Re:need help on IDEA and qualification for early intervention

February 28, 2002

I can't help you much, but I will tell you what I have found out through my

daughter's " involvment " with EI.

First let me explain that I thought there was a problem with her speech since

she was around 2 yrs. her pediatrician didn't agree,

so finally I got in touch with EI. They accessed her as greater than 25 % delay

in communication. My problem is that since she

hasn't been diagnosied by a Dr.,which from what my ST told me today IS the one

that has to do the diagnosis, the kind of therapy

she is getting is probably not what she needs. They seem to think that she has

apraxia, which requires therapy 3 to 5 times per

week, but until I get that diagnosis she won't get that kind of therapy. She

does have an appointment with a new pediatrician

tomorrow, so maybe we will get the referrals we need.

What state do you live in ?

>Ok, I'm very confused about some things I had to deal with today.

First, my daugther just turned 2. Now here is my problem. Today we

>had a 2nd evaluation through our early intervention program. They

chose not to evaluate speech because 1)Kaeli was just evaluated by

>an outside, private therapist one month ago, and 2) the therapist

said she would be " overstepping " her ethical boundaries to do an

>evaluation on child that is already receiving services. The problem

is that without the evaluation they don't consider Kaeli eligilble

>for assistance under part C of IDEA.

>The reason they say she doesn't qualify is 1) on the evaluation that

was done a month ago by an outside evaluator, Kaeli was not 25%

>delayed (she was 23 mos and scored at an 18 mo level, she needed to

be at a 17 mo level) However, the therapist felt that Kaeli

>presented with enough characteristics of dyspraxia that she

recommended services. She wrote the diagnosis down as verbal

>dyspraxia. 2) The site coordinator said that the diagnosis can't

qualify her for services because they don't recognize dyspraxia as a

>disorder. And, the speech therapist said that she didn't feel that

a therapist could diagnose dyspraxai anyway and certainly not at

>this age. She told me the only person that could correctly diagnose

>apraxia is a neurologist.

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