IEP with PDD-NOS

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-14-2007
IEP with PDD-NOS
5
Mon, 02-18-2008 - 2:29pm
I'm just trying to get prepared here:
Does anyone know what the school districts will usually offer you in terms of services, beginning at age 3, with a PDD-NOS diagnosis? I'm curious as to what the initial offer of services will be.
Thanks!!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 02-18-2008 - 3:04pm

It should be based

                                

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Mon, 02-18-2008 - 8:03pm

It is impossible to say, because so much depends on the individual circumstances, like what services he is receiving now, how he does in his current setting (if any) and what his therapists (if any) recommend for him next year. Also a lot depends on the school budget and available placements. It shouldn't -by law- but it usually does.

What I recommend is rather that wait to see what they offer, start researching now to see what programs are available in your area. If you find a program which is perfect for him (and he is well cute BTW), go in there and ask for it! They can only say no.

Neither of my kids had a diagnosis at three. One had clear and obvious delays, and he transitioned from EI. He received a special ed preschool, speech therapy, OT and a lot of support.

My DD had no services before three (didn't qualify). however, at three she received speech therapy and OT in her private regular ed preschool (which cost me a blinkin fortune and was not covered) At four, she received a SpecEd teacher to come into the regular preschool class to work with her.

I have to push very hard to get the services my kids received. Very little comes automatically, IME. I literally visited every special ed preschool program in the county when my boy was turning 4, because I was not happy with the one the school district recommended at first.

I HTH

-Paula

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 02-18-2008 - 9:46pm

What they said.

IEP's aren't diagnosis specific, they are driven by a child's individual needs. In fact, some kids with PDD-NOS may not qualify for special education preschool while others may need a full time program with lots of 1:1.

Is your son in early intervention? If so they will start talking to you soon about the transition process and testing. Typically they will start testing by 2years 9 months with an IEP meeting to go over all the results and determine services sometime before the 3rd birthday.

If your son is not in Early Intervention then I suggest you start contacting either EI or the school district. I see he is 2.6. Some birth-3 programs won't even touch a kid close to 3 and some school districts won't test until 3 if a kid is not already in a birth-3 program. Get him in ASAP if he isn't because the cut off is usually 2.9 or sometimes a little earlier. You are going to want to find out what the process is now. It seems to me that his birthday is somewhere in the summer and you may have to wait until next school year if you don't get started pretty soon.

My Cait turned 3 in May. We didn't have her in EI and had her tested privately that May. By the time we figured out she was delayed and needed to be tested we had to wait the entire summer and then go through the testing process the beginning of the next school year. She started in November.

She has done well and over all I would say that the wait didn't hurt her at all but it was GRUELING for me at the time.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-14-2007
Tue, 02-19-2008 - 9:40am
Thanks all!
I'm SO glad to hear that it's specifically tailored...with all the stories I've heard about school districts, I was thinking it might e a "one size fits all" approach.
Jack is involved in EI, but is not receiving services as our Insurance currently covers his OT/ST 2 times each a week. That will run out in May, and then they will help with some of the costs from May-August. We have our IEP meeting in April (a bit early since I have a C-Section in Mid-May). He had the evaluation done by EI...so will he get another one in April by the school district?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-19-2008 - 10:06am

They may use the one from EI if it was done recently. They may also just do some things that weren't done as part of his EI testing. For instance if any new areas of concern came up, etc.

This can vary state to state but typically schools do their own as the child is transitioning in. They may utilize part or whole of his EI one if it was recent and pretty accurate to where he is at now.

School testing is done for 2 reasons. 1) to see if the child qualifies for special education and 2) to see what their strengths and needs are specifically so they can plan the childs IEP and services.

renee

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