Autism testing by school without consent

[Anonymous]

Yes, OP, schools like to pull this shit. They put a bunch of forms in front of you, not clearly explaining what they are looking for. Then they have a hack school "psychologist" with minimal training and supervision do their autism assessments. It's a racket.

Of course, we laughed when they did this to us. Teachers were hounding us about autism, tested DS behind his back, then were shocked when even their hack psychologist found no autism. (We had outside evals saying no to autism, too.)

From then on, we specifically wrote into the IEPs that we did not consent to autism testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you give permission to evaluate you don't get to say that they can evaluate for x but not y. You basically open the door and the psychologist and others see where the data goes.

I'd register unhappiness with using incomplete data to draw a conclusion and ask for an IEE. You can submit your own examination as well. What did your private testing find?

pretty sure that's not true that you have to consent to any testing they want to do.

As a poster upthread said you can ask to leave out specific tests, but you don't get to dictate a diagnosis. The psych/educational testing can lead to a diagnosis of autism. Op didn't disagree to psych/ed testing.

[Anonymous]

From your initial post it is clear that you don't understand the IEP process. I would consider talking with an advocate.

Are you sure the school psychologist only has a masters? That would be unusual. Most school psychologists that work in testing know the tests very well and are qualified.

You could have said that you wanted them to skip any of the testing. We did psych/social and ot but skipped a speech eval. Did you not realize that the testing is to determine if your child has learning disabilities?

Have you paid for your own testing? If you disagree with the testing, you can request an IEE and the school will pay for all or a portion of the testing. What will your reaction be if the independent tester has the same result?

My experience in my county is that the school assessments/testing minimize or make the issues seem less severe to justify NOT giving resources. For most of us on this particular forum we fight to get the school to agree to a diagnosis so they can help our children learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you give permission to evaluate you don't get to say that they can evaluate for x but not y. You basically open the door and the psychologist and others see where the data goes.

I'd register unhappiness with using incomplete data to draw a conclusion and ask for an IEE. You can submit your own examination as well. What did your private testing find?

pretty sure that's not true that you have to consent to any testing they want to do.

Read 6:30. She described it well.

She didn't cite to any law or regs. Parents are well within their rights to refuse a specific test.

I don't see where the OP claims to have stated at the meeting that she/he specifically did not testing for autism done. The testing for Autism is only done if screening questionnaires and teacher/parent feedback suggest that it is necessary. Trust me, the school psych is not interested in doing more testing than is necessary and would prefer to only have to the the cognitive testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is only your opinion that the school psychologist is not qualified. The testing instruments are the same as would be used elsewhere. And, remember, this is not a diagnosis. It is simply an educational code.

that's really not true. the ADOS requires a lot of training to administer -- it's not like a blood test. I would never let a school psychologist perform it.

The ADOS is a Level C qualification exam. This means that a psychologist, SLP, or OT who has a Masters degree is qualified to give the exam. Any of these individuals would only give the exam if they feel they have adequate experience and knowledge to do so. I don't think any of them would sacrifice their license, particularly for a school position.

Was the ADOS given? If so, do you know that this particular school psychologist lacks adequate training to do so? I've worked with private psychologists who tout themselves as Autism "experts", but do a crap job with this test. Sweeping statements like this aren't useful here.

[Anonymous]

OP, how old is your son and what has been the eligibility the school has used to determine services?

Signed, somebody whose child has an IEP for developmental delay, currently hoping the school tests for autism and changes the eligibility before my child ages out of current services....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is only your opinion that the school psychologist is not qualified. The testing instruments are the same as would be used elsewhere. And, remember, this is not a diagnosis. It is simply an educational code.

that's really not true. the ADOS requires a lot of training to administer -- it's not like a blood test. I would never let a school psychologist perform it.

The ADOS is a Level C qualification exam. This means that a psychologist, SLP, or OT who has a Masters degree is qualified to give the exam. Any of these individuals would only give the exam if they feel they have adequate experience and knowledge to do so. I don't think any of them would sacrifice their license, particularly for a school position.

Was the ADOS given? If so, do you know that this particular school psychologist lacks adequate training to do so? I've worked with private psychologists who tout themselves as Autism "experts", but do a crap job with this test. Sweeping statements like this aren't useful here.

I think you're ascribing a level of professionalism to school psychologists that they have never exhibited to me. An autism diagnosis is extremely complex to make (especially if you have a borderline kid) and should involve much more than ADOS. There's no way I'd let a school district OT (!) administer the ADOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is only your opinion that the school psychologist is not qualified. The testing instruments are the same as would be used elsewhere. And, remember, this is not a diagnosis. It is simply an educational code.

that's really not true. the ADOS requires a lot of training to administer -- it's not like a blood test. I would never let a school psychologist perform it.

The ADOS is a Level C qualification exam. This means that a psychologist, SLP, or OT who has a Masters degree is qualified to give the exam. Any of these individuals would only give the exam if they feel they have adequate experience and knowledge to do so. I don't think any of them would sacrifice their license, particularly for a school position.

Was the ADOS given? If so, do you know that this particular school psychologist lacks adequate training to do so? I've worked with private psychologists who tout themselves as Autism "experts", but do a crap job with this test. Sweeping statements like this aren't useful here.

I think you're ascribing a level of professionalism to school psychologists that they have never exhibited to me. An autism diagnosis is extremely complex to make (especially if you have a borderline kid) and should involve much more than ADOS. There's no way I'd let a school district OT (!) administer the ADOS.

Then what is acceptable to you? I assume you are op. If you drop your outrage over anyone assuming your dc is autistic, what do you want for your child? Why don't you answer any questions posed here. What do you think will be the best outcome for your dc? Are you concerned about the school labeling your child? If so, that is more about you.

[Anonymous]

OP, here, I haven't responded yet, despite the above assumptions. Thanks for the helpful responses (for the benefit of future posters, those presuming what a posters true concenrs are, despite the question posed, are not helpful and simply cause more frustration). We have no concern that services will be taken away. We have had quite the opposite problem of having to fight very hard at one time, after kindgarten, to keep my son mainstream when the school wanted him send to a different school and into a class with kids with emotional disabilities. After a phenomenal 1st grade, everyone now admits that taking him out of mainstream would have been a huge mistake. So there is some level of distrust here. I'm not confident this school wants to deal with kids with special needs. We also have had him tested twice for autism privately and have been told he doesn't have it. We will test again. My concern is based on posts, similar to what is on this thread, saying that some school psychologists are not qualified to do this type of testing. Sounds like there is not a clear answer as to what we have consent to and not (which is surprising) and I need to do some legal research to better determine how to proceed. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Earlier this year I needed to approve testing for a limited item. I got the standard form. I crossed out all of the language and wrote what the test was intended for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From your initial post it is clear that you don't understand the IEP process. I would consider talking with an advocate.

Are you sure the school psychologist only has a masters? That would be unusual. Most school psychologists that work in testing know the tests very well and are qualified.

You could have said that you wanted them to skip any of the testing. We did psych/social and ot but skipped a speech eval. Did you not realize that the testing is to determine if your child has learning disabilities?

Have you paid for your own testing? If you disagree with the testing, you can request an IEE and the school will pay for all or a portion of the testing. What will your reaction be if the independent tester has the same result?

My experience in my county is that the school assessments/testing minimize or make the issues seem less severe to justify NOT giving resources. For most of us on this particular forum we fight to get the school to agree to a diagnosis so they can help our children learn.

You are totally wrong here. This is a subject that has been discussed a lot on this forum. "School psychologist" is a particular masters degree track. At some of the big meetings such as code changing or continued eligibility a real psychologist for the cluster might show up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, here, I haven't responded yet, despite the above assumptions. Thanks for the helpful responses (for the benefit of future posters, those presuming what a posters true concenrs are, despite the question posed, are not helpful and simply cause more frustration). We have no concern that services will be taken away. We have had quite the opposite problem of having to fight very hard at one time, after kindgarten, to keep my son mainstream when the school wanted him send to a different school and into a class with kids with emotional disabilities. After a phenomenal 1st grade, everyone now admits that taking him out of mainstream would have been a huge mistake. So there is some level of distrust here. I'm not confident this school wants to deal with kids with special needs. We also have had him tested twice for autism privately and have been told he doesn't have it. We will test again. My concern is based on posts, similar to what is on this thread, saying that some school psychologists are not qualified to do this type of testing. Sounds like there is not a clear answer as to what we have consent to and not (which is surprising) and I need to do some legal research to better determine how to proceed. Thanks again.

Did you provide the school with the report? In many cases they won't feel a need to test because of course that's using resources. If your relationship with the school is antagonistic spend your money instead on an advocate.

[Anonymous]

OP here, the prior report is almost two years old now, so he probably does need testing again. I've been told over and over that the diagnosis doesn't matter so much, and you focus on treating the systems. This makse sense to me, so we haven't been in a huge rush to do this. Regarding retaining an advocate, I'm a lawyer, believe it or not, meaning I should know all this, but in my defense, I have incredibly little personal time to learn the law in this area. I am signed up for two CLE's on special education law. I would like to represent people pro bono on these issues and clearly, I need to better understand the nuancesf for myself. It helped knowing the rules and standards when dealing with the school's efforts to take my son out of mainstream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds like you are more upset that autism is a possible diagnosis for your son than you are about the testing itself. Maybe take some time to digest the information first.

Where are getting this from? You are reaching.

[Anonymous]

In FCPS school psychologists only have a masters usuat.