Reply to Steps for getting evaluated for 4 year old for potential autism

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Unless you are made of money, start with your county or state free evaluation which will also set you up for an IEP. If you want something more specialized most large hospitals and all childrens hospitals have autism clinics likely covered by insurance. [/quote]

Yes, this is the most cost effective way. But a warning that many schools are using outdated concepts of autistic behavior that misses autism in many girls.[/quote]

Sigh. No, they will perform the ADOS which is the gold standard assessment (and gender neutral). If they don’t do the ADOS then insist on it or to get an independent examination after. [/quote]

I'm a special ed lawyer. I have never seen a school psychologist perform an ADOS or be certified to do so. They don't even have PhDs. What school district are you in that does the ADOS?[/quote]

In addition to the poster who said PG, I've seen school psychs administer the ADOS in LCPS and MCPS. You're a special ed lawyer and you don't know that some school psychologists have PhDs? Most are certified with a specialist degree, but there are school psychologists in every local district with PhDs in school psychology. Some are practicing with only their school psych certification and some are also licensed psychologists. Also, the publisher of the ADOS classifies it as needing level C qualifications to administer (which includes certified school psychs at the specialist level) rather than a level N (needs to have a PHD).[/quote]

What’s with the attitude?[/quote]

Probably from how frustrating it is to deal with special ed lawyers who make incorrect claims and waste families thousands of dollars![/quote]

I'm not the special ed attorney but I feel like the truth is somewhere in between. I don't doubt many school districts can administer the ADOS, the question is will they and if so how long until they will actually do it? Autistic girls (on average) often do better than autistic boys at younger ages and then struggle more at older ages as social demands increase. Unless there is a significant educational impact right now Child Find will wave you off. And even if they don't wave you off their goal will never be to diagnose your child ASAP. They will do what they are legally required to do. It is not their job to provide the top level gold standard of services to treat neurodevelopmental conditions.
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The point I am trying to make is that families are ill served by the common notion that you need to panic and pay $$ to get all the services ASAP. if it is autism there is no cure. It’s ok to take some time and consideration. The only thing I would probably fast track is a language delay but even then you can just go straight to an SLP.[/quote]

Early identification of autism is associated with better outcomes. For us it has been really helpful. My goal is not to save as much money as possible. [/quote]

There is MUCH less certainty in autism outcomes than that statement suggests. All parents should be attentive and seek care for their kids, but we don’t need scare tactics pushing families to spend money they don’t have on interventions or testing that is not ultimately going to change much. [/quote]

I'm not using scare tactics. Jfc.

You may think OP's child is too "high functioning" for a diagnosis to matter. I don't know what you are basing this on, but I am here to tell you as a parent of a child in this situation that the diagnosis and therapies have definitely helped our child a ton. We started the therapies before the diagnosis but the diagnosis gave us such a helpful understanding of our child and helped us understand that we needed to stick with the therapies even though DD was doing better. They work, and she needs them.[/quote]

Ok. Not everyone has $5k to pay for a diagnosis. All I am saying is that there are multiple reasonable and responsible paths. It is not at all like skipping chemo for cancer. [/quote]

Yes, it sucks that diagnosing and treating autism is not adequately funded and as a result many families do not have access.

Accusing people of using scare tactics because they mention research supported benefits of early identification helps no one. Stop [/quote]

It IS a scare tactic when it is coupled with advice to avoid free resources (like Childfind or Early Stages or equivalent) and to make people feel like the need to pay a lot on therapies out of pocket. Or even just the fact that ABA companies routinely push 10-20 hours of services weekly. [/quote]

You sound misinformed. I hope parents are intelligent enough not to listen to you. [/quote]

I’m a parent of a 13 year old with HFA and many friends with similar kids. I actually know what I am talking about.

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You’re telling other parents not to sell early intervention, and also telling them they will be no better off if they seek early intervention. This is blatantly false information. [/quote]

I think for a lot of parents with high functioning kids, the pressure for “early intervention” is not based on sound research. Particularly when it is used to urge therapies like OT that have little support.

Certainly I would love to tell everyone there is a magic therapy you do at 4 years old but it doesn’t work that way.

We all got IEPs for our kids but also all regret a lot of the stress and over vigilance about things that just were not within our control. [/quote]

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