Students with autism are often motivated, curious, and academically capable, but traditional school environments can work against them. Large classrooms, rigid schedules, and a one-size-fits-all curriculum tend to increase the anxiety, sensory overwhelm, and social challenges many autistic students face, while leaving their real strengths underdeveloped.
In Colorado, there are schools and programs designed with these students in mind. Some are autism-specific. Some are private schools with experience supporting neurodiverse learners more generally. Others offer fully online programs that help autistic students learn in an environment where they feel completely at ease. The right fit depends on your child’s specific needs, your family’s location, and what you’re hoping school can do for them.
In this guide, we cover:
- The key factors to consider when evaluating schools for your autistic child
- How to prepare for school visits and what questions to ask
- A detailed look at our school, Fusion Academy, a fully accredited private school with campuses in Boulder County and Denver, plus an online program for families across the state
- Other strong options organized by region, from the Denver metro area to Colorado Springs
Note: In this guide, we include our own school, Fusion Academy, a fully accredited private school for grades 4–12 with campuses in Boulder County and Denver. At Fusion, classes are taught one-to-one or in small groups of 2–5 students. Our student body is deliberately small as we take a flexible approach that helps us meet the needs of each individual student. This has helped many students with autism find their footing academically and personally, often after years of not quite fitting in elsewhere. Learn more about Fusion Academy here.
You can also listen to our podcast, Learning Differently, which covers topics that can be helpful for families of students with autism, including our episodes on:
What to Look for in a School for Autism in Colorado
Every autistic student is different, and their experience at school is shaped by a unique combination of factors that includes:
- Where they fall on the autism spectrum
- What co-occurring conditions they have
- How they communicate
- Their social skills
- What sensory environment helps them focus
- What their previous school experiences have been
That said, some factors can give parents a strong idea of whether a school will be a good fit for their child. As you start evaluating options, here’s what to pay close attention to.
Student-to-Teacher Ratio
Smaller classes give teachers the space to adapt instruction in real time, get to know each student’s strengths and interests, and build the kind of relationship that makes a real difference.
In a classroom of 20 or 30 students, teachers are managing competing demands constantly. Students who present as quiet or reserved, as many autistic students do when they mask, can easily be overlooked. A lower ratio makes that far less likely and far easier to get your child the support they need.
Academic Programs
Many autistic students are academically capable, and even gifted. But they can find it hard to show what they know in traditional schools because the teaching methods don’t align with how they learn, or because they’re simply too overwhelmed to perform well.
A good autism school should do two things to help:
- It should offer a range of academic programs and allow students to mix levels, for example, taking an advanced class in a subject they love while getting more support in an area where they’re still catching up. This can be particularly beneficial for twice-exceptional (2E) students or autistic students with an uneven academic profile.
- It should actively help students buildexecutive functioning skills. For many autistic students, challenges with organization, time management, and task initiation are just as significant as the academic content itself. When teachers explain how to approach these challenges and how students can work with their brains instead of against them, they’re more likely to succeed in their classes and assignments.
Personalized Learning Environments
Look for schools that can adapt to your child’s specific sensory and learning needs. Things like flexible seating, adjustable lighting, noise-canceling headphones, assistive technology, the chance to take extra time on tests, or the willingness to provide visual instructions can all make a difference to how an autistic student copes in school.
Even more importantly, a good autism school should be able to personalize accommodations to some extent and work with your family to find out what will help the most.
Social Emotional Learning Support
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects how students navigate social situations, and the right school will address this through structured, intentional programming.
This might look like a dedicated SEL class where students practice recognizing social cues, navigating uncertainty, and building friendships. It might also mean a school culture where teachers weave those themes into everyday lessons, helping students develop these skills in context rather than in isolation—as we do with our social-emotional learning strategy at Fusion.
IEP and 504 Plan Accommodations
Many autistic students have an IEP (Individual Education Program) or 504 plan in place to help them access the support they need in school. However, searching for an autism school often means comparing private school options, and it’s important to know that private schools are not legally required to accept or implement IEPs or 504 plans in the same way as public schools.
However, the best schools will actively use your child’s existing plan as a starting point for building their learning program, but confirming how a school handles accommodations before you apply will save you time and potential disappointment later.
Teaching that Focuses on the Whole Child
A diagnosis is a useful starting point, but it’s not a complete picture.
Autism is described in terms of three levels of support need, from level 1, where a student may need some additional support in social situations, through to level 3, where a student needs very substantial support with daily functioning. These levels can help you filter schools, but they don’t define what a student is capable of.
Many autistic students have co-occurring learning differences, and twice-exceptional students have both a learning difference and areas of significant intellectual strength. The best schools take all of this into account, approaching each student with curiosity and understanding rather than a fixed set of assumptions about what they can achieve.
School Location and Online Options
Colorado is a large state, and the specialist schools and private programs that support autistic students are concentrated in and around the Denver metro area and Boulder. If you’re in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, or a more rural part of the state, your in-person options may be limited.
In that case, it’s worth considering whether a fully accredited online school could be a good fit.Fusion Global Academy, Fusion’s online school, offers the same one-to-one or small group model as our in-person campuses and is available to students anywhere in Colorado.
Questions to Ask When You Visit Schools
As you start to look at schools in more detail, these questions can help you evaluate whether a school is equipped to support your child:
- How do you adapt your teaching methods for autistic students?
- What is your student-to-teacher ratio, and how much individualized attention does each student receive?
- Can you walk me through how you’d build a personalized learning plan for my child?
- What sensory accommodations do you offer, and how are these decided?
- How do you support executive functioning development?
- Do you accept IEPs or 504 plans, and what would that look like practically for my child?
- Can you share examples of how autistic students have progressed at your school?
- How do you communicate with families about their child’s progress?
With these questions in mind, we’ll now compare some of the top schools for students with autism in Colorado.
Schools for Autism in Colorado
1. Fusion Academy: A Personalized Private School for Students with Autism
Fusion Academy is a fully accredited private school for grades 4–12 with more than 80 locations in the U.S., including campuses in Boulder County and Denver. We also have a fully accredited online school, Fusion Global Academy, for families who prefer remote instruction or live far from one of our physical schools.
Classes at Fusion are taught one-to-one or in small groups of 2–5 students. Our campuses typically have no more than 100 students, creating a close-knit community where autistic students can find their footing academically and socially without the sensory overload of a large traditional school. And because our class sizes are deliberately small, teachers have the time and resources to get to know their students well, understand what they need to learn effectively, and adapt their approach.
How Fusion Personalizes Learning for Autistic Students
Personalization at Fusion starts before a student’s first day.
During enrollment, we meet with every prospective student and their family to understand their learning needs, previous school experiences, sensory sensitivities, and goals. We may also ask students to complete a MAP® assessment, which measures academic skills in reading, math, and language usage, and a MindPrint cognitive assessment, which helps us understand how a student learns. The MindPrint assessment in particular can give us a good idea of a student’s approach to problem solving, and whether any of the executive function challenges typical of autism and other learning differences like ADHD have been holding them back in their previous school.
From there, we build a personalized learning plan and schedule that works with the way the student learns.
Because classes are often one-to-one, our teachers can adapt in ways that simply aren’t possible in a larger classroom. For autistic students, this might look like:
- Considering an existing IEP or 504 plan, for example, by accommodating suggestions like extended time on assessments, visual instructions, movement breaks, and structured routines. Discussions around possible accommodations usually begin during the initial meeting between the Fusion team and the student’s family.
- Integrating a student’s interests into lessons to improve engagement and motivation and help them show off their skills.
- Adjusting the sensory environment, for example, by dimming the lights, providing flexible seating, using weighted blankets, or arranging the classroom so the teacher and student sit side-by-side instead of face-to-face.
- Building in decompression time between classes for students who need it. Fusion campuses are open from 7:30 AM until 7:30 PM, Monday through Friday, so we have the flexibility to either lengthen the school day to provide more downtime, or provide a compressed school week, so students attend three or four days instead of five and use the other days to study at home, focus on extracurriculars, and more.
- Adapting the pacing of a course so a student can move faster through material they’ve mastered and spend more time on concepts that need more work. Because of Fusion’s open enrollment policy, students can begin new modules when they’re ready instead of waiting for a new semester.
We also offer a wide course catalog with over 300 courses, including Essential, College Preparatory, Honors, and AP® courses. A student can take an Honors science course that taps into a deep interest, while taking, for example, an Essential English course where they need more support with writing and organization. Wherever possible, at every level, we build the program around the student as an individual.
Our data shows that this personalized approach gives students a solid foundation for life after high school. From the class of 2025:
- 99% of students who applied to a four-year college were accepted
- 87.5% will be attending their first-choice school
- 41% received merit scholarships averaging $58,303
Social-Emotional Learning at Fusion
We place a strong emphasis on social-emotional learning across all our campuses. This benefits all our students, but it’s particularly helpful for those with autism and other learning differences.
Students can enroll in our Community Minds course, a dedicated SEL class where they learn practical skills for navigating social situations, like how to recognize and respond to social cues, how to handle uncertainty, how to build and maintain friendships, and how to understand the impact of their behavior on those around them. Teachers also weave SEL themes into everyday lessons, so students are developing these skills in context, not just in a standalone class.
Campus Life in Colorado
Fusion’s Boulder County and Denver campuses are intentionally small, so our teachers can get to know our students well, and all our students can find their place in the school community.
Campus life is built around:
- The Homework Café, where students have assigned time in a calm, supervised space to complete assignments with a teacher on hand. Campuses also have a Social Homework Café where students can connect with peers over lunch or between classes.
- Student clubs, which vary by campus, but give students a low-pressure way to explore their interests and build connections with like-minded peers.
- Social events and field trips, run throughout the year, are unique to each campus and designed to build community outside the classroom.
- Community service, as part of Fusion’s Community Action Program, which encourages students to take on leadership roles and contribute to the work of charities in their local area.
Fusion Global Academy: An Option for Families Across Colorado
For families outside the Denver and Boulder areas, Fusion Global Academy offers the same one-to-one, structured teaching model in a fully online format. The Global Academy can also be a strong option for autistic students who prefer to learn either 100% from home or on a hybrid schedule, where they take online classes for half the week and visit the campus for the other.
Classes run Monday to Friday from 5:30 AM to 11:30 PM ET, giving families flexibility around schedules, therapy appointments, and other commitments. The online campus also has its own community team, student events, and a Global Homework Café, a dedicated online space where students can get academic support and connect with peers.
Academic Programs at Fusion Academy
Fusion Academy’s Colorado campuses offer:
- Full-time programs for middle school and high school students, with a wide range of course types, including Honors and AP® courses
- Classes for credit, where students take individual classes without enrolling full-time — ideal for credit recovery, getting ahead in a subject, or supplementing a current school’s offerings
- Tutoring and mentoring, for students who need targeted support in specific areas or want to build confidence before transitioning to full-time enrollment
- Post-secondary counseling, including college applications, scholarship searches, and gap year planning
To learn more, you can request more information from the Fusion team today, or explore Fusion Global Academy if you’re looking for an online option.
Contact your nearest campus here:
| Fusion Academy Boulder County 168 Centennial Parkway Phone: 720-370-7941 | Fusion Academy Denver 5340 South Quebec Street Phone: 303-997-2148 |
More Schools for Autistic Students in the Denver Metro Area
Denver has the widest concentration of schools for autistic and special-needs children in Colorado, ranging from large neurodiverse private schools to intensive therapeutic programs.
We selected the schools below because they cover a wide range of support needs.
2. Denver Academy: A Large Neurodiverse Private School with Robust Extracurriculars
Denver Academy is an independent private school for grades 2–12 serving students with varied learning profiles, including autism, with a focus on twice-exceptional students. Founded in 1972, it is one of the longest-established schools for neurodiverse learners in Colorado, with a student body of around450 and a 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
What distinguishes Denver Academy from many autism schools is the breadth of its extracurricular offerings. The school runs 11 athletic teams, including rock climbing, mountain biking, and e-sports, and has a strong arts and media program. Its Campos EPC SmartLabs give students access to dedicated science, math, art, robotics, and technology spaces, providing an opportunity for autistic students to explore STEM subjects beyond the daily curriculum.
Academically, Denver Academy uses diagnostic assessments on entry to build a learning profile for each student, then delivers specialized instruction within small class settings. The school is best suited to students with level 1 autism who have average or above-average intellectual ability but are underperforming in traditional schools because their social and emotional support needs are not being met.
- Address: 4400 E. Iliff Ave., Denver, CO 80222
- Phone: 303-777-5161
3. Havern School: Integrated Therapies On Campus with a Dedicated Autism Program
Havern School is a K–8 independent school in Littleton, 12 miles southwest of Denver, serving neurodiverse students through a 3:1 student-to-staff ratio and an integrated therapy model that brings occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, and mental health support directly into the school day. Rather than referring students to external providers, Havern’s therapists work alongside classroom teachers, which helps deliver a more holistic package of support and education.
In 2023, Havern launched the Havern Autism Program (HAP), a dedicated evidence-based program for students with level 1 and level 2 autism in grades K–5. HAP is now an Approved Facility School through the Colorado Department of Education, which means placements are made through school district referral. Families should connect with their child’s current school to begin the process.
Outside of HAP, the broader Havern School program is open to direct applications from families and can serve autistic students whose needs don’t require a facility school placement. The school sits on a 13-acre hilltop campus with outdoor spaces, a gym, and an art studio.
- Address: 4000 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80123
- Phone: 303-986-4587
4. The Joshua School: Intensive ABA Therapy Support Across Three Campuses
The Joshua School is a nonprofit school founded in 2005 by six Denver-area educators who wanted to create a smaller, more responsive environment than the public school system could offer. Today it serves over 90 students per year across three campuses in Englewood, Centennial, and Boulder, and it is one of the few Colorado schools that works with students from ages 4–21. This means the school can cover the full range of developmental stages in one continuous program.
The school uses Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as its evidence base, paired with a model that brings teachers, board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) leaders, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and other specialists together in a team around each student. Rather than operating in silos, the team communicates and coordinates continuously so that every aspect of a student’s day is addressed as part of a single coherent plan. All three campuses are licensed by the Colorado Department of Education as CDE Facility Schools, which means placement is coordinated through school districts.
The Joshua School is best suited to students with level 2 and level 3 autism and other developmental disabilities who need intensive, structured support. Developing communication, daily living skills, vocational readiness, and meaningful community engagement are all central to the program, alongside academics.
Campus Addresses and Phone Numbers
Englewood Campus
- Address: 2303 E. Dartmouth Ave., Englewood, CO 80113
- Phone: 303-758-7171
Boulder Campus
- Address: 7077 Harvest Road, Boulder, CO 80301
- Phone: 303-974-7732
Centennial Campus (Early Childhood)
- Address: 5760 E. Otero Ave., Centennial, CO 80112
- Phone: 720-583-6849
5. Humanex Academy: A Quiet, Strengths-Focused Secondary School for Neurodiverse Students
Humanex Academy is a fully accredited private middle and high school in Englewood, serving neurodiverse students in grades 6–12. The school has around 40 students and a 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
The school describes its students as “internalizers” — students who feel things deeply and tend to hold their responses inside rather than expressing them through external behavior. For many level 1 autistic students, this is an accurate description, and it shapes everything about how Humanex is designed. The academic environment is deliberately calm and quiet. The curriculum follows a Universal Design approach, is self-paced, and is aligned to Colorado State Standards. Students are assessed on content understanding rather than speed, and teachers offer a range of options for how material is learned and demonstrated.
What makes Humanex particularly distinctive is how deeply social and emotional growth is embedded in the entire program. Rather than a standalone SEL class, the school employs a full-time child and adolescent psychologist who works with staff and students throughout the day using a relational, in-the-moment approach.
Humanex is transparent about who the school is and isn’t for: students who require intensive one-on-one academic support or who have a recent history of significant behavioral challenges are directed to other options.
- Address: 2700 S. Zuni Street, Englewood, CO 80110
- Phone: 303-783-0137
More Schools for Autistic Students in the Boulder and Northern Front Range Area
Boulder and the surrounding area have two strong specialist options that sit at opposite ends of the support spectrum. One is built for academically capable twice-exceptional students with level 1 autism, and the other is designed for students who need intensive, structured support and a pathway back into their home school district.
6. Temple Grandin School: A Strengths-Based Program Built Around Student Interests
Temple Grandin School (TGS) is a nonprofit private school in Boulder serving grades 6–12. The school is named after Temple Grandin herself, whose educational philosophy, grounded in individual strengths and real-world skill-building, forms the backbone of the program. The school is accredited by the National Commission on Exceptional Children and servesaround 30 students, with each small class supported by both a teacher and a member of the student support team.
TGS is specifically designed for students with high-functioning autism or similar profiles. This includes twice-exceptional learners who are bright, curious, and have deep knowledge of their interests, but haven’t yet found their place in a traditional school.
The school’s Individual Education Quest (IEQ) framework organizes everything around four domains: Identity, Intellect, Interaction, and Independence, recognizing that academic skills alone are not sufficient preparation for adult life. Alongside core subjects, students attend a daily Socio class that teaches the “soft skills” that underlie workplace and college success with the same directness as any other academic subject. Students also have access to volunteer opportunities, internships, and individualized college counseling through the school’s Transitions program.
- Address: 3131 Indian Road, Boulder, CO 80301
- Phone: 303-554-7363
7. Spectra School: Structured Day Treatment with a Clear Path Back to the Home School District
Spectra School is part of Spectra Centers in Broomfield, a nonprofit organization providing autism and neurodiversity services for over 25 years. The school is an Approved Facility School through the Colorado Department of Education and a licensed Day Treatment program through the Colorado Department of Human Services. It serves students aged 5–21 across elementary, middle, high school, and young adult transition programs.
What makes Spectra distinct is its explicit goal of reintegration. Most students stay for between one semester and three academic years, with progress tracked continuously until the data and IEP team agree that a return to the student’s home school district makes sense. The school partners with 19 school districts to facilitate this. The school’s curriculum follows Colorado Academic Standards and is individualized based on each student’s IEP, with students grouped in the mornings by academic need and in the afternoons by functional level for electives.
Spectra is best suited to students with level 2 and level 3 autism who need intensive behavioral and academic support alongside a clear, data-driven plan for what comes next.
- Address: 7205 West 120th Avenue, Broomfield, CO 80020
- Phone: 303-665-6800
Schools for Autistic Students in Colorado Springs
There are fewer specialist private school options in the Colorado Springs school districts than in the Denver metro area. Families with students who need higher levels of therapeutic or behavioral support may want to look at the Denver-area schools listed above, or consider Fusion Global Academy as an online option. That said, one strong independent school operates in the city and is worth knowing about.
8. Kishami Academy: A Small Independent School Founded and Run by an Autistic Educator
Kishami Academy is an independent private school in Colorado Springs serving grades 3 through high school. It was founded by Kish Widgren, a Colorado-licensed special education teacher who is herself autistic and who founded the school after raising a son with autism and a daughter with ADHD.
The school currently serves approximately 8 students and is intentionally small. The curriculum covers world history, science, and geography from a deliberately global perspective, with each unit revisited at increasing depth as students progress. Functional skills like self-monitoring, emotional regulation, self-advocacy, critical thinking, planning, and organization are woven into every aspect of the school day rather than treated as a separate program.
What makes Kishami unusual is the perspective its founder brings. Widgren’s insight into how autistic students learn comes not just from training and certification, but from lived experience. For families with a level 1 autistic student who hasn’t found their footing in larger, more structured settings, that perspective can make a meaningful difference.
Admissions begin with an email inquiry and a visit. The school asks families to read the full website before reaching out, which gives a clear picture of whether Kishami is likely to be the right fit.
- Address: 2328 E. Platte Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80909
- Phone: kishw@kishamiacademy.org (the school notes that the headteacher is autistic and prefers email contact)
Find the Right School for Your Autistic Child in Colorado
We hope this guide has given you a clearer picture of the school options for autistic students in Colorado and what to look for as you start to evaluate them.
If Fusion Academy sounds like it could be a good fit for your child, we encourage you to get in touch.
We have campuses in Boulder County and Denver, and our online school, Fusion Global Academy, is available to families anywhere in the state. Enrollment is open year-round and begins with a simple conversation with the Head of School to find out more about your child and their unique needs.
To start the process today:
- Request more information from our Boulder County campus
- Request more information from our Denver campus
- Learn more about Fusion Global Academy
