ECDP Cut Backs - Getting An Assessment

It seems that getting an assessment done isn't as easy as I would have thought.

The problem lies in the fact that children aren't usually 'verified' at such a young age.  Usually special needs kids are verified near the end of prep year (when they are between 4 1/2 and 5 years old).  The Queensland Department of Education defines this as:

     Verification is the process of confirming that a student’s identified impairment 

     and the associated educational impact which require significant education 

     adjustments meet DET criteria. The verification process involves data gathering 

     on both the impairment and the educational impact.

Since I can't get a proper verification done I'm trying to get our ECDP guidance officer and Connor's therapists to do ABAS and screening tests to give me some idea of what he is capable of and what he really needs.  Unfortunately no one is keen.  The kind of testing I need really isn't designed for non-verbal 3 years olds.  Connor's speech therapist thinks Connor will bomb using the testing methods available, but he also thinks Connor is a smart little cookie who isn't interested in playing the game and following test rules.

An ABAS was done that showed Connor doesn't fit the mould.  It's not immediately apparent that he needs Special School, but they still have no idea what he does need.  His speech therapist has let me schedule a meeting with him next week to see if we can do some sort of meaningful test.  So that is something at least.

Qld Ed have really put parents in an impossible situation.  Our kids are too young for us to understand what they need and where they should be educated (special school or supported main stream school), but we have to make the decision before they are ready because now there is no support and no help.  And we have to put them into schools that are under resourced and unprepared for kids as complex as our kids are.  This situation is not going to go well.  They are failing our kids and they are failing us.

My stress levels are certainly going up, but I'm still making phone calls and trying to push forward.