Autism Classification in NYS Hi, Do you have a decent relationship with the special ed teacher? If so, or even if you've never met him/her, I would suggest a meeting and bring the private eval with you. By discussing this with the teacher and sharing your concerns it will show you are acting in what you feel is your child's best interest  ( a favorite term of CSE members). And maybe this teacher will be more on-board and go to bat for you to get speech. I'd be very concerned that they might want to declassify your child. This year, I have seen a couple kids be declassified and they are still having issues (this was sensory disorder, not autism). They were transitioning from pre-k to kindy. And to add to NYMommy's post: in NYS, not only is child with autism required to get speceh 5 days a week at 30 minutes each day, it is only required that it be group therapy, but the group cannot exceed 2 students. My son actually gets 2 group, 2 individual and the fifth day is "indirect speech" where his speech therapist and regular teacher confer by phone or email. So, if you were to get the speech, just be aware that your CSE may interpret that five days differently. We didn't fight the fifth day because the regular teacher really wanted that confernce time built in, and since our son was getting 2 individual days he otherwise was not entitled to, we obliged. The school only has to "consider" your private evaluation.  Unfortunately, IDEA does not define consider.  Basically, it means they have to read the report and nothing more.  To qualify for speech services through the school district, your child must test below the 7% on two standardized tests or their language must be equal to their intellectual ability.  If the school says he does not qualify for services you can file for a Fair Hearing.  This is a long a difficult road and for most parents means hiring a lawyer or at least an advocate.  These are federal laws and your state may have some additional laws. Good luck.   My son dx by dev ped with PDD at 2 yrs 10 months has many sensory delays.  After a few years of speech therapy, OT, counseling and full day preK he has improved.  He is now in K and has autism classification.   The school told me during the 1st few weeks of school that he seems socially apropriate with peers and is keeping up with academics. They did speech assessment by school TSHH and said he was average and does not warrant speech services.  I had him tested privately by a SLP which showed receptive and expressive delays (son highly verbal, does not always understand,  speaks like 3 year old).  They are trying to act as if the private eval means nothing and insisting speech services not needed.  I know they are setting me up to declassify him before 1st grade.  Can they do this or can I just say NO?   He is doing well know, but what happens in ES when work and social interaction become more difficult?  Symptoms of PDD can improve but does it ever go away?   He also speaks sometimes from what I refer to as a "sensory standpoint".  Says things like "the playground hurts my ears" and "the playground hurts my brain"(instead of saying the playground is too loud).  He says his belly does not like water (which he drinks all the time).  Does anyone have experience with a child speaking from a sensory standpoint?  I also pushed for PT eval bc he tires out easily (low muscle tone). The PT eval showed he was in fact in need of PT for delays in locomotion and object manipulation. Back to speech, the ST said we can always add speech back into his IEP if the Spec Ed teacher sees a problem.  When my parent advocate pointed out that his IEP states autism classification & that he should receive speech based on NYS Law, the CSE said my son is not really meeting the criteria for autism because he is doing well with academics, eye contact has improved and he appears to be appropriate with his peers (though teacher stated he is OCD and tells peers how they need to do their work the right way).  They want me to agree to drop speech now and I think w/prob try to take away the autism classification in the Spring.    I don't think the school staff has experience w/mild autism and are trying to fit my son into a one size fits all category.  The preK psychologist said with my son it is subtle and readily apparent as he is mild PDD.  Any advice on how to handle would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!      If his IEP states "autism", by NYS law, he must be receiving ST 5x per week at a minimum of 30 minutes each.
	Copyright Autism-PDD.net