Backstory: I was a Special Education teacher before being a SAHM. So....I do understand how the system works and I was pretty sure my DS 3.5 would be denied an assessment because he has no specific disability markers, some tendencies, but nothing concrete enough and doesn't qualify for any services.
Yesterday I spoke with school psychologist said she would like to assess him!
How I got to the right person: I first left a message for the Special Education director, she gave me the number to the school district preschool SPED department, they relayed my concerns to the school psych and then she called me back.
We were looking at private testing and weighing out the cost and whether or not it could even help us with our local school district in any decision-making. I think that schools are more receptive to their own school psychologists and so I decided that I would go this route first and see it all the way until I got an absolute "no".
I was honest and I expected her to say that because Autism has been ruled out and he doesn't qualify for any other disability category that there was nothing she could do. Instead, she thought that it was imperative that he be tested for making school decisions before entering K.!!! She said that his knowlege is on the extreme end of the scale and that she will do a full assessment. A school evaluation consists of: gathering information from family, teachers and even a preschool observation and then the cognitive and academic assessments.
I felt like I had just won the lottery. It very much restores some of my faith in the public school system that I was once an advocate for. I felt like I was finally talking to someone who "gets" it.
I just hope this gives anyone out there hope if they would like to pursue public school assessments in the U.S. So many of you have given me hope and encouragement that led me to decide to have him formally assessed and I am so thankful. [u][/u]
