Reminder about the purpose of the Kids with Special Needs Forum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fact four: many don’t GAF if Auditory Processing Disorder is a diagnosis in the DSM-V.

Perhaps. But insurance companies and school systems care, as they won’t recognize and provide services for conditions that aren’t in the DSM-V.

I don’t personally think that noting this is hijacking a thread or unhelpful.

I'm the OP of the APD thread, and this information right here would've been VERY useful! I don't think that was said once. Maybe it was "assumed" I knew it? Well that isn't the case. This would've been FAR more useful than repeatedly expressing APD doesn't exist or that my child has autism. Relevant information is absolutely welcome, but just be a decent human being.

Anonymous wrote:
DP, and maybe I am wrong, but I seriously doubt that Jeff would delete a post that said: Hey, just a heads up from my experience, you might have a hard time getting insurance coverage for a visit because APD isn't in the DSM-V.

That was not the tone of the posts in that thread, through.

No, that was not expressed in any manner, and again, would've been extremely useful! It's funny I happened to read this thread and find it out here!

As a special educator who has been to man many eligibility determination meetings the above is wrong. School systems do not use the DSM in determining funding and services. One of the big issues that families of kids with ASD and related conditions face is that the IDEA definitions for Autism aren't the same as the DSM ones, and so there are kids who meet criteria for one and not the other.

Now, in order for a kid with APD to get special ed services, you need to prove that they fit into one of the IDEA categories, just like you would for a kid with ADHD, or dyslexia, epilepsy, or many other specific diagnoses that cause kids to qualify under broader eligibility categories like OHI or SLD. But kids with APD absolutely can get services.

In addition, I would point out that APD is a diagnosis supported by ASHA, an organization that tends to be pretty conservative in what it endorses.

As a practical matter, though, the IEP accommodations don't turn on the IEP label. So the APD OP shouldn't feel like she "has" to get the APD dx in order to get APD accommodations.

As a special ed teacher, though, there are certain APD accommodations, like FM systems, that will come from an audiologist's report.

In my experience, the diagnosis is pretty useless to me in crafting an IEP or working with a kid. The specific recommendations from people like SLP's, Audiologists, etc . . . are much more useful. But in the case of APD, the testing they'd need for both is the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP immediately above this, and I wanted to point out that vision impairment and hearing impairment are also not in the DSM, and yet the school system and insurance companies absolutely address both of those.

Insurance reimbursement goes through ICD codes, not DSM dx. And insurance companies reimburse services, not diagnoses, anyway, so even if something is in the DSM does not mean that you're going to get any service for that dx covered. The insurance company may consider it medically unnecessary.

This is correct. And the way to find out in advance is to ask the provider what ICD and diagnosis codes they will bill under, then call the insurance co. to see if those codes are covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fact four: many don’t GAF if Auditory Processing Disorder is a diagnosis in the DSM-V.

Perhaps. But insurance companies and school systems care, as they won’t recognize and provide services for conditions that aren’t in the DSM-V.

I don’t personally think that noting this is hijacking a thread or unhelpful.

I'm the OP of the APD thread, and this information right here would've been VERY useful! I don't think that was said once. Maybe it was "assumed" I knew it? Well that isn't the case. This would've been FAR more useful than repeatedly expressing APD doesn't exist or that my child has autism. Relevant information is absolutely welcome, but just be a decent human being.

Anonymous wrote:
DP, and maybe I am wrong, but I seriously doubt that Jeff would delete a post that said: Hey, just a heads up from my experience, you might have a hard time getting insurance coverage for a visit because APD isn't in the DSM-V.

That was not the tone of the posts in that thread, through.

No, that was not expressed in any manner, and again, would've been extremely useful! It's funny I happened to read this thread and find it out here!

As a special educator who has been to man many eligibility determination meetings the above is wrong. School systems do not use the DSM in determining funding and services. One of the big issues that families of kids with ASD and related conditions face is that the IDEA definitions for Autism aren't the same as the DSM ones, and so there are kids who meet criteria for one and not the other.

Now, in order for a kid with APD to get special ed services, you need to prove that they fit into one of the IDEA categories, just like you would for a kid with ADHD, or dyslexia, epilepsy, or many other specific diagnoses that cause kids to qualify under broader eligibility categories like OHI or SLD. But kids with APD absolutely can get services.

In addition, I would point out that APD is a diagnosis supported by ASHA, an organization that tends to be pretty conservative in what it endorses.

This is why some of us have issues getting the right help we need for our kids in school.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:The Special Needs forum has historically been the most supportive and helpful forum on DCUM. But for some time now, many threads seem to repeat the same cycle in which posters ignore the request of the OP and, instead, engage in debates that have been repeated over and over again. The original post gets forgotten as posters argue with each other. So, I want to remind posters of the purpose of this forum:

1) The forum is aimed at providing support for and help to parents of kids with special needs.

2) The forum is not a place for posters to repeatedly engage in the same tired religious wars in defense of or opposition to particular diagnoses, conditions, or treatments.

3) Frankly, I don't understand most of the topics you folks argue about, but the unending debate about MERLD vs ASD has worn out my patience. This is going to have to stop. Posters can choose to refrain from this and similar arguments or I can intervene to block such posters from posting. Either way, I am not going to put up with it anymore.

4) Please remember to focus on the questions being asked with the goal of providing helpful responses to the OP. Don't dispute their diagnosis, don't insult the choices they have made, and don't hijack the thread to discuss your pet issue. Please use the "report" button to alert me to any posts doing these things to that I can deal with them.

Can we make this a sticky? So often the question asked is not answered and the thread becomes a big debate about a side issue never answering OPs question. It's also done with such nasty attitude, judgemental and insulting. I just had to report such a poster who managed to read the OP wrong, be rude and judgy and never answer the question even though she posted multiple times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:The Special Needs forum has historically been the most supportive and helpful forum on DCUM. But for some time now, many threads seem to repeat the same cycle in which posters ignore the request of the OP and, instead, engage in debates that have been repeated over and over again. The original post gets forgotten as posters argue with each other. So, I want to remind posters of the purpose of this forum:

1) The forum is aimed at providing support for and help to parents of kids with special needs.

2) The forum is not a place for posters to repeatedly engage in the same tired religious wars in defense of or opposition to particular diagnoses, conditions, or treatments.

3) Frankly, I don't understand most of the topics you folks argue about, but the unending debate about MERLD vs ASD has worn out my patience. This is going to have to stop. Posters can choose to refrain from this and similar arguments or I can intervene to block such posters from posting. Either way, I am not going to put up with it anymore.

4) Please remember to focus on the questions being asked with the goal of providing helpful responses to the OP. Don't dispute their diagnosis, don't insult the choices they have made, and don't hijack the thread to discuss your pet issue. Please use the "report" button to alert me to any posts doing these things to that I can deal with them.

Can we make this a sticky? So often the question asked is not answered and the thread becomes a big debate about a side issue never answering OPs question. It's also done with such nasty attitude, judgemental and insulting. I just had to report such a poster who managed to read the OP wrong, be rude and judgy and never answer the question even though she posted multiple times.

That topic wasn't exactly off topic discussion some of the other options that were available to OP. Yes, it got some off topic but the situation isn't exactly cut and dry and nothing wrong with others pointing out other options as well. That poster wasn't wrong to point out all the issues involved with holding back and other possibilities.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:The Special Needs forum has historically been the most supportive and helpful forum on DCUM. But for some time now, many threads seem to repeat the same cycle in which posters ignore the request of the OP and, instead, engage in debates that have been repeated over and over again. The original post gets forgotten as posters argue with each other. So, I want to remind posters of the purpose of this forum:

1) The forum is aimed at providing support for and help to parents of kids with special needs.

2) The forum is not a place for posters to repeatedly engage in the same tired religious wars in defense of or opposition to particular diagnoses, conditions, or treatments.

3) Frankly, I don't understand most of the topics you folks argue about, but the unending debate about MERLD vs ASD has worn out my patience. This is going to have to stop. Posters can choose to refrain from this and similar arguments or I can intervene to block such posters from posting. Either way, I am not going to put up with it anymore.

4) Please remember to focus on the questions being asked with the goal of providing helpful responses to the OP. Don't dispute their diagnosis, don't insult the choices they have made, and don't hijack the thread to discuss your pet issue. Please use the "report" button to alert me to any posts doing these things to that I can deal with them.

Just bumping this up again because it seems to bear repeating a lot lately.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. I agree that this forum has slowly changed from being less supportive. I appreciate you protecting it Jeff.