Two doors open on your child’s third birthday, and walking through one closes the other permanently.
Published September 9, 2026
Kinfolk ABA Clinical Team
Your child does not have to leave the Tennessee Early Intervention System at age three. Since a rule change tied to third birthdays on or after October 15, 2022, TEIS serves eligible children until the start of the school year following their fifth birthday. The catch is that the choice runs one way. Once a family moves to school district services, the child cannot come back.
This post is about that one decision and the weeks around it. Other guides on this site explain what early intervention does in general terms; this one covers what Tennessee specifically offers a child who has already aged past the usual cutoff, and where in-home therapy sits inside either path. If your child turned three in the last few months, the school year that started in August is the deadline you are already inside of.
What the Tennessee Early Intervention System Now Covers
TEIS is the state’s Part C program, run by the Department of Disability and Aging through 12 regional district offices. It is voluntary, it costs families nothing, and it delivers therapy and developmental support in the places a child already spends time. Speech, occupational therapy, developmental therapy and service coordination all sit inside one plan.
The part most families miss is the age range. The Tennessee Early Intervention System used to hand every child off at three. It now serves eligible infants and toddlers from birth until the start of the school year following the child’s fifth birthday, which means a four-year-old can still be on a TEIS plan while a neighbor’s four-year-old is in a district preschool classroom. Both are correct. They are two different doors.
Three conditions gate the extended path. The child had to be enrolled in TEIS before turning three. The child has to be found eligible for special education by the local school district. And the third birthday has to fall on or after October 15, 2022. A child referred to TEIS after turning three cannot start services at all, which is why a delayed referral costs more than a few weeks. If you are unsure where your child stands, ask us to check the timeline before the next planning meeting.
Confirming enrollment is a phone call. TEIS takes referrals at (800) 852-7157, through an online form, or through the MyTN app, and the intake needs only your child’s name, date of birth, county of residence, your contact details and the reason for the referral. If your child was never referred and has already turned three, that door is closed: Tennessee does not accept referrals after the third birthday. The extended option is only available to children already on the rolls.
IFSP vs IEP: What Actually Changes When Your Child Turns Three
The plan document changes, and with it the entire center of gravity. TEIS writes an Individualized Family Service Plan, built around the family and delivered where the family lives. A school district writes an individualized education program, built around access to education and delivered in a district setting. The IFSP vs IEP difference is not a matter of quality. It is a matter of who the plan is written for.
A child cannot hold both at once. Tennessee is explicit on this point: a child cannot receive services through a TEIS IFSP and a school IEP at the same time. So the transition planning conference is not a formality where both systems overlap for a while. It is a fork.
What Is TEIS Responsible For Once the District Is Involved
Your TEIS service coordinator stays the point of contact through the planning conference and arranges the handoff, including sending records to the district and scheduling the eligibility evaluation. What is TEIS not responsible for is the district’s eligibility decision, its classroom placement, or its service minutes. Those belong to the school team.
That split matters when the two systems disagree. If the district finds your child eligible but proposes fewer hours than the IFSP provided, the coordinator can explain the difference; they cannot overrule it. Reading what an IEP actually contains before that meeting is worth an hour of your time, because the document is where the argument happens.
How TEIS Eligibility Works After the Third Birthday
TEIS eligibility for the extended option is not automatic re-enrollment. It is a decision the family makes at the transition conference, after the district has completed its own evaluation, and it requires that both findings line up: still eligible for TEIS, and eligible for special education under district criteria. A child who clears one but not the other does not have the choice.
Families who stay keep the plan they know, in the home. Families who move gain classroom time, peers, and a district’s transportation and related services. Neither is the safe answer. The question is which setting your child can actually use right now, which is a clinical judgment more than an administrative one. Our team looks at how a child handles group demands, transitions and unfamiliar adults before offering a view.
The Transition From Early Intervention to Preschool, Step by Step
- Ask your coordinator for the transition timeline in writing. Planning starts well before the third birthday, and the meeting date drives everything downstream.
- Consent to the district evaluation early. Districts run their own assessment calendars, so the wait is set by their queue rather than by your child’s birthday.
- Request the evaluation report before the meeting, not at it. You are entitled to read the findings you are being asked to respond to.
- Bring your therapy data. Session data from a natural environment teaching program shows what your child does in real settings, which is exactly what a district evaluation in one room cannot capture.
- Decide, then get the decision on paper. The transition from early intervention to preschool is documented at the conference, and it is not reversible.
Where ABA Therapy in Tennessee Fits Into Either Path
ABA is not part of the fork. It runs alongside whichever plan your child ends up on, funded through TennCare or private insurance rather than through TEIS or the district. That makes it the one piece of the picture that does not have to change on a birthday.
For a family choosing the extended TEIS option, in-home ABA therapy in Tennessee adds structured skill work to a plan already built around the home. For a family moving to a district preschool, it becomes the bridge: the place where a skill introduced in the classroom gets practiced at the kitchen table until it holds. Kinfolk delivers in-home ABA therapy in Tennessee statewide from our Franklin office in Williamson County, with BCBA-led teams and no waitlist. You can see how the in-home program is built before you commit to anything.
Insurance sits on its own track. TennCare and private plans authorize ABA against medical necessity and a current diagnosis, and authorization periods run on their own renewal calendar rather than the school year. A family who lines up the ABA authorization in the same weeks as the transition conference avoids a gap where neither system is delivering hours.
The scale of the need behind this is not small. The CDC reports that about 1 in 31 children aged 8 years has been identified with autism spectrum disorder, based on its 2022 surveillance data, according to CDC autism prevalence data. Tennessee districts and TEIS offices are both working through that volume, which is part of why families feel rushed at the conference table.
Starting ABA Therapy for 3 Year Old Children While the Choice Is Open
Waiting for the transition to settle before starting therapy is the most common sequencing mistake we see. The conference can take months. A three-year-old does not pause.
ABA therapy for 3 year old children at this stage tends to focus on a short list: requesting instead of escalating, tolerating a change in routine, and following a two-step direction from an adult who is not a parent. Every one of those is also what a district evaluator watches for, so the work does double duty. Kinfolk’s own parent surveys show 87% of parents report positive developmental progress within two weeks, and parent and caregiver training is part of the program rather than an add-on. Kinfolk’s parent surveys also rate the team 5 out of 5 for therapist professionalism and 5 out of 5 for compassion, which matters more than it sounds when a new person is working in your living room every week. Our guide to ABA in the toddler years covers what the first month looks like, and you can tell us where you stand without having decided anything.
Franklin and the Tennessee Communities Kinfolk ABA Serves
Therapy happens in your home, so the map is the whole state rather than a drive radius. In Middle Tennessee that includes Williamson County, where our Franklin office sits, along with Davidson County including Nashville, Rutherford, Sumner, Wilson, Montgomery and Maury. In West Tennessee it includes Shelby County including Memphis, along with Tipton, Fayette and Madison. In East Tennessee it includes Knox County including Knoxville, Hamilton County including Chattanooga, plus Sullivan, Washington and Blount. Full county coverage is listed on our Tennessee service page.
If your child’s third birthday has passed or is close, the next step is finding out which paths are still open to you.
Ready to Learn More?
Tell us your child’s birthday and where you are in the TEIS process, and we will tell you plainly what is still available and what has closed. There is no diagnosis requirement to start the conversation. Schedule a Free Consultation or call 980-249-4010.
Questions Tennessee Families Often Ask About Early Intervention
What is TEIS responsible for after my child turns three?
Your TEIS service coordinator handles the transition planning conference, the records handoff to your school district, and continued services if you choose the extended option. The district owns its own eligibility decision and placement. Our general questions page covers how outside providers coordinate with both.
How does TEIS eligibility change if we move to another Tennessee county?
Eligibility follows the child, not the address, but the district office and the school district both change, so the plan is re-coordinated through your new region. Tell your coordinator before the move rather than after. You can check which areas we cover on our service area listings.
How do I decide between an IFSP vs IEP for my three-year-old?
Look at how your child handles a group setting and unfamiliar adults today, not at which plan sounds stronger on paper. A child who is still learning to request and tolerate transitions often gets more from a home-based plan for another year. Our working with a school team walks through the questions to ask at the conference.
Does TennCare cover ABA therapy in Tennessee while we transition?
TennCare covers medically necessary ABA when eligibility, documentation and prior authorization requirements are met, and that coverage is separate from TEIS or district services. Plans differ, so review your benefits documents for the exact terms. Our overview of how in-home sessions run explains what an authorized program looks like week to week.
Is ABA therapy for 3 year old children too much at that age?
Hours are set by a BCBA against your child’s assessed needs, not by a default schedule, and a three-year-old’s program is play-based rather than desk-based. Sessions are supervised by Board Certified Behavior Analysts and adjusted as skills hold. Our parent training overview shows how much of the work happens through you rather than to your child.
How long does the transition from early intervention to preschool usually take?
Plan for months rather than weeks, because the district evaluation, the report and the conference each have their own scheduling. Starting the paperwork early is the only part of the timeline you control. Our downloadable checklists include a document list to bring to the meeting.
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This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any questions about autism or behavioral therapy.
