My 4 year old is suspected by preschool teacher to be on ASD spectrum, probably HFA or PDD from my standpoint. Going to be 5 by the time school starts in Aug and going into public school pre k. Question is should I have a private veal now which will be a few months coming anyway cause of wait list, OR should I just wait till we get to school and let the pre k teacher inform me she thinks somethings up. The problem areas lie in social skills communicating a back forth convo with someone. By the time I even write the school system for an veal it will be time to start pre k anyways. I'm stumped, any advice.
The earlier the better, contact the public school now. Give the special education department a call, it usually doesn't take very long and you do not need to be enrolled in the school, just have to live in the district.
You can have the public school do an veal now but they cannot diagnosis you need to go to a specialist for that. From the time you contact them they have 5 business days to get back to you and 30 school days to do an evaluation. Start it now if you wait it might not be until half way into the year before you get in ISP meeting depending on when you request and how many holidays fall in that time. At least if you start it now you will have something in place with the school when sept rolls around.
The sooner the better. Get your ped to Rx an Eval. The sooner the better...always.
I am a Special Education teacher that works only with 3-5 year olds. The sooner the better! Early Intervention is the key to success!
Good Luck!
The sooner your child is evaluated the better the outcome. Don't wait. You are the only advocate for your child in the early years. Give them every possible chance for success.
