An IEP means, in almost every state that the child meets the standards for Special Ed.

Here, I found this for you, from NY:

http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/parentguide.htm

It's extremely important that you become aware of where your rights lie. For instance, in PA, I can disagree with the IEP, call IEP meetings if I feel that something has changed or is going wrong, and even push it to court if the IEP is not being followed. Granted, it's always better to work closely with the school, but this document gives your child rights that they are not allowed to ignore. Many states do not have gifted education moneys or rights, but IEPs are based on the Federal requirements for persons with disabilities and so are there for you anywhere you go. In PA, if a child has IEP and GIEP, the Gifted stuff needs to be wrapped in the IEP needs, as is the case, I think, in NY. These are the twice-exceptional children that you read about a lot. We have a board here for parents with children like that and there is a lot of help that you can get asking questions there.

I was really scared when my kids got diagnosed. Now, I see the leverage it gives me in making sure their needs are net. For instance, what you said about anxiety...every behavior plan with my AS son has to be vetted for anxiety-inducing components and they are watched very carefully, because the school is now aware that anxiety changes his behavior for the negative.