Texas State Disability Resources

Complete update - 1/2008
Partial update - 2/5/2008

The offices listed on this state sheet 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.

Age of Eligibility

Each state sets eligibility ages for services to children and youth with disabilities. For current information concerning this state, please contact the office listed under Department of Education: Special Education.

State Agencies and Organizations

United States Senators
Honorable John Cornyn (R)
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2934
(202) 228-2856 (Fax)
E-mail Web Form: http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Web: http://cornyn.senate.gov

Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5922; (202) 224-5903 (TTY)
(202) 224-0776 (Fax)
E-mail Web Form: http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html
Web: http://hutchison.senate.gov/

United States Representatives
To find the contact information for your representative in the House of the U.S. Congress, visit the HouseÕs Web site at: www.house.gov, or call: (202) 225-3121; (202) 225-1904 (TTY).

Governor
Honorable Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428
(512) 463-2000; (800) 252-9600 (in TX)
E-mail Web Form: http://http://www2.governor.state.tx.us/contact/
Web: www.governor.state.tx.us/

Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities
Pat Pound, Executive Director
Committee on People with Disabilities
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-5742; (512) 463-5746 (TTY)
711 (Relay Service)
E-mail: ppound@governor.state.tx.us
Web: www.governor.state.tx.us/disabilities

Official State Web Site
Web: www.state.tx.us/

State Department of Education: Special Education
Gene Lenz, Deputy Associate Commissioner
Special Programs, Monitoring, and Interventions
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-1494
(512) 463-9414; (800) 252-9668
E-mail: sped@tea.state.tx.us
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed

State Coordinator for NCLB (No Child Left Behind)
Cory Green, Senior Director
NCLB Program Coordination
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-9374
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/nclb

Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities: Ages Birth through 3
Kim Wedel, Assistant Commissioner
Department of Assistive & Rehabilitative Services
Division for Early Childhood Intervention Services
4900 N. Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78751-2399
(512) 424-6754; (800) 628-5115 (Information & Referral)
E-mail: careline@dars.state.tx.us
Web: www.dars.state.tx.us

Programs for Children with Disabilities: Ages 3 through 5
Division of IDEA Coordination
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-1494
(512) 463-9414; (800) 252-9668 (Parent Information Line)
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed

State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency
Terry Murphy, Commissioner
Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services
4800 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78751-2399
(800) 628-5115
Web: www.dars.state.tx.us

Adelaide Horn, Commissioner
Department of Aging and Disability Services
701 W. 51st Street
Austin, TX 78751
(512) 438-3030; (800) 874-9426 (TTY)
E-mail: mail@dads.state.tx.us
Web: www.dads.state.tx.us

Coordinator for Transition Services
Division of IDEA Coordination
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-9414
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/

Career and Technology Education
Karen Batchelor, State CTE Director
Division of Curriculum
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue, Room 3-121
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 463-9581
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/Cate

Department of State Health Services
David Lakey, Commissioner
Department of State Health Services
1100 W. 49th Street
Austin, TX 78756
(512) 458-7375
Web: www.dshs.state.tx.us

State Mental Health Representative for Children and Youth
Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)
Services Program
Purchased Health Services Unit
Department of State Health Services
1100 W. 49th Street
Austin, TX 78756-3179
(800) 252-8023 (Program Hotline)
(888) 963-7111
E-mail: cshcn@dshs.state.tx.us
Web: www.dshs.state.tx.us/cshcn/

Councils on Developmental Disabilities
Roger A. Webb, Executive Director
Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities
6201 E. Oltorf, Suite 600
Austin, TX 78741-7509
(512) 437-5432; (800) 262-0334
E-mail: tcdd@tcdd.state.tx.us
Web: www.txddc.state.tx.us

Protection and Advocacy Agency
Mary Faithfull, Executive Director
Advocacy, Inc.
7800 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Suite 171-E
Austin, TX 78757
(512) 454-4816; (800) 252-9108 (In TX)
E-mail: infoai@advocacyinc.org
Web: www.advocacyinc.org

Client Assistance Program
Jeff Tate, Policy Services Manager/Community Services
Advocacy, Inc.
7800 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Suite 171-E
Austin, TX 78757
(512) 454-4816; (800) 252-9108 (In TX)
E-mail: jtate@advocacyinc.org
Web: www.advocacyinc.org

Programs for Children with Special Health Care Needs
Carol Labaj, RN, BSN, Manager
Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Services Program
Purchased Health Services Unit
Department of State Health Services
1100 W. 49th Street, MC 1938
Austin, TX 78714-9347
(512) 458-7355; (800) 252-8023
E-mail: cshcn@dshs.state.tx.uss
Web: www.dshs.state.tx.us/cshcn/

State CHIP Program
(health care for low-income uninsured children)
TexCare
(800) 647-6558
Web: www.texcarepartnership.com/CHIP-CHIP-Page.htm

Programs for Children and Youth who are Blind or Visually Impaired
Terry Murphy, Commissioner
Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services
4900 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78756
(800) 628-5115
Web: www.dars.state.tx.us

Programs for Children and Youth who are Blind or Visually Impaired or Deaf-Blind
Bill Daugherty, Superintendent
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th Street
Austin, TX 78756
(512) 454-8631; (800) 872-5273 (to leave a message)
(512) 206-9451 (TTY)
E-mail: daughertyb@tsbvi.edu
Web: www.tsbvi.edu

Programs for Children and Youth who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Claire Bugen, Superintendent
Texas School for the Deaf
1102 S. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78704-1728
(512) 462-5300 (V/TTY)
Web: www.tsd.state.tx.us

Education Resource Center on Deafness (ERCOD)
Statewide Resources, Information, and Referral
1102 S. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78704-1728
(512) 462-5329; (800) 332-3873 (V/TTY)
E-mail: ercod@tsd.state.tx.us
Web: www.tsd.state.tx.us

Brent L. Pitt
Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
IDEA Coordination
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-1494
(512) 463-9414
E-mail: brent.pitt@tea.state.tx.us
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/deaf

David Myers, Director
Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services
P. O. Box 12904
Austin, TX 78711-2904
(512) 407-3250 (V); (512) 407 3251 (TTY)
E-mail: david.myers@dars.state.tx.us
Web: www.dars.state.tx.us

Telecommunications Relay Services for Individuals who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or with Speech Impairments
(800) 735-2988 (V)
(800) 735-2989 (TTY); 711 (TTY)
(800) 735-2991 (ASCII)
(877) 826-6607(Speech to Speech)

State Education Agency Rural Representative
Gene Lenz, Deputy Associate Commissioner
Special Programs, Monitoring, and Interventions
Texas Education Agency
Division of Special Education
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-1494
(512) 463-9414
E-mail: sped@tea.state.tx.us
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed

Regional ADA & IT Technical Assistance Center
Wendy Wilkinson, Director
DBTAC - Southwest ADA Center
Independent Living Research Utilization
2323 S. Shepard Boulevard, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 520-0232 (V/TTY); (800) 949-4232 (V/TTY)
E-mail: dlrp@ilru.org
Web: www.dlrp.org

University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
Dr. Penny Seay, Executive Director
Center for Disability Studies
University of Texas at Austin
Pickle Research Campus
10100 Burnett Road, Building 137, Suite 1.154
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 232-0740; (800) 828-7839
(512) 232-0762 (TTY)
E-mail: txcds@uttcds.org
Web: http://tcds.edb.utexas.edu

Michael Benz, Director
Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University
Department of Educational Psychology
4225 Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4225
(979) 845-4612
E-mail: cdd@tamu.edu
Web: http://cdd.tamu.edu

Technology-Related Assistance
Dr. Penny Seay, Executive Director
Center for Disability Studies
University of Texas at Austin
Pickle Research Campus
10100 Burnett Road, Building 137, Suite 1.154
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 232-0740; (800) 828-7839
(512) 232-0762 (TTY)
E-mail: txcds@uttcds.org
Web: http://tcds.edb.utexas.edu

State Mediation System
Lorie Williams, Mediation Coordinator
Mediation Coordinator
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 475-1623
E-mail: lorie.williams@tea.state.tx.us
Web: www.tea.state.tx.us

Special Format Library
Ava Smith, Division Director
Talking Book Program
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
P.O. Box 12927
Austin, TX 78711-2927
(512) 463-5458; (800) 252-9605
E-mail: tbp.services@tsl.state.tx.us
Web: www.texastalkingbooks.org