IEE/ FBA for 9yo son with Autism
Help! Our 9-year old son, who is diagnosed with Autism as well as sensory processing disorder and anxiety, is having tons of behavior problems in his 4th grade class. We feel like we need more than the school's assessment, particularly in regards to what he needs and how to best help the situation. We are getting daily emails and phone calls about incidents. We are in the process of asking for an independent educational evaluation (IEE) and would ideally like to find a psychologist that can do the outside evaluation as well as a functional behavior assessment (FBA), and who has expertise specifically around evidence based interventions for Autism. Any recommendations greatly appreciated!
Dec 7, 2017
Parent Replies
Please check in with DREDF on how to request the IEE. Most health insurance will cover functional behavioral assessments and services for those with a clinical dx of autism. You may also want to explore eligibility for regional center services.
Dr Terry Doyle in Rockridge is GREAT. Remember, the school has to reply to your request for IEE within a 'reasonable amount of time.' If they don't, you can file a complaint with the California Department of Education (which is what we did and it was super helpful). DREDF can help a ton there too. BUSD has a terrible record in 'help' for kids with learning disabilities. You have to advocate hard for your kid.
Hannah Acevedo has been a lifesaver, and has very much helped our school situation with our son (who sounds similar)! She is an educational psychologist with neuropsych training, also is a behavior analyst and I think she does IEEs as well as FBAs. Hannah really "got" our son and was totally up on the latest evidence-based interventions for Autism, and she worked to make things doable for us and the school (which the last neuropsych we saw did not). She also took the time to collaborate with our son's OT in creating the behavior plan to take into account our son's sensory issues and how they related to his anxiety. She is down to Earth, has tons of experience working with schools and families, and does excellent evaluations. Her latest contact info is: https://www.pathwaystolearning.services/ or hannah [at] pathwaystolearning.services, 510-730-1537
Use Dredf to follow the right process to request an IEE. To be eligible you must have an bad Iep. You are not saying in which
district you are. FYI Berkeley unified has currently a class law suit against them as they are denying services to dyslexic, autism children.
do not hesitate to contact Dredf they know the law to help children with disabilities. Be prepare to advocate for your child because nobody as better knowledge on what (s)he needs.