I have no idea what impact that would have on his level of service. Someone else might be able to answer your question, but it would probably help to know on what basis they consider him "Multiply Disabled" and where the school is located.
In one school district, multiply disabled could mean a combination of mentally retarded plus speech impaired, orthopedically impaired or other health impaired. In another school district a Multiply Disabled program could be designed for students "with significant cognitive, social and physical needs."
I hope your friend is able to get the answers she needs for a smooth transition to kindergarten for her child.
A friend of mine has a ds with classic autism. He is going to Kindergarten next year and the district wants to classify him as multiply disabled. How will this effect his level of service? He is currently in an ABA-based program that is 1-1 and quite good. He will be continuing there in the Fall.
This has implications everywhere. The reason a school district would want to change a label is because then they can justify having the child's services provided by staff who work with multiply disabled kids as opposed to having him served by staff who work just with autists. The difference usually means level of training specific to autism by the staff.
We have highly specialized autism staff in our district as we have specific autism classrooms where everything in the environment and teaching is geared toward the best known research based autism strategies. Our district is in financial trouble and there are those who feel that it would be more cost effective to serve kids in less specialized groups. (Eliminating the need for specialized training, specific ratios, etc.)
One other thing that varies by state is case load size. In my state, the case load is the same number for autism or severely multiply impaired. However, this is something to check out in your own state.
Of course, if the child IS multiply impaired, it could be a better placement, even if autism is one of the impairments. One other thought.... in our district the multiply impaired rooms have a better (lower) ratio of students to staff, so we sometimes find ourselves in the position of choosing more 1:1 attention versus specific training. I know that is not how things SHOULD be done, but the reality I work in happens everywhere. (Except NY where there are laws)
In New York State and ONLY in New York State this will have a HUGELY negative impact. In NY, there are protections and guarantees for kids classified as autistic (200.13 in the Part 200), so if a child is classified multiply disabled, the school district is off the hook. This is a FINANCIAL decision on the part of the District. Have your friend INSIST on having her son classified as autistic. The truth is, my son IS classified as Multiply Disabled but that is because he HAS multiple disabilities -- autism AND hearing impairment. Most DIstrict abuse the category and put kids in who have, say, autism and ADHD. Those are NOT considered multiple disabilities according to the definition in the law. The definition states that multiple disabilities include only disabilities that typically cannot be addressed in the same sort of classroom. My son has to have a separate Teacher of the Hearing Impaired as a sort of resource room teacher. Autism and ADHD can be addressed by the same teacher and are ALWAYS addressed by the same teacher, since ADHD is an almost universal part of autism. Tell your friend to hold out for the autism classification so her son will be guaranteed DAILY speech therapy, the services of an autism consultant and so she can get parent training written into the IEP. These are the main protections of 200.13.Multiple disabilities does not mean the child doesn't qualify for autism services, especially if there is a doctor's report in the child's file. It means that the child has more than one disability that cannot be addressed in the same sort of program. My own son's file contains a report from his doctor that says my son qualifies for ALL services under the following categories: Autism (dx of pdd-nos), Hearing Impaired (moderate bilateral sensorineuro hearing loss), Other Health Impaired (Tourette's Syndrome) and Multiple Disabilities (because Autism and Hearing Impairment are sufficiently different). I agree that MOST schools try to use "Multiply Disabled" as a way around autism services. The LABEL doesn't drive services, NEED does. That's what Special Ed law has said from Day ONE and every reauthorization strengthens that. I'm glad you pointed out that these shenanigans happen even in states without guaranteed autism services.