I think it is most important to figure out what interventions work, regardless of the diagnosis. IE, does he need a privacy board to reduce distractions, does he need more feedback, does he need physical workout (recess, heavy work) to relax and concentrate. Then advocate for those things.

in terms of getting the school to cooperate you can also try to seek out an advocate in your area who knows all the laws for your state and can advocate what the school is supposed to do for you.

I have argued again and again with 2 people who are in the school district about the issue of diagnosis. Some teachers in schools will argue back and forth on this and I'm saying - they are ignorant! They don't know what the tests are, who is entitled to give a diagnosis and they have no clue that a diagnosis of ADHD is different from PDD-NOS or Autism! A child can have all 3! People in schools don't even understand that a doctor who gives a diagnosis of moderate mental retardation for instance is only giving the child a test of their cognitive level of functioning and that Autism and ADHD are behavioral based diagnostic programs and that these tests are for entirely different reasons!!! If a child isn't performing well academically, or is developmentally delayed a nuerologist can give an IQ score but that is not a thorough diagnostic testing done by a multidisciplinary team!!! The teachers have no right to argue such matters!!! It's absurd, in my state they don't even consider a child's diagnosis as they prepare IEP plans - which is a horrible diservice to children on the Autism spectrum who often cannot function at age level to comply with ABA demands! Many get labeled non-verbal and simply not given the opportunity to develop eye contact or verbal communication if they are not just doing that at age 4. The Autism diagnosis is key to understanding these things. I can hardly believe how much work there is to be done just on the school level to educate about Autism!!!

Your son may have PDD-NOS and ADHD. But, that doesn't really matter. What matters is that you find the aproach that works for him. You need to consult an educational lawyer if you want school to cooperate. If you haven't looked into the social communicative approach to Autism, it is a consideration that can make a great impact. I'm not sure if this is the case for you but you want to come to the place where you are not just another person in your child's life who isn't sure what the challenges are and how to effectively help your child. You want to become a force of nature and an unstoppable advocate to educate others since you are your child's best expert! This approach really helped me do that effectively but I did have to remove my child from school for a time because I would rather see great developmental progress for him with an effective method than spend my time consulting with lawyers and trying to push my school district. www.autismtreatmentcenter.org