Home / Guides / How TEFA pays for therapy

If insurance doesn't pay for speech therapy, you can use your TEFA voucher to pay for it

TEFA covers therapy only when Medicaid, CHIP, or your insurance does not. There are 596 therapy providers on the state's list right now.

Updated: September 22, 2026. Every rule links to its source.

Download the two-page PDF

On the finder today

634 therapy providers are on the state's list today, 148 of them online. Browse by city or sort by distance from your ZIP.

The counts in this guide are from the date in its sources. The finder is refreshed weekly from the state's list, checked October 26, 2026.

What TEFA pays for

✓Speech, occupational, behavioral, physical therapy from a listed provider

✗Any therapy your insurance, Medicaid, or CHIP would cover

If you're looking for…

Speech therapy online

You want sessions from your own home. Trinity Therapy and Diagnostician Services names TEFA and Odyssey, and Pep Talk Pediatrics in New Braunfels says TEFA.

Speech therapy in person

Utley Speech Therapy in Castroville publishes its hourly rates, and City Speech Center (Dallas) and Evolve Therapy Connections (Hereford, from $30) are the other two. All three say TEFA and name their licensure.

Dyslexia therapy

Your kid has a dyslexia diagnosis, or you suspect one. Blume Ed Consulting (Conroe), School of Lexia (Mansfield), and Evergrow Language and Literacy (Spring) all say TEFA.

Occupational therapy

Utley Speech Therapy does speech and OT, and Dimensions of Therapy is in Missouri City. Both say TEFA.

An evaluation first

Trinity Therapy and Diagnostician Services does them online, or ask your school district, which federal law still requires to evaluate your child for free (see below).

These aren't the only ones. 596 are on the list and 39 say TEFA; these are the ones that fit each situation and name a license. The full list is on the state's finder, finder.educationfreedom.texas.gov.

Two checks before you book

Ask "is this billable to any coverage we have?" If the answer is yes, TEFA won't pay.
Is the therapist licensed? Ask for the license number, such as CCC-SLP or OTR.

To book, check the coverage, get the license number, and order the session through Odyssey.

Getting the first session set up

The insurance question, then the provider, then the order. The IEP rule is at the end.

1. The insurance question (copy it)

"Before we book, one question: is this session billable to Medicaid, CHIP, or our insurance? TEFA can only pay if it isn't."

2. Pick from what your child needs

If your child needs	Already saying TEFA
Speech therapy, online	Trinity Therapy and Diagnostician Services (says TEFA and Odyssey) · Pep Talk Pediatrics (New Braunfels)
Speech therapy, in person	Utley Speech Therapy (Castroville) · City Speech Center (Dallas) · Evolve Therapy Connections (Hereford; from $30)
Dyslexia therapy	Blume Ed Consulting (Conroe) · School of Lexia (Mansfield) · Evergrow Language and Literacy (Spring)
Occupational therapy	Utley Speech Therapy (speech and OT) · Dimensions of Therapy (Missouri City)
An evaluation first	Trinity (online), or your school district, free (see below)

3. Order through the marketplace

In Odyssey, search the provider's exact name and open the session listing.
Order in Odyssey, not at the clinic. TEFA pays the provider directly and never pays you back.

Have an IEP? What TEFA pays, and what the district still owes you

The special-education add-on of up to $30,000 is for the private-school setting only, and it's calculated from the IEP your district has on file with TEA. With no IEP on file there is no add-on. Homeschool is $2,000 a year, IEP or not.

What the district still owes you (34 CFR 300.131): "Each LEA must locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, elementary schools and secondary schools located in the school district." Texas treats homeschools as private schools. What it doesn't owe you (300.137): there is no "individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related services." So the district owes an evaluation, not the services. Worth knowing: a parent in one TEFA group was told her ISD "can no longer maintain the child's IEP" and does no evaluations for private students. The evaluation half of that contradicts 300.131. Ask in writing and cite the rule.

Sources: support.withodyssey.com (therapy coverage rule, purchases through the platform); educationfreedom.texas.gov (special-education award rules, private-school notice); finder.educationfreedom.texas.gov (596 therapy vendors, Sept 16, 2026); vendor sites crawled Sept 17, 2026; 34 CFR 300.131 and 300.137 (law.cornell.edu); 2,578 posts from the two largest Texas TEFA parent groups on Facebook, March 16 to Sept 19, 2026.