Welcome!
I guess what I don't understand is ... the special ed director knew since MAY we were searching for a diagnosis and hoping to get him into the preschool to help him with all the social problems. They have know this long so why didn't they suggest the testing through the school system right away?
Could be several things.
--he already has an IEP for speech, right? Or am I remembering someone else's kid? Technically they could probably enroll him in the special ed school anytime on the basis of the old IEP, and then do the re-eval and rewrite the IEP while he's there.
--or they didn't do it because you didn't ask them to in the right way, which would be aggravating but it's just one of the ways that these things sometimes work. The book I recommended talks about the need to request things in writing, because nobody is even required to act on a verbal request. Some districts do wait until they have a formal request in hand.
He did have a district evaluation last year but he did just fine ... he always does great at a one-on-one type of setting unless he's on sensory overload when he just doesn't respond. I wish they would just put him in a room full of kids for 5 minutes and that's all the testing they need to do.
You can request that the school's re-evaluation include observation in a group setting. You can also ask the psych to include recommendations in the report that address what your DS is likely to need in a group setting.
I just wish they'd stop looking at him doing great academically and would finally look at the whole picture
If you go to wrightslaw.com, and type "functional" into their search box, you will see that special ed law applies not only to academic skills but also functional skills, which include the things that people with autism tend to have a lot of trouble with-- participation, social skills, self-care, those kinds of things. Those skills can and should all be addressed by the school. Some schools do not know this, which is why we've had to bring our advocate and an autism specialist to our school meetings. But it can be done, and IMO it's worth doing.
Hang in there. It's a process.
DeeDee
