Susan: Our 17 year old son had an IEP for autism, and was evaluated 3 years ago, with this diagnosis. Since then, he spent 5 1/2 months in residential treatment at an independent clinic, and autism was absolutely excluded as his diagnosis. His new diagnosis from the independent clinic is anxiety disorder and depression. Can we compel the school to do new testing / evaluations with this in mind? Thank you!
Susan –
The school must re-evaluate your son’s needs at least every three years. So, if I am understanding you correctly, he would be due for a reevaluation now. Even if this is not the case, you may ask that he be reevaluated whenever there is a significant change in his needs.
As part of any reevaluation process, you can ask that the Team make sure to include specific areas that are of concern to you (e.g. his social emotional needs). You can also provide information for the Team to consider, orally or in writing (e.g doctor’s letters, records from hospitalizations, private evaluations, etc.).
Since he is 17. absolutely make sure that the evaluation assesses his transition-related needs!! See: https://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/what-is-my-parent-role-in-transition-assessments/.