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What would you do? (diagnosis, transitioning to preschool program)

492 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  lightheart 
#1 ·
Hi! I need some input. My daughter has been involved with early intervention since she was 11 months. She is now 2 and a half. They are starting the process of transitioning her out of the program and into the preschool program in public schools. This past month she saw her pediatrician and was evaluated with the M-CHAT. It was found that my DD had many of the red flags. We contacted TEACCH in our region and they came out and saw her. They said she had enough red flags to get services in their early intervention program. But they will wait to formally evaluate her until after age 3.

Where I live, the transition process is often long and complicated. I worry that if she doesn't have a diagnosis (if she is in fact on the autism spectrum), then it might prolong things much more. She is only diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder and Mild speech delay as of right now. Would you just wait until after age 3 to seek a formal eval. or would you push for one now? I'm not sure which route is the best. I understand why they wait, but I don't want it to make a big snag in her services if she doesn't have the proper diagnosis.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
#2 ·
Where else were you considering taking her for evaluation? When we were concerned about our older two boys (both autistic) we started with our school district. They were already receiving services but we specifically requested an autism evaluation. Both boys were over 3 years old, though, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. Otherwise, if you have another resource for evaluation (developmental ped, etc.) you could certainly contact them and get on a waiting list or schedule an appointment. I tend to be impatient once I feel the need for something to be addressed so I like the get the ball rolling as soon as possible, but unfortunately there are often waiting periods of 2-3 months or more so it never seems to move as quickly as I would like ...
 
#3 ·
Is the TEACCH program the one before 3 or the one after 3?

Quote:
They said she had enough red flags to get services in their early intervention program. But they will wait to formally evaluate her until after age 3.
Will she be actually receiving services without the eval?

Quote:
I understand why they wait
Why do they wait, because she's in transition from the two types of service and it might add paperwork or another person must do the eval again? (if that's the case, bleh, who cares if it might complicate the paperwork for them, they are there to idenify and tprovide services for children who need them) If there is a reason why your daughter should wait because the type of tests they use are not designed for 2yr 6 mo olds, then fine, wiat.

Question. Is the scoring on the type of test different for the different age groups? Example for Social Security Disability purposes they have a set of guidelines for hearing impairdness, a child of a lesser age can have a lower hearing level than a child of a greater age. Trying to make it simple and i don't actually remember the numbers so this example is made-up... 1 bad. 10 good. A 2 year old can hear at level 7 and qualify. A 6 year old must hear at level 4 to qualify. Is there anyway they might be pushing you to wait so that they may noy actually give services once she is in the 3 yr old program?

For me, I am one to always want evaluations, whether actual services are received or not. It's nice having those baseline numbers. I would push for an eval to be scheduled.

In our state, services, actual services, through the over 3 program can be done before the actual 3rd birthday. 30,60,90???? days before.
 
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