My son is high functioning and intelligent and mostly has social issues. He is a little behind but not much and still has an IEP, so you can still get it you would have to ask and maybe fight for it though from the sounds of it. The doctor did not do you any favors by wring up the 504 though

She's licensed as a school psychologist, but I don't think she's currently in that position with a district, though I get the impression she contracts out from a local district. (I have no idea how that would work.)

The problem with the communication deficit is that the rules are very clearly written about how much deficit and in how many areas there must be to qualify. Technically she does not qualify, because she only has a significant deficit in one area, and her average in the various areas is quite high. They would have to bend the rules to get her into speech therapy. If we can't arrange that (the counselor is talking to the SLP about it) then we might be able to cover the help she needs in the form of counseling or a social training group, since the pragmatics skill kind of falls in overlapping disciplines.

@A MyAutismTeam Member I agree, but there is no way this psychologist will do any more work on the case. It took five months of weekly pleading just to get this. I think she feels entitled to approach it this way because she's also a school psychologist. At any rate, I'm pretty sure we would never, ever get anything further from her with any amount of asking.

For clarification... the letter was from a diagnosing psychologist who specializes in ASD. She's not a school employee, and she did include the test result printouts. I didn't really understand why she gave the results in the form of a 504 eligibility letter, since that's not the only purpose for a diagnosis. In the case of my son, it is to quality for ABA therapy.

As far as IEP, neither my son nor my daughter (who now both have diagnoses) is likely to qualify for an IEP because they are well ahead of their peers in most academic subjects. Their deficits are all in areas of maturity, problem solving, and communication. (Though my daughter may qualify for speech therapy, depending on how the school takes the advice. Her deficit was not enough to qualify, but it was quite extreme in one limited area, pragmatics.)

From what I'm reading here, it sounds like what we got, though not ideal, is adequate?

Thanks!

If you want to get services through your health insurance or the Medicaid waiver, you will need a medical diagnosis from a M.D. (developmental pediatrician, pediatric neurologist, or child psychiatrist). Having that medical diagnosis can also help your child qualify for SSI payments if your family's income meets the eligibility for that program.