Here we go again...

[Mynar]

My beautiful Athena, crazy little enigma...wonder if anyone has any input.

So at this point we currently have a provisional PDD-NOS diagnosis, along with a generalized anxiety/mood disorder and possibly selective mutism. At least that's this year's guess. She doesn't seem to fit into one specific category or another and no one can tell what causes what.

At this point, because of the selective mutism, the anxiety/mood treatments aren't working. Our psych has basically said if she can't get through to her soon, she's going to have to let us go - because there's not much else she can do to help her. The developmental pedi says she displays some autistic symptoms - refusing to make eye contact, lack of imaginative play, etc. - but because of other things can't full diagnose her as autistic either, hence the PDD-NOS.

We seem to have come down to two options:

1). Try a medication like Prozac to see if that calms the anxiety symptoms down enough to get her to participate in the therapies to see if we can make more progress with her that way.

2). Go to the school district and get an evaluation to see if we can qualify her for an IEP. If she does, then we can use the PDD-NOS diagnosis to apply for a scholarship in our state that will allow us to get treatments privately for the items on her IEP. This could be structured play groups, alternative therapies like aquatics or equine - stuff that our insurance won't cover and we definitely can't afford.

It seems like the IEP route is the best option - though I hate officially sticking a label on her. I'm also not sure what the school district looks for or how it would work out.

Anyone have any similar experiences and can share how it progressed?

[Gwenn]

You can't argue with free therapy...it's definitely worth a shot. Good luck!

Also, how old is she? I seem to remember you are homeschooling - is that still true? I can try to look up your state's criteria bit it will be different depending on whether she is preschool or school aged.

[Mynar]

She is 5, we will be starting kindergarten (homeschooled) this fall.

[Gwenn]

Here is the Ohio Dept of Education's list of special education eligibility categories: http://www.edresourcesohio.org/ogdse...n/6-8/document


Hopefully I remember your state correctly!

I don't know which, if any, she might qualify for, but possibilities include Autism, Developmental Delay, Emotional Disturbance, and even Other Health Impaired (given that she has a medical diagnosis of PDD-NOS). In my state, kids with PDD-NOS don't always meet the criteria for the Autism category and we have to find a way to fit them in, usually under speech-language impaired or OHI. Other kids do fit under Autism. The link describes each category, but I can't find specific enough information to know exactly what they are looking for - that may vary from district to district. It was a learning curve for me to discover where the cutoff was between which kids met the criteria and which didn't in my own state, and these categories all vary from one state and district to the next so I can't be any more specific than that, unfortunately. Sometimes it's really a judgment call anyway with kids who are borderline. Sometimes kids technically meet the criteria but they don't qualify because there really isn't an educational need, and other kids are a little above the cutoff but common sense and observation tells us they really do need it so we qualify them. That's why it's so complicated to say for sure.

One more thing to consider is that, since you are homeschooling, she would not be eligible for an IEP but instead an ISP. The difference is that the IEP (individual Education Plan) is focused on what the child needs for school. With an ISP (individual Service Plan), while the school still provides services, the focus is not on the classroom/school experience. I don't know how your school district would interpret that in terms of her social/emotional needs. For example, she wouldn't need to worry about speaking in front of a large group of students if she is homeschooled, so that could be a consideration when deciding what her educational needs are.

[Mynar]

Hmmm, maybe I should ask the homeschooling group if anyone has dealt with it? It does say that the scholarship can be used to send them to private school...but it does also say that they need to be enrolled in the local school district now that I read it closer...but I have to notify the local district of homeschooling as well, so I'm not sure how it all fits together...

[Gwenn]

If she lives within the district, that district has to provide services if she qualifies, but a district can offer fewer services because it is an ISP. I don't know the law in your state, but here I know they will provide speech and other therapies, but not support from a special Ed teacher. The reasoning is that you have chosen to educate her at home so are taking charge of anything in that area. Private school students also get an ISP. I would definitely ask the local homeschooling group about their experiences. I'm not trying to discourage you, though, just letting you know you may have to be more assertive.

[Mynar]

I just got a ton of information from the HSers...I'm being told that I would enroll her in school, get her an IEP, but I would never technically have to send her to school. I'm still trying to understand the whole process. We would technically be in school, but she wouldn't go - so we wouldn't have to declare her HS'd and she could participate in sports and extracurriculars through the school - it's very confusing. But apparently it is possible, though a time-consuming approval process, to do it...

[Gwenn]

I didn't know you could do that!

[DucksLikeRain]

My mom did that with my brother who is fairly severely affected by Aspergers for some of his years at school. He had an IEP, was enrolled in school, wrestled, chose to take choir and drama, but other than that he was homeschooled. They didn't do it every year-mom tailored each year to what he needed so some years the only class he did at home was math, others he did all but electives at home. It worked our wonderfully for him and is probably a big part of why he is now less than two weeks away from finishing his bachelors without any extra considerations at the college level. They didn't start doing the mixed learning environments until middle school but if mom had known it was possible she would have probably done it earlier.

[Gwenn]

That's awesome. It's like the best of both worlds.

[macksmom]

I got my 3yo speech services through our school district. I had to fill out all the same paperwork as I did for my 5yo in kindergarten. It's a PITA! Doctors notes, vaxes, proof of address - like a million proofs of address, papers notarized, the deed to the house, etc. If you rent you need your landlord to sign something - it's all to prove you can legally send your child to school in that district. My 3yo doesn't attend a public school at this time and wont for 2 years and when she does i will have to do this all over again! But I think it's just the steps you need to follow in order to qualify for services through your school district.

As far as homeschooling while enrolled in public school I have no idea what the deal is with that. Just wanted to throw in my experience in getting services through a school district.

Good luck!

[janben]

Wow Macksmom that's a lot of work! My 3 yr old qualified for speech therapy in March. We had to register him for the elementary school the SLP sees him at. I needed a copy of his birth certificate, his vaccination record and a copy of our electricity bill.