NICHCY: National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilitites

All State Organizations

State Agencies Official State Web Site Connect with your state's official website to find all manner of state agencies and information, including how to contact your governor and/or your representatives in the Senate and House:     www.tennessee.gov/ State Coordinator for NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Department of Education Andrew Johnson Tower, 5th Floor 710 James Robertson Parkway Nashville   TN   37243-0380 (615) 532-6297 julie.mccargar@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/education Programs for Children with Disabilities: Ages 3 through 5 Tennessee Department of Education Division of Special Education 2763 Island Home Boulevard Knoxville   TN   37920 (888) 212-3162 (Special Education questions) (865) 594-5691 http://state.tn.us/education/speced Coordinator for Transition Services Jane Winstead, Director for Transition Services Tennessee Department of Education Division of Special Education 2763 Island Home Boulevard Knoxville   TN   37920 (865) 594-5691 Jane.Winstead@state.tn.us State Mental Health Agency Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Cordell Hull Building, 3rd Floor 425 5th Avenue North Nashville   TN   37243 (615) 532-6500 Shawn.Cook@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/mental Programs for People with Developmental Disabilities Division of Mental Retardation Department of Finance and Administration Andrew Jackson Building 500 Deaderick Street, 15th Floor  Nashville   TN   37243 (615) 532-6533 felicia.thompson@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/dmrs Protection and Advocacy Agency Shirley Shea, Executive Director Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee (DLAC) 2416 21st Avenue South, Suite 100  Nashville   TN   37212 (901) 458-6013 (800) 342-1660 (Toll-free in TN only) (888) 852-2852 (TTY) shirleys@dlactn.org gethelp@dlactn.org www.dlactn.org Programs for Children with Special Health Care Needs Dee Hitz, Nursing Consultant Children’s Special Services Tennessee Department of Health Cordell Hull Building, 5th Floor 425 5th Avenue North Nashville   TN   37247-4750 (615) 741-2703 dee.hitz@.state.tn.us www.tennessee.gov Programs for Children and Youth who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Tennessee Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Citizens Plaza Building 400 Deaderick Street Nashville   TN   37248-6000 (800) 270-1349 (in TN) (615) 313-4918 (615) 313-5695 (TTY) www.tennessee.gov/humanserv/rehab/cc.htm Programs for Children and Youth who are Blind or Visually Impaired or Deaf-Blind Jennifer Vick, Project Coordinator Project TREDS - TN Deafblind Project Vanderbilt University Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Center for Child Development 3401 W. End Avenue, Suite 460 West Nashville   TN   37203 (800) 288-2266 (V/TTY) (615) 322-8279 jennifer.vick@vanderbilt.edu www.treds-deafblindproject.com State Department for Children and Youth in State Custody Viola P. Miller, Ed.D., Commissioner Tricia Lea, Ph.D., Director of Medical and Behavioral Services Tennessee Department of Children’s Services Cordell Hull Building, 7th Floor 436 6th Avenue North Nashville   TN   37243-1290 (615) 741-9699 tricia.lea@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/youth University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Frederick B. Palmer, M.D., Director Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities The University of Tennessee Health Science Center 711 Jefferson Avenue Memphis   TN   38105 (888) 572-2249 (901) 448-6512 (901) 448-4677 (TTY) fpalmer@utmem.edu www.utmem.edu/bcdd/ State Mediation System Bill Wilson, Attorney Division of Special Education Department of Education Andrew Johnson Tower 710 James Robertson Parkway, 7th floor Nashville   TN   37243-0380 (615) 741-5988 bill.wilson@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/education/msped.htm State Department of Education: Special Education Joseph Fisher, Assistant Commissioner Division of Special Education Department of Education Andrew Johnson Tower, 7th Floor 710 James Robertson Parkway Nashville   TN   37243-0380 (888) 212-3162 (615) 741-2851 joe.fisher@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/education/speced/ Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities: Ages Birth through 2 Tennessee’s Early Intervention System (TEIS) Tennessee Department of Education Division of Special Education 710 James Robertson Parkway, 7th Floor Andrew Johnson Tower Nashville   TN   37243-0375 (800) 852-7157 (615) 741-3537 http://state.tn.us/education/speced/TEIS/ State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Andrea Cooper, Assistant Commissioner Division of Rehabilitation Services Department of Human Services 400 Deaderick Street, l5th Floor Nashville   TN   37248-0060 (615) 313-4714 andrea.cooper@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/humanserv Office of State Coordinator of Vocational Education for Students with Disabilities Division of Career and Technical Education 4th Floor, Andrew Johnson Tower 710 James Roberston Parkway Nashville   TN   37243-0383 (615) 532-2834 www.state.tn.us/education/ State Mental Health Representative for Children and Youth Office of Children and Youth Division of Special Populations and Minority Initiatives Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Cordell Hull Building, 5th Floor 425 5th Avenue North Nashville   TN   37243 (615) 253-4800 (615) 532-6612 (TTY) richard.edgar@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/mental Councils on Developmental Disabilities Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities Parkway Towers 404 James Robertson Parkway, Suite 130  Nashville   TN   37243-0228 (615) 532-6615 tnddc@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/cdd Client Assistance Program Contact Protection and Advocacy Agency, listed above.     State CHIP Program (health care for low-income uninsured children) TennCare     (800) 669-1851 www.state.tn.us/tenncare/ Telecommunications Relay Services for Individuals who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or with Speech Impairments (800) 848-0299 (V)   (800) 848-0298 (V/TTY); 711 (TTY)   (866) 503-0264 (Speech to Speech) (866) 503-0263 (V/TTY/ASCII) Cathy Steger, Deaf-Blind Coordinator Division of Rehabilitation Services Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Citizens Plaza State Office Building 400 Deaderick Street, 14th Floor Nashville   TN   37243-1403 (800) 628-7818 (615) 313-4917 (615) 313-6601 (TTY); (800) 270-1349 (TTY) Cathy.Steger@state.tn.us www.state.tn.us/humanserv/vis-home.html Regional ADA Technical Assistance Center Shelley Kaplan, Project Director Burton Blatt Institute Syracuse University 1419 Mayson Street Atlanta   GA   30324 (800) 949-4232 (V/TTY) (404) 541-9001 sedbtacproject@law.syr.edu www.sedbtac.org Elisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Director Elise McMillan, J.D., Co-Director Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Vanderbilt University 230 Appleton Place, Peabody Box 40 Nashville   TN   37203 (615) 936-8852 (866) 936-8852 (800) 273-9595 (TTY) ucedd@vanderbilt.edu http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/ucedd/index.html Special Format Library Tennessee Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Tennessee State Library and Archives 403 Seventh Avenue North Nashville   TN   37243-0313 (800) 342-3308 (615) 741-3915 tlbph.tsla@state.tn.us www.tennessee.gov/tsla/lbph Back to Top

Disability-Specific Organizations Attention Deficit Disorder To identify an ADD group in your state or locality, contact either: Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) 8181 Professional Place, Suite 150 Landover   MD   20785 (800) 233-4050 (Voice mail to request information packet) (301) 306-7070 www.chadd.org Autism National autism organizations are listed at the end of NICHCY's autism page, http://www.nichcy.org/Disabilities/Specific/Pages/autism.aspx. Autism Society of Middle Tennessee 955 Woodland Street Nashville   TN   37206-3753 (615) 385-2077 tn-middletennessee@autismsocietyofamerica.org http://www.tnautism.org Cerebral Palsy Peggy Fryer, President/CEO UCP of the Mid South, Inc. 4189 Leroy Avenue Memphis   TN   38108 (901) 761-4277 pfryer@ucpmemphis.org Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities The Arc of Tennessee 151 Athens Way, Suite 100  Nashville   TN   37228 (800) 835-7077 (615) 248-5878 wrogers@thearctn.org walterrogersarc@aol.com www.thearctn.org Mental Health Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee 2416 21st Avenue South, Suite 201 Nashville   TN   37212 (615) 269-5355 forinfo@mhamt.org www.ichope.com Tennessee Voices for Children 701 Bradford Avenue Nashville   TN   37204 (615) 269-7751 (800) 670-9982 TVC@TNVoices.org www.tnvoices.org Speech, Language, and Hearing Nelia Westenberger, Executive Director Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists P.O. Box 70 Spring Hill, TN 37174 (931) 487-9871 E-mail: wmijohn@aol.com Web: www.taaslp.org     Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) P.O. Box 543  Pottstown   PA   19464-0543 (484) 945-2101 www.add.org Blind/Visual Impairments American Foundation for the Blind 11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300 New York   NY   10001 (800) 232-5463 (212) 502-7600 afbinfo@afb.net www.afb.org Epilepsy Epilepsy Foundation Middle and West Tennessee 2002 Richard Jones Road, Suite C-202  Nashville   TN   37215 (800) 244-0768 (615) 269-7091 jwhitmer@epilepsytn.org http://epilepsytn.org Learning Disabilities Learning Disabilities Association of America 4156 Library Road Pittsburgh   PA   15234-1349 (412) 341-1515 www.ldaamerica.org/ Sita Diehl, Executive Director NAMI-Tennessee 1101 Kermit Drive, Suite 605 Nashville   TN   37217 (800) 467-3589 (in TN) (615) 361-6608 sdiehl@namitn.org http://namitn.org Tennessee Respite Network 701 Bradford Avenue Nashville   TN   37204 (800) 670-9882 (615) 269-7751 tvc@tnvoices.org www.tnvoices.org Tourette Syndrome Tourette Syndrome Association Mid-South Regional Office (Serving Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia) 423 Summertrees Drive Auburn   AL   36832 (334) 502-0055 tsamidsouth@bellsouth.net http://tsa-usa.org/TSANatlLocal/Chapters/Midsouth.htm Back to Top

Organizations for Parents Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) Support and Training for Exceptional Parents, Inc. (STEP) 712 Professional Plaza Greeneville   TN   37745 (800) 280-7837 (English toll free in TN only) (423) 639-0125 (800) 975-2919 (Spanish Toll free in TN only) (423) 639-8802 (TTY) information@tnstep.org www.tnstep.org Other Parent Organization Kate Driskill Kanies, M.A., M.L.S., RIP Coordinator Regional Intervention Program (RIP) 3411 Belmont Boulevard Nashville   TN   37215 (615) 963-1177 Kate.Kanies@state.tn.us www.ripnetwork.org Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Tennessee Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc. 1905 Acklen Avenue Nashville   TN   37212-3788 (615) 383-9740 president@tnpta.org www.pta.org Back to Top

Other Disability Organizations Easter Seals Tennessee 2001 Woodmont Boulevard  Nashville   TN   37215 (800) 264-0078 (615) 292-6640 www.eastersealstn.com Tennessee Disability Coalition 955 Woodland Street  Nashville   TN   37206 (615) 383-9442 (615) 292-7790 (TTY) coalition@tndisability.org www.tndisability.org Independent Living To find out the contact information for the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) in your state, contact: Independent Living Research Utilization Project The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research 2323 South Sheppard, Suite 1000 Houston   TX   77019 (713) 520-0232 (V); (713) 520-5136 (TTY) ilru@ilru.org www.ilru.org March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation 1101 Kermit Drive, Suite 201 Nashville   TN   37217 (888) 399-3272 (615) 399-3200 http://marchofdimes.com/ Tennessee Disability Pathfinder (statewide bilingual disability information & referral service for all ages) Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities 1114 17th Avenue South, Suite 105 Nashville   TN   37212 (615) 322-8529; (800) 640-4636 (English/Spanish line) (711) Free relay Service TNPATHFINDER@vanderbilt.edu www.familypathfinder.org To find out the contact information for centers for independent living (CILs) in your state, contact: National Council on Independent Living 1710 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, 5th Floor Washington, DC 20036      (202) 207-0334 (V) (202) 207-0340 (TTY) ncil@ncil.org www.ncil.org Back to Top

The offices listed on NICHCY state sheets are primarily state-level offices. Even if an office is not close to your home, they can usually put you in touch with resources in your community, as well as provide you with information and assistance about disability issues in your state. If you find that an address or number has changed or is incorrect, please e-mail us at nichcy@aed.org and let us know.

A Note About Age of Eligibility:
Each state sets eligibility ages for services to children and youth with disabilities. For current information, please contact the office listed under Department of Education: Special Education for the state of interest.

En Español
Esta página de recursos le ayudará a saber qué clase de ayuda hay en su estado para las personas con discapacidades y sus familias, cuáles organizaciones y agencias podrá contactar para mayor información, y ¡mucho más! Las oficinas identificados tienden a ser oficinas a nivel estatal, no local, pero usualmente pueden ponerle en contacto con recursos dentro de su comunidad. También pueden proveerle información y asistencia sobre los asuntos relacionados a la discapacidad en su estado.

Nuestras Hojas de Recursos Estatales están disponibles en inglés. Si usted desea saber lo que significan varios títulos (tales como "State Department of Education" o "Technology-Related Assistance"), use la Hoja Estatal con nuestra "Guía de Recursos Estatales."