Re: Question about OT

May 18, 2007

Find out of OT and speech evals are part of the evaluation at the autism center and, if so, do they have therapists who are convenient for you to get to that will accept those evaluations for treatment. If it does not and you want private therapy outside the school system, then you will more than likely have to pursue an independent evaluation, as most therapists/therapy facilities do not accept the school's evaluations to base their private treatment on. If you pursue outside evaluations for OT/ST/PT, have your pediatrician write a prescription for each discipline for "evaluate and treat" and list your child's current diagnosis(es) on the prescription. If you are pursuing an OT evaluation because your child has low tone, poor motor skills, etc., ask your pediatrician to use those diagnoses or whatever he/she feels is appropriate, as those are what you are wanting treatment for at this point. The therapist will do the evaluation and determine what the focus needs to be on once the evaluation is complete, but you will have a much easier time, in most cases, having your insurance (if you have private insurance) pay for a diagnosis other than autism/PDD. The same goes for speech therapy. Also, check your insurance for their coverage limitations/exclusions for developmental delay, as a lot of times the speech therapist will give a diagnosis that falls under those ICD9 codes, i.e., the 315s, after they do their evaluation. My insurance covered developmental delay codes up until my son turned 5. After that, we had to jump through hoops to get it paid until I got advice to discuss with the therapist if he fit the diagnosis of aphasia, which my insurance does cover.

Also, keep in mind when deciding whether to have an independent evaluation and private therapy, that the therapy your child receives at school is geared to help him function in the school setting, not the home/outside world as such, and a lot of times is only provided in small group setting, not individually, due to the high demand and lack of therapists.

I apologize if I sound pessimistic, but I know my child has gotten so much more out of his private therapy than he has out of his school-based therapy, as the transition to and from therapy take up part of the time allotted, so that 30 minutes of therapy in reality is usually only about 20 minutes Beasley Home Interiors & Gifts 770-603-0325 www.homeinteriors.com Home Interiors also offers fundraising with a 50% profit for the group holding the fundraiser. For more information, see fundraising on the website or contact me at (770) 603-0325 for a fundraising package.

From: <jenniferdoxakis@...>Reply-autism To: autism , GA-ChildrensNetwork Subject: Question about OTDate: Fri, 18 May 2007 15:09:09 -0700 (PDT)

The school is going to do a OT evaluation for my son. Should I also have the ped give a referral for one outside the school system? I had called and left a message for her a few days ago about the referral before I had the IEP meeting. Can I do both or is the schools evaluation enough?

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May 18, 2007

If you disaggree with the school evaluation you have the right to request in writing that an independent evaluation be done at school expense; they have a certain time frame of days in which they have to respond to your request. Marilyn Pyles <jenniferdoxakis@...> wrote: The school is going to do a OT evaluation for my son. Should I also have the ped give a referral for one outside the school system? I had called and left a message for her a

few days ago about the referral before I had the IEP meeting. Can I do both or is the schools evaluation enough? www.ourchurch.com/member/b/amyangel/ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell.

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May 19, 2007

This is what the parental rights, revised October 2006, say regarding independent evaluation. It is taken directly from the www.doe.k12.ga.us website under exceptional students. Link to parenteral rights document is at bottom right corner of the screen.

INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION:

Independent educational evaluation means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district responsible for the education of your child.

Public expense means that the school district either pays for the full cost of the evaluation or ensures that the evaluation is otherwise provided at no cost to you, consistent with the provisions of Part B of the IDEA, which allow each State to use whatever State, local, Federal and private sources of support are available in the State to meet the requirements of Part B of the Act.

If you request an independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense, your school district must, without unnecessary delay, either: (a) File a due process complaint to request a hearing to show that its evaluation of your child is appropriate; or ( Provide an independent educational evaluation at public expense, unless the school district demonstrates in a hearing that the evaluation of your child that you obtained did not meet the school district’s criteria.

1. If your school district requests a hearing and the final decision is that your school district’s evaluation of your child is appropriate, you still have the right to an independent educational evaluation, but not at public expense.

2. If you request an independent educational evaluation of your child, the school district may ask why you object to the evaluation of your child obtained by your school district. However, your school district may not require an explanation and may not unreasonably delay either providing the independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense or filing a due process complaint to request a due process hearing to defend the school district’s evaluation of your child.

You are entitled to only one independent educational evaluation of your child at public expense each time your school district conducts an evaluation of your child with which you disagree.

1. Right to obtain an independent educational evaluation by a qualified examiner.

2. Right to have the independent evaluation obtained at either public or private expense considered in either meetings where placement or program decisions are made or in a hearing regarding a free appropriate public education.

3. Right to be told where an independent evaluation may be obtained at no expense or low expense.

4. Right to an independent evaluation at public expense under the same criteria as those used by the public agency under which the evaluation is obtained, including the location of the evaluation if you disagree with the agency's evaluation, except that the public agency has the right to initiate a hearing regarding a free appropriate public education to show that its evaluation is appropriate.

5. Right to an independent evaluation at public expense when the evaluation is requested by a hearing officer during a hearing.

From: Marilyn Pyles <hillbillyhelper2@...>Reply-autism To: autism Subject: Re: Question about OTDate: Fri, 18 May 2007 19:50:00 -0700 (PDT)

If you disaggree with the school evaluation you have the right to request in writing that an independent evaluation be done at school expense; they have a certain time frame of days in which they have to respond to your request.

Marilyn Pyles <jenniferdoxakis > wrote:

The school is going to do a OT evaluation for my son. Should I also have the ped give a referral for one outside the school system? I had called and left a message for her a few days ago about the referral before I had the IEP meeting. Can I do both or is the schools evaluation enough?

www.ourchurch.com/member/b/amyangel/

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May 19, 2007