Jan -- in an odd way, this is good news. I, too, would refuse testing based on the drug/alcohol abuse. Let them tell YOU how such a test could have a bearing on what services your grandson gets. It can't. And WHAT causes his deficits is not important. That he HAS deficits is. Tell them you'll be happy to have his areas of development tested anytime they need more info (like speech, OT, PT, sensory, social, academic, etc.) But you want any further testing to inform them about deficits that they can address.
I had the meeting to Determine Elegibility today. My 0-3 case worker was there as well as our st. The schools st ot pt spe ed teacher and director of student services. The school had decided not to do any evaluations as we had 4 done over the last year, all with the same diagnosis. They did all make a home visit , over the last few weeks,to observe when one of his current therapists were here. Apparently the state laws have changed recently.I wish I could copy this new dpi eligibility check list. Anyway, they said he met all the requirements for a educational diagnosis of autism. They also said he qualified under all the other categories as well. They talked about doing some further testing to see if, on top of the autisms speech and language issues, he could have further issues because of the drug and alcohol use during pregnancy. They told me they were well versed in autism and they could tell the difference. I may be paranoid, but I don't see how this could make any difference in services, unless there is something I don't know about yet. Other than that, I think it went really well. They acknowledged the need for speech ot pt the need for a sensory diet. We talked about his total lack of motor planning, understanding or making any requests, the horrible time with transitions blah blah blah... Happily, my case coordinator was taking lots of notes for me to follow up with. I will send a letter reitterating what they said, to make sure there is no question about addessing all of these issues at the upcoming iep meeting. Sorry to ramble on. This was my first school meeting. I'm still a little overwhelmed. Can't wait to order my book Saturday.