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Hi, I'm pretty new to this board and have lots of questions, but this one is the one I'll ask tonight....Here's the situation. We recently moved into a great school district (not by chance, either! It took much planning and research). Libby (almost 3 mild ASD recently dx'ed) started at the new school and she is in the ECDD classroom. I meet with the teachers and therapists next week to establish a new IEP and see how their evals of Libby are. To my dismay, my husband got the job offer of his life out-of-state and so we made the tough decision for him to take this job. So we will be moving out of this great school I worked so hard to get her in by Jan-Feb 08. My question is this: Should I put my foot down and demand for the school to get her AI certified before we make this out-of-state move? How long of a process is this? And is AI cert. necessary for her to obtain ABA or other therapies for ASD in any school she may attend? I'm so new to all of this and trying to make the best decisions for her future and all this moving is just really really hard. I would welcome any and all advice on this AI certification thing....I'm not really sure I completely understand what it is for and what it means. And since she has a mild case of Autism is it possible she would be rejected services by the school standards? (I had her dx-ed by child psychologist) Thanks so much. AI is Autism Impaired. That's the term the schools here in Michigan use to refer to ASD kids for them to get the special "Autistic" services within the district. I guess I'm just not sure it's worth the trouble and red tape of having everybody at the school re-evaluate her to get her AI certified. I mean, I've already had her dx'ed by a child psy. I guess my main concern is that I want to be sure that her dx holds up when we move out of state in a few months. I thought that possibly having her dx'ed by the Michigan school standards would maybe hold up better transfering to Kansas (where we are moving). I dont want there to be any chance she is not eligible for the same services she is getting here when we move. I am not sure about the AI thing. My son has mod/severe autism and I haven't heard anything about that. He is still in preschool so maybe it is different in grade school but we are in Kansas and that hasn't been brought up at all. As far as I can tell he doesn't get any special treatment because he is autistic. He gets speech therapy and they do some ABA but he doesn't get hours and hours of it week...more like 2-3 hours a week with a speech therapist and the rest of the time in special education preschool. It seems that a lot depends on the school district. They have been great but made it clear from the start that they wouldn't pay for full on ABA one to one which is what the child psych recommended originally. Do you know where you will live? I used to have the name of an advocate in the area but she no longer works in the area. We are moving to a suburb of Wichita, not yet sure where exactly. Hmmm...I was afraid the services might not be comparable to here and it sounds like I may be right. Well, if you are from anywhere around Wichita or can help me in any way, I'd be very grateful. Thanks.We are from near Kansas City so unfortunately, I can't say for sure. It seems to vary based on the school district but so far I haven't seen anything that gives us extra service based on the fact that he is autistic. Overall, we have been happy with my son's service and progress but we haven't demanded a whole lot yet. The real test will be next year when he goes to Kindergarten.Since you are moving out of state, you might have to go through it again because I think state laws vary. I'm not sure if Michigan's certification for AI is easier or harder to get than other states. I think it depends on district. I used to work in another county in Michigan and was appalled that some of the kids I worked with as a therapist couldn't get the AI. I live in another county and I am in the process of getting my son certified as AI. I also work in the Early Intervention program and it seems like they are pretty reasonable about certifying. I know that if my son is certified as AI, he will get a part time or full time parapro to help with things like PECs and keeping him interacting. This will be helpful because otherwise I think he could just get lost because he isn't really a behavior problem. I don't know if you can get ABA if they don't typically use it in their programming. I would be curious to know this. I think you should!!I am in Michigan also, and when we move into a NEW school mid year the new school adopts the current IEP. They never changed labels until a NEW MET is done...which is when everyone gets together and does NEW assessments on the child. Getting the testing and AI label now will give the new school district the background on what tests have been done already. Yes...you might have to go thru it all again but I really think getting the AI label now might be more helpful when you move. Where in Michigan btw...I am over near Lake Michigan in Allegan County. Getting the AI certification really depends on the school district we had 2 districts that weren't helpful at all and denied Jesse from age 2 until age 9 when we moved to a new district and when his label for Speech was going to be dropped and they were left with OHI...the new Social Worker came to me and suggested Autism. Getting the label this last time was a snap because everyone was on board. Good luck. |
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