.gov

9. California Welfare and Institutions Code § 4512(a) (developmental disability “shall include intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism” and closely related conditions, originating before age 18), § 4512(a)(2) (provisional eligibility for children aged 3 and 4 with significant functional limitations in at least two areas), § 4512(l) (“substantial disability”: significant functional limitations in three or more of seven areas), § 4642(a) (“Initial intake shall be performed within 15 working days following request for assistance”), § 4643(a) (“the assessment shall be performed within 120 days following initial intake,” or 60 days where delay would expose the client to unnecessary risk). leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. DDS, “Eligibility”: “There is no charge for the diagnosis and eligibility assessment.” dds.ca.gov. Inland Regional Center intake lines (909) 890-3148 and (951) 826-2648; “Please do not call Front Desk for Intake.” inlandrc.org

10. California Health and Safety Code § 1374.73(a)(1) and Insurance Code § 10144.51(a)(1) (coverage for “behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism”). DHCS All Plan Letter 23-010 (revised November 22, 2023): “Medi-Cal provides coverage for all Medically Necessary BHT services for eligible beneficiaries under 21 years of age,” “regardless of diagnosis,” with “a recommendation from a licensed physician, surgeon, or psychologist.” dhcs.ca.gov

11. Medical Board of California, “Telehealth”: “Physicians using telehealth technologies to provide care to patients located in California must be licensed in California.” mbc.ca.gov. California Business and Professions Code § 2290.5. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

12. IEHP, “BH Codes Not Requiring Prior Authorization,” effective June 1, 2024 (psychological and neuropsychological testing codes are not on the exempt list). providerservices.iehp.org

13. Molina Healthcare of California, Medi-Cal, “Your Medi-Cal plan benefits and services” (FAQ: “Are mental health services covered?”), accessed October 8, 2026: “You don’t need a referral”; Member Services (888) 665-4621. molinahealthcare.com

14. APA Services, “Psychological and Neuropsychological Testing Billing and Coding Guide” (2026): codes 96130–96139 and 96116/96121. apaservices.org

15. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “Understanding costs in advance” (No Surprises Act). cms.gov

16. 34 C.F.R. § 303.209(c) (transition conference “not fewer than 90 days” before the child’s third birthday). ecfr.gov

If you or someone you know is in crisis

• Call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room for any life-threatening emergency.
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org, available 24/7, free and confidential. En español: marque 988 y oprima 2, o envíe AYUDA al 988. Deaf or hard of hearing: 988 videophone (ASL) or TTY 711 then 988. Veterans: 988 and press 1, or text 838255.
• Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741.
• The Trevor Project (crisis support for LGBTQ+ young people) — call 1-866-488-7386, or text START to 678-678.
• National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) — call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673; free, confidential, 24/7. Online chat at RAINN.org/hotline.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline — call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788; 24/7, help in 200+ languages. Online chat at TheHotline.org. If your phone or computer may be monitored, calling from a safer device is an option.
• Riverside County — Inland SoCal Crisis Helpline 951-686-HELP (4357), 24/7 (Inland SoCal United Way / 211+, in partnership with RUHS-BH); Community Access, Referral, Evaluation and Support (CARES) Line 800-499-3008, 24/7.
• San Bernardino County — Access Unit (Behavioral Health Helpline) 888-743-1478, 24/7; Mobile Crisis/CCRT 800-398-0018 (24/7, all ages) or text 909-420-0560. Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) has a dedicated walk-in adolescent psychiatric ER (ages 13–17).
• Children under 13 — call 911 for immediate danger, contact your county's mobile crisis team (they respond to all ages), or go to the nearest pediatric emergency room.
• California Peer-Run Warm Line (non-crisis — someone to talk to) — call or text 1-855-600-WARM (9276); daytime and evening hours, not a 24/7 line.
• NP Fady (non-emergency) — for routine scheduling or questions, call (909) 707-6261. This line is not monitored for emergencies.