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| Helping Our Children |
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| Importance of Private Assessment |
 Assessments and evaluations are a critical part of treatment - it identifies the nature and extent of your child's disability. Before your child can begin receiving special education services, he/she must be deemed eligible for an IEP or IPP. The first step is a thorough assessment in all areas of known or suspected needs by the Regional Center and the school district. Evaluations are conducted by highly trained therapists utilizing a combination of standardized testing, observation, parent questionnaires, and review of previous reports. The findings are made available for the use by the IEP /IPP team. The evaluation will identify areas of strength and weakness, and will serve as the starting place/ baseline of your child's functioning from which the progress towards annual goals is measured. The evaluation also determines the type of services to be offered and the intensity of therapy which your child will receive over the coming year. If done on an annual basis, it reveals how far your child has progressed over the past year.
Parents should seriously consider getting the child assessed by an independent evaluator for the following reasons: (1) You may not agree with the results of the evaluation conducted by the school or the regional center - may it be the diagnosis itself, or the service recommended.(2) you want an honest, professional opinion and recommendation for treatment that is based on the needs of the child from someone financially neutral ? one who is not tied to any funding parties, or in the employee of the funding entity. (3) No matter how strongly YOU feel that intensive ABA is necessary, your opinion does not carry much weight, as you are considered "biased" - first as a parent, and secondly as a layperson. (4) you can be assured that an independent assessor won't have to adhere to any unwritten policy against the ABA program. The parent-secured evaluation conducted by qualified persons serves as a second opinion in determining the child's capabilities and present levels. It must be given the same credence as their district/ Regional Center counterparts.
In obtaining private assessments, it is important to find a doctor (psychologist, neurologist) who has a keen understanding of autism and ABA treatment. Call them and ask questions first. Don't be afraid to express your interest in seeing intensive ABA treatment in his/her recommendation. Ask to specify the hours of treatment (30-40 hours a week) in his/her recommendation. (Don't be shy. You are the one paying for the evaluation.) Talk to other parent support groups for referring reliable evaluators. (see LAFEAT.org) It is very important to make sure that your evaluator is able, willing, and ready to testify at the hearing should it become necessary in the future. Lastly, please be sure to check out our Foundation's Advocacy Grant program which provides financial assistance to qualifying families seeking private assessment.
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