Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. We are in a similar boat. DS is almost 3 and will start school in fall. He received speech through Strong Start but then they abruptly "graduated" him from the program, claiming he had no delays. Less than a month later ( he had already scheduled transition meeting to Early Stages) Early Stages classified him ASD! I am not certain whether he has autism but not ruling it out.
After much research (Including DCUM old threads lol) I came to understand it's my new job to help him fight for the services that will help in school, whether it's ultimately autism or something else. It's hard to diagnose anything before 7 but schedule a dev ped anyhow, they take months to get. Educational diagnosis is NOT a true medical diagnosis so just go with the flow is my opinion.
Be his advocate and learn about services/techniques that may help him and push for them in the IEP. If there are behavioral issues you want an IEP place so they don't automatically assume he's a "bad kid" with no home discipline.
It's so weird for us too because with no prior school or daycare experience it's hard to know specifically what issues will arise. As soon as school starts (with IEP in place) ask to schedule a 30 day review. That way you can address potential issues soon. Research your rights regarding signing IEPs, meetings and requesting IEP meetings.

I'm a newbie but I hope this helps! Good luck!

You are very naive.

Not the PP with the unhelpful comment, but . . .
Please schedule an appointment with a developmental pediatrician now. Specialists can absolutely diagnose autism before age 7; in fact, early diagnosis and intervention is recommended. If your kid is severe enough to benefit from intense therapy, you really want to start it in the preschool years. ABA, Floortime and other therapies should start as soon as possible. My son was diagnosed with ASD at 2.75 and his symptoms were pretty mild at that time. I have friends whose kids were textbook ASD (limited speech, little to no interest in peers, limited social interaction other than with parents/regular caregivers, repetitive movements/stimming, unusual or intense special interests, meltdowns, etc.) by age 3 and they are all glad they got an early diagnosis and early intervention.

I went through Strong Start and Early Stages coded my son as "Developmental Delay" at age 2.5. Just a few months later a developmental pediatrician administered the ADOS and diagnosed him with ASD. It is not my experience that Early Stages pushes an ASD diagnosis when it is not warranted. (Other districts may well do this, but I haven't heard of DCPS/Early Stages being loose with the ASD diagnosis or special placements for preschoolers. Multiple friends of mine whose preschoolers have ASD were frustrated that Early Stages told us that the most appropriate placement for PK3 was our in-bound DCPS with just an hour or two of pull out services per week.) IMO, if DCPS is coding your preschooler as ASD and talking about an IEP, that is a big red flag to get to a developmental pediatrician asap. Get specialists you can trust to tell you what they think is going on with your child. Without that, you are going in to the school stuff at a complete disadvantage. Either the OP has no idea of the autism signs, or her kid is on the very mild end of the ASD spectrum. But in either case, a developmental pediatrician can help her and her child get on the right path.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through early stages for our 4 year old thinking speech delay and developmental delay. They want to classify him with Autism in the IEP. He isn’t currently in school and will start in the fall. I’m not sure where to go from here. Im not 100% sure he has autism. We are going to give him some time in pre k before making any decisions. I guess I’m just looking for advice or people who have been there. We’d like to start private speech but don’t know where to start. Any help or advice would be great. Thanks

In my experience, an autism label can ber an educational death sentence IF your child has severe language issues. If you had a very verbal child, getting an autism label doesn't seem to be as much of an issue. The problem is multi-fold: An autism label doesn't easily come off. It will follow your child around. It's also often an excuse to put a child in a self-contained class, which, at least in my state, is glorified baby sitting. So your child gets further and further behind. And because a language kid will typically easily imitate behaviors, they start imitating the movements and speech of their classmates, their only role models.

To find out your school's true intentions, ask them to provide you with statistics about how often a child labeled with educational autism and language difficulties is moved back into the general population.

Never blindly trust the schools -- they have their own agenda. For example, if they have a teacher who is certified in cognitive impairment, and that class isn't full, they may slide your child into that classroom so they don't have to staff and the autism ratio. This has happened to several of my friends.

OP here. I’m not going to agree to a self contained classroom. I don’t feel a kid who has never been in school should be placed in a self contained room without a medical diagnosis of autism. Thanks for your advice becuauzd it has given me the resolve to go and fight for what I think is best.

OP, get a really detailed language evaluation. Particularly find out your child's receptive language level. That is key to everything. Get the CELF test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through early stages for our 4 year old thinking speech delay and developmental delay. They want to classify him with Autism in the IEP. He isn’t currently in school and will start in the fall. I’m not sure where to go from here. Im not 100% sure he has autism. We are going to give him some time in pre k before making any decisions. I guess I’m just looking for advice or people who have been there. We’d like to start private speech but don’t know where to start. Any help or advice would be great. Thanks

In my experience, an autism label can ber an educational death sentence IF your child has severe language issues. If you had a very verbal child, getting an autism label doesn't seem to be as much of an issue. The problem is multi-fold: An autism label doesn't easily come off. It will follow your child around. It's also often an excuse to put a child in a self-contained class, which, at least in my state, is glorified baby sitting. So your child gets further and further behind. And because a language kid will typically easily imitate behaviors, they start imitating the movements and speech of their classmates, their only role models.

To find out your school's true intentions, ask them to provide you with statistics about how often a child labeled with educational autism and language difficulties is moved back into the general population.

Never blindly trust the schools -- they have their own agenda. For example, if they have a teacher who is certified in cognitive impairment, and that class isn't full, they may slide your child into that classroom so they don't have to staff and the autism ratio. This has happened to several of my friends.

OP here. I’m not going to agree to a self contained classroom. I don’t feel a kid who has never been in school should be placed in a self contained room without a medical diagnosis of autism. Thanks for your advice becuauzd it has given me the resolve to go and fight for what I think is best.

Anonymous wrote:We went through early stages for our 4 year old thinking speech delay and developmental delay. They want to classify him with Autism in the IEP. He isn’t currently in school and will start in the fall. I’m not sure where to go from here. Im not 100% sure he has autism. We are going to give him some time in pre k before making any decisions. I guess I’m just looking for advice or people who have been there. We’d like to start private speech but don’t know where to start. Any help or advice would be great. Thanks

In my experience, an autism label can ber an educational death sentence IF your child has severe language issues. If you had a very verbal child, getting an autism label doesn't seem to be as much of an issue. The problem is multi-fold: An autism label doesn't easily come off. It will follow your child around. It's also often an excuse to put a child in a self-contained class, which, at least in my state, is glorified baby sitting. So your child gets further and further behind. And because a language kid will typically easily imitate behaviors, they start imitating the movements and speech of their classmates, their only role models.

To find out your school's true intentions, ask them to provide you with statistics about how often a child labeled with educational autism and language difficulties is moved back into the general population.

Never blindly trust the schools -- they have their own agenda. For example, if they have a teacher who is certified in cognitive impairment, and that class isn't full, they may slide your child into that classroom so they don't have to staff and the autism ratio. This has happened to several of my friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. We are in a similar boat. DS is almost 3 and will start school in fall. He received speech through Strong Start but then they abruptly "graduated" him from the program, claiming he had no delays. Less than a month later ( he had already scheduled transition meeting to Early Stages) Early Stages classified him ASD! I am not certain whether he has autism but not ruling it out.
After much research (Including DCUM old threads lol) I came to understand it's my new job to help him fight for the services that will help in school, whether it's ultimately autism or something else. It's hard to diagnose anything before 7 but schedule a dev ped anyhow, they take months to get. Educational diagnosis is NOT a true medical diagnosis so just go with the flow is my opinion.
Be his advocate and learn about services/techniques that may help him and push for them in the IEP. If there are behavioral issues you want an IEP place so they don't automatically assume he's a "bad kid" with no home discipline.
It's so weird for us too because with no prior school or daycare experience it's hard to know specifically what issues will arise. As soon as school starts (with IEP in place) ask to schedule a 30 day review. That way you can address potential issues soon. Research your rights regarding signing IEPs, meetings and requesting IEP meetings.

I'm a newbie but I hope this helps! Good luck!

You are very naive.

Why?

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. We are in a similar boat. DS is almost 3 and will start school in fall. He received speech through Strong Start but then they abruptly "graduated" him from the program, claiming he had no delays. Less than a month later ( he had already scheduled transition meeting to Early Stages) Early Stages classified him ASD! I am not certain whether he has autism but not ruling it out.
After much research (Including DCUM old threads lol) I came to understand it's my new job to help him fight for the services that will help in school, whether it's ultimately autism or something else. It's hard to diagnose anything before 7 but schedule a dev ped anyhow, they take months to get. Educational diagnosis is NOT a true medical diagnosis so just go with the flow is my opinion.
Be his advocate and learn about services/techniques that may help him and push for them in the IEP. If there are behavioral issues you want an IEP place so they don't automatically assume he's a "bad kid" with no home discipline.
It's so weird for us too because with no prior school or daycare experience it's hard to know specifically what issues will arise. As soon as school starts (with IEP in place) ask to schedule a 30 day review. That way you can address potential issues soon. Research your rights regarding signing IEPs, meetings and requesting IEP meetings.

I'm a newbie but I hope this helps! Good luck!

You are very naive.

Anonymous wrote:Schools do not make diagnoses they assign educational codes that best reflect a student's needs. Giving a code of Autism is in no way easier for the school. In fact, schools typically stick kids with the speech language impairment code for as long as possible--often up to the start of middle school. The Autism code will provide access to resources and to professionals who have experience and who can consult with the local school placement.

Ridiculous and not true. Schools push autism all. The. Damn. Time!!!!!!!!!!

Schools do not make diagnoses they assign educational codes that best reflect a student's needs. Giving a code of Autism is in no way easier for the school. In fact, schools typically stick kids with the speech language impairment code for as long as possible--often up to the start of middle school. The Autism code will provide access to resources and to professionals who have experience and who can consult with the local school placement.

Hi OP. We are in a similar boat. DS is almost 3 and will start school in fall. He received speech through Strong Start but then they abruptly "graduated" him from the program, claiming he had no delays. Less than a month later ( he had already scheduled transition meeting to Early Stages) Early Stages classified him ASD! I am not certain whether he has autism but not ruling it out.
After much research (Including DCUM old threads lol) I came to understand it's my new job to help him fight for the services that will help in school, whether it's ultimately autism or something else. It's hard to diagnose anything before 7 but schedule a dev ped anyhow, they take months to get. Educational diagnosis is NOT a true medical diagnosis so just go with the flow is my opinion.
Be his advocate and learn about services/techniques that may help him and push for them in the IEP. If there are behavioral issues you want an IEP place so they don't automatically assume he's a "bad kid" with no home discipline.
It's so weird for us too because with no prior school or daycare experience it's hard to know specifically what issues will arise. As soon as school starts (with IEP in place) ask to schedule a 30 day review. That way you can address potential issues soon. Research your rights regarding signing IEPs, meetings and requesting IEP meetings.

I'm a newbie but I hope this helps! Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:Why is it easier to diagnose with ASD than a language disorder?

Honestly, from the perspective of the school, why do you care as long as the child is getting appropriate speech therapy? My guess is that the child appears to not appear to be oriented towards attending to social rules and cues. Whether this is due to receptive language or ASD, he's going to need a lot of 1:1 tos make sure he learns in K.

Well, the autism label may help guide the level and type of services, and possibly get him easier access to great placements like the SWS inclusion classroom (not sure how that works). If you think autism is at all possible, I'd keep the label. OTOH we got a "developmental delay" only label at 4 from Early Stages and I think that was the best thing. Likely diagnosis is adhd but we're holding off on a full-on diagnosis until 7. The key thing is that he is getting the right services. But if I thought that he needed a lot of support in social skills due to possible ASD, then I would want that label up front.

Ask for them to use the developmental delay code. There is no reason at age 4 to insist on autism.

Have you take your child to a developmental pediatrician? Start there. And a private speech assessment (GWU speech and hearing clinic is good).

Why is it easier to diagnose with ASD than a language disorder?

Its pretty common in the school system to diagnose these kids with ASD. Its easier for the school system than a language disorder. I would go to an developmental ped and start private speech services.

We went through early stages for our 4 year old thinking speech delay and developmental delay. They want to classify him with Autism in the IEP. He isn’t currently in school and will start in the fall. I’m not sure where to go from here. Im not 100% sure he has autism. We are going to give him some time in pre k before making any decisions. I guess I’m just looking for advice or people who have been there. We’d like to start private speech but don’t know where to start. Any help or advice would be great. Thanks