It also depends on the child, too, I think. Your DS likely does better at academics than mine. Who cares how many grade levels ahead my DS's math is/was... What they see in class are his sensory needs, his attention problems, his impulsivity, his social awkwardness and his French language deficits.
I have two sons. One who is obvious and can not function (at ALL) without full-time paraprofessional support -- and one who is quiet, fairly well-behaved, and just functional enough to be allowed to slip through the cracks. In both cases our primary goal is making them functional adults.
Labels help get accommodations, in our experience, because they help force the education system's hand to acknowledge a problem. I
have seen schools label ADHD too much so they can get kids overmedicated. I have seen schools ignore problems because they don't have the funding for the accomodations (so, SO much). Ihave seen schools ignore actual diagnoses because they don't have the resources to accommodate. I have just never encounted a school egregiously labeling-for-pay. But perhaps your area is just different than the places I have lived and worked.
EDIT: I don't know why I consistantly misspell accommodate.
