Psychoeducational Evaluation: A Wealth of Information

William at the Please Touch Museum

Decision Making at its Best!

As a ASD mom, I felt that I needed more information in order to make a good decision on my son's 1st grade school placement. Our home school district insisted that William didn't need anything special an only needed help with attention and maybe some math support. I fought a long hard battle with them regarding the school they picked out for us (seems we had no choice in the matter) and the curriculum taught there (I have no faith in "Success For All" especially when I researched the PSSA scores for the school which were horrible). After much thought and analysis, we decided to send William to a catholic school. We figured, since he was going to be in a regular classroom with 30+ kids and one teacher anyway, we might as well put him in a school where we know they would be a bit strict on behavior and a bit rigorous in their teaching. So far since the start of September, William has been doing quite well. He titrated from having a TSS (still has a Behavior specialist) in the summertime and has been on his own thriving ever since. He just got a 100 on his 2nd week's spelling test and is grasping the math concepts faster than I can show him everything. I am amazed at the progress he is making and the amount of homework and structure put forth in the catholic school education.
After starting the school year, we made an appointment for a psychoeducation testing which included the ADOS and some other testing. They confirmed right away, that William is able to learn in a regular classroom and asked me to monitor his behavior with his teacher to see if TSS was needed. I was so happy that we made the right decision, but in the back of my mind, I felt like I just made a good guess in where he should attend. The Psychoeducational evaluation was an invaluable tool and I will continue to refer to this document in order to make better decisions about his health and education. I wonder... as a parent of an ASD child, do you find yourself making decisions based on guessing or do you wait to get the 2nd opinion?

Additional_Testing_IEE!

If you feel that the school district didn't do enough testing, you as the advocate for your child can request and Independent evaluation at public expense. When asking for this, you MUST write a letter and be specific about your reasoning. This is not a cheap expense. If you do this on your own, it will cost you $2500 + to do this and most of it is not covered by your insurance. If you specify your concerns, it is easier to get this done. Remember advocating is not just about fighting. You are trying to nicely get along with these people and get them to understand your child's individual needs. Even though it might seem like a daunting task, writing a letter and spelling out your reasoning is a CYA (Cover your A$$) move. If you ever need to go to court or file for due process, you can show the judge that you made an attempt to work with the school district with your letter, dated and signed. Also remember to cc other members of your team. Your developmental pediatrician, child's teacher, etc. The more people who know the merrier. Everybody needs to be on the same page and in addition, the more that know, the more the school district can't play games with you. Below is a link to an actual letter I wrote that spells out my concerns and the reasoning behind asking for this type of testing. Because it certainly is not cheap, I felt compelled to address everything and prove that he needed the test, and not just because I want him to have it done. Remember you must be compelling in your argument to get things done. If you are not convincing, you may have to go a tougher route ( mediation, due process). This is your first step towards looking at your child's learning style and grasping if what you THINK is true, is confirmed.
Letter Asking for Independent Evaluation

Let me know what you think. I left our names in it so that you could see my actual thought process and what is specific to him.