Expiration of diagnosis?

[KimPM]

Is there such a thing as an expiration of a diagnosis, for school purposes?  What I mean is, do you have to get a reevaluation every year if you need some kind of accomodation via IEP or 504?

We're homeschooling now, and I am planning to keep homeschooling, but DH's health has not been the best and I'd like to be informed in case I have to consider another optioon.

[StephandOwen]

The school does a new evaluation every 3 years to determine what services ds needs. It's not necessarily an "expiration", just a re-evaluation to ensure the child still qualifies under whatever diagnosis. An IEP is good for 1 year and then a new one needs to be written.

[KCMichigan]

Originally Posted by KimPM 

Is there such a thing as an expiration of a diagnosis, for school purposes?  What I mean is, do you have to get a reevaluation every year if you need some kind of accomodation via IEP or 504?

Originally Posted by StephandOwen 

The school does a new evaluation every 3 years to determine what services ds needs. It's not necessarily an "expiration", just a re-evaluation to ensure the child still qualifies under whatever diagnosis. An IEP is good for 1 year and then a new one needs to be written.

Ditto this.

Depending on the DX and its implication for the childs education.

A child with a medical condition or disability, but no academic implications ( or delays) would most likely be on a 504 rather than an IEP.

Exceptions being students with severe behavior concerns, moderate to severe ASD, or sometimes Deaf/hard of Hearing (they would be on an IEP in a class that uses alternative communication such as ASL ) that are on grade level, but may need a specialized classroom, have safety concerns, or communication needs. This also varies by state and school district.

Some areas do full inclusion for above students, some do pull out, team teaching, and others have separate classrooms or a continuum of the above. There is a large push for full inclusion, but that varies in its implementation.

Students with learning disabilities are almost always on an IEP for specific academic goals/objectives.

IEPs are for disabilities that impact educational progress. 504 are for disabilities that do not impact education, but do require the child to have modifications in place for success in the classroom setting. A little known fact, you CAN get Ot & PT on a 504 if needed.

So-- a child with an ADD/ADHD, speech,mild cerebral palsy or other medical dx may still not be on an IEP if they are academically on track. The disability has to impact their education.

If you start public school and have never attended-- most likely they would do a full evaluation. If there is a medical diagnosis (diabetes, epilepsy, physical disability)- they will request  documentation from your Dr. BUT a medical dx does not always relate to school services or an educational diagnosis. A full eval would most likely include testing in the areas of concern ( fine motor, speech, gross motor, etc), academic achievement levels, and ability testing. Sometimes the exception to the intensive testing is speech only  IEP services.

If you have had a school based eval in the past three years, they may just rewrite the IEP. Although since it looks like your DS is just past age 5-- an IEP she may have had from age 3-5 would need to be redone anyhow. Spec.Ed. in K-12 is a little different than 0-3 or 3-5- the qualification and services offered vary.

IEP evaluations are done every year to update goals and objectives of the IEP. Every three years, it is determined to see if the child still requires IEP services and meets the qualifications for needed the services.

HTH!

For example:

One of my DD has a PDD_NOS and mild CP dx. She was on an IEP for preschool & PreK  for OT and PT. In K she will be on a 504 since academically she is above or at grade level (some delays in gross motor skills & social quirks). Her PreK and preschool was in a  General Education setting.  I doubt she would qualify for services for PDD_NOS anymore since she has made such good gains- so she has a medical dx through a neurologist, but will not get an 'educational one' ( defined as qualifying for Austism Services through the schools). DH and I are ok with this since she does well in a general education setting and has made HUGE gains over the past year- if we were worried if she would not function well without more support in a regular K class, DH & I would fight for an IEP. Her 504 will adderess her social quirks, sensory problems, and fatigue (due to the mild CP). She will not get OT or PT anymore (and does not get them now-- she will start K in the fall).

Her twin (also a DD) will also be on a 504 & health care plan for bathroom needs. She is not 100%  continent due to a digestive disorder and wears pull ups.  She , also, is  above grade level expectations. 

Edited by KCMichigan - 3/27/11 at 11:13am

[KimPM]

Thanks for the replies!  Lots of good information.  My DS has an ASD diagnosis (Aspergers) we paid for privately, not through the schools; so would that be considered a medical diagnosis?  And that's the diagnosis that I'm hoping does not need to be repeated should I need to send him to a school.   So, I guess the school evaluation would happen anyway, whether we had a private dx or not.  And it sounds like the school would take the private dx as input for their evaluation.  I'd be concerned about getting him support for sensory issues, anxieties, and social skills.  He also sometimes needs help pottying.  Otherwise he's never been in a school type setting, so I have no idea how it would actually go for him -- but with no support I'm envisioning it wouldn't go well at all.

Also - DS has lots of food allergies, but so far they are not anaphylactic and we don't have an epi-pen.  He's only allergic if he eats the food (or has it on his skin for long enough), but not if he's in the same room with the food, like you might see with a bad peanut allergy.  We don't have this officially doctor-diagnosed either, so I guess I'd have to get that done when and if necessary.  I'd pretty much be concerned with the off chance that he might eat something somebody else gives him - though with his serious food aversions, it's probably not a huge problem.

Edited by KimPM - 3/28/11 at 10:35am

[Polliwog]

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My DS had full private evaluations (with a psychologist and an OT) before we met to initiate the IEP process. I brought the reports with me to the meeting and the team decided that those parts would not have to be done again. The private evaluations became part of the record. There were a few smaller evaluations/observations that the school did but they were no big deal

[KimPM]

Originally Posted by Polliwog 

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My DS had full private evaluations (with a psychologist and an OT) before we met to initiate the IEP process. I brought the reports with me to the meeting and the team decided that those parts would not have to be done again. The private evaluations became part of the record. There were a few smaller evaluations/observations that the school did but they were no big deal

Sounds like your DS's evals happened not too long before you had the IEP meeting.  Okay, thanks.

[anj_rn]

Ok, I would like to make a couple of clarifications.  The school can not diagnose your child, they can (and will) assess your child for disabilities that require intervention/treatment in order for your child to acheive educational goals.

There are 2 types of diagnoses, acute and chronic.  Acute are short term (ear infection, pneumonia, injuries).  Chronic are long term (diabetes, dysphagia, seizures).  They do not expire, but they can be outgrown (i.e. a preemie can require a g-tube for dysphagia, or dysfunctional swallowing, but learn to swallo eventually and lose the diagnosis).

The diagnosis you have now should be sufficient for the school to evaluate your child.  IEPs and 504s are completed annually with the school.  IEPs require ARD meetings since your child learning functions are involved.  504s do not, since they do not involve education (so children who require blood sugar monitoring, cathing, etc, but are functioning at grade level.  Specifically you would have to have an IEP fine motor problems that limited your writing ability, but not for being wheelchair bound and needing extra time to change classes.