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Have teachers made recommendations for evals or testing?

smerkasmerka member
in Special Needs
This came up on another board so I thought I'd ask here. Did any of your kids' teachers make the recommendation to have your kids tested or did you make it happen without teacher input? My son's teachers and therapists have never mentioned autism, but they all seemed relieved when I told them that we are in the process of getting him evaluated. When I talked to some teacher friends and my husband, who is also a teacher, they said that they are not allowed/supposed to make recommendations to get evals done because they are not trained to make that call ( not doctors) and then the school district would have to provide additional services. By the time they get to junior high, all the teachers know which kids need a diagnosis/services, but they can't really say anything. What's been your experience?
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Re: Have teachers made recommendations for evals or testing?

  • d.fd.f member
    When I asked if we needed to see a DP in preschool his team was non-committal.  I took that as the go ahead to get him on the wait list.  When I asked point Blank if in their non-medical opinion I should expect any diagnosis.  Most were non-committal but his SLP did say she didn't think it was Autism because her son was Dx'ed with AS (and eventually 'lost' the Dx in favor of ADHD) and my DS wasn't like him....

    After Dx I did ask his SpEd teacher (who I absolutely adore) if she knew all along that we were looking at an ASD Dx and she said yes but his skills were uneven so she wasn't absolutely positive and she couldn't say anything.

    His Kindergarten team has made reference to a first grader who is on the Spectrum(in the context of strategies that have worked in the past) but un Dx'ed (They didn't refer to him by name but I know who he is from observing the classroom last Spring)

    DS 09/2008

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  • funchickenfunchicken member
    I have had teachers recommend evaluations. DD1's threes teacher said it was worth trying even though she didn't think DD would qualify. She went to a private preschool, and the teachers encourage parents to ask about developmental concerns--they include info in the packet we get at the beginning of the year. 

    DD's kindy teacher kicked off the CST process at my request, and we talked about it at length at our first conference. We wrote four accommodations into her education plan, and they've worked really well. While the teacher had to change her approach with DD, I don't think it's created more work, and the year has gone much more smoothly. I get why the district might discourage it because of resources, but if anything, it's made DD's teacher's life easier because she's no longer trying to teach a stressed out, disruptive kid.
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  • bumpuser511563bumpuser511563 member
    DS had an IEP in place at 2 1/2 years old at the district preschool but when DS was 3, the school and daycare kept calling me every single day due to behavior issues. It drove me up the freaking wall and out of frustration and stress,  I demanded that DS be evaluated in every area by the school district in January of 2013.

    At that time DS had his medical diagnosis of ASD completed by the time the district started their evaluation.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
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  • thetwinkies&Vivithetwinkies&Vivi member
    As a (private) preschoolcol teacher, I feel it's my obligation to mention something to the parents if something seems to warrant evaluation. My director is more "its not our place." But, hello, if your kid is with me a good chunk of the day, you need to know what's going on. There's a reason I send home daily forms and talkmwith parents about their day whether its good, bad, neutral.

    DD1 goes to the school I teach at. Her teachers mentioned specific behaviors and off days but never said more. When I told them we were already pursuing evals, they were supportive and opened up to more information exchange.

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  • ecotime47ecotime47 member

    One more thing about the public school system that causes me to raise my eye brows a bit. I understand their position on it but come on, do they really expect their teachers to just ignore the fact that a child in their classroom would greatly benefit from a different kind of learning environment? Crazy. 

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  • bumpuser511563bumpuser511563 member
    If I waited for the teacher to point it out to me to evaluate, DS would fall behind in skills with lack of therapies and it would be too late. At the time I looked like a crazy mom but wanted DS's needs for therapy met.

    I had to get private OT to hold me over until the school OT evaluated and realized he needed help.
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  • lite-brightlite-bright member
    The first teacher to mention something to me in regards to DD1 was at a twice-weekly toddler class through a city parks & rec program. She basically said something along the lines of, now that DD1 has been in this program for several sessions, we expect to see more progress than she's making; she doesn't process things like the other kids; have you had her evaluated? 

    There was no mention of a specific dx, but it confirmed for me that little things that were worrying me were issues that I was right to worry about. I immediately called our pedi for a referral; we started with a private speech eval and were told we needed a full evaluation. Autism dx several months later. The same teacher, when I shared the dx, introduced me to another parent with a kid in the same class, who had an older son with ASD (the first parent I knew IRL who also had a kid on the spectrum). 

    Being set on that path at age 2 rather than when DD1 hit preschool put us 18 months ahead. I'm sure it was a risk for that teacher, who wasn't even part of a school, just a community program; I'm not even sure what her level of certification is/was, and her 90-minute, twice-weekly program certainly had no obligation/ability to do testing or provide services. Maybe she had a relative or friend or child on the spectrum, maybe she just had a lot of experience. But she recognized issues and spoke up long before my pedi would've seen those things in a 30-minute well check. 

    I know some parents would've reacted badly. But I'm so, so grateful that she shared a professional concern and suggestion -- and it was icing that she was also able to point me to another parent who became an early guide for me. 
    image

    DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
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  • d.fd.f member
    I should say that it was absolutely the SpEd teacher who spear headed getting DS evaluated in the preschool setting (where they classified him as a preschooler with a disability). She brought the social worker in and approached me about starting the IEP process. I was only speaking towards recommending private evals,

    DS 09/2008

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  • ecotime47ecotime47 member

    @-auntie- Thanks for the welcome :)

    I agree with you. I probably could have phrased it better, but when I said "greatly benefit from a different kind of learning environment" I did not mean to imply a differnt place. I meant a different approach within the classroom.

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