Hi,
I don't know about DC, but Virginia has a large support group for parents, that helped me out some 30yrs ago when my son than now 32yr old man, who was put in a school system that worked with him from a 2 1/2year old until he graduated at 22yrs, they put him with a work group call Didlake who got him a job at Pentagon ,he has a job coach that keeps him on track. There is help out there don't give up keep researching until you get help knock down every special service and school until you get the one that fits
for your child.

DC is a terrible place for a parent with autism or has a child or adult with autism. Civil commitment guarantee that an autistic person will receive services for the Intellectually Delayed and parents will have no choice. I stayed too long & my daughter was committed

I agree dc r bad for these children however if u r lucky to get a preschool teacher who is sensitive to their learning styles
It can be a positive thing.
I provide a home daycare and my second dd who is almost 11 yrs old is ASD and I keep that in the back pocket.
Over 15 yrs I have assisted 2-3 families when I saw red flags.
So don't give up yet

@ElizabetheKatherinelsawak, what a tragedy! But I want to thank you for putting into words what I think is happening to too many of our kids. Within the autism section, there are those who have intellectual disabilities perhaps, but sometimes the educational services for the intellectually delayed are a disservice to those kiddos who can learn with the right tools.