Our local school system has set up an appointment to evaluate my 4 year old non verbal (knows 100s of words but is barely able to ask for things, is a gestalt learner) grandson. He attends a full time ABA therapy in a preschool setting, and thrives there. He still has some behaviors we are working on. Academically, he seems gifted, has been reading since age 2, and much more. We had reached out through child find to start the IEP process. From what I understand, this is done by your local public school system. We have no intention of him going to school here. This is because he is so different, we don't think they'll be able to meet his needs regardless of accomodations. We would prefer he go to a private autism school and are looking at several of those and applying. We have started the ESA process because these schools are not affordable without the scholarship. I am just now learning about FAPE. I do not understand what will happen at this evaluation they have scheduled. He has already been there once for them to attempt a vision and hearing screening. He refused at that time to cooperate, and threw a major tantrum because he wanted to go outside, as he seen other kids outside playing on equipment and ride on toys through their glass partition. They seen him at his worst on that day. I am not sure if this first meeting/evaluation they have scheduled is his first IEP meeting? They have not labeled it as such, I'm just assuming it is. Does he have to go to this? We already know how he will react, his will or will try to remove his clothes except for his pull ups, and he will likely not cooperate. In this scenario, I expect them to tell us they cannot handle him or his needs. Will they want to refer him out to another learning setting? There are special needs schools we DONT want him to go to as some use the old ABA methods that are punitive, etc. That is not how our current ABA therapy is. Do we get any choice in where he goes if they refer him to somewhere specific? Does that mean the school system pays for it? Should I be concerned about this, as I expect him to get funding through ESA? Can they trick us into signing away on FAPE, is that a thing? What does it mean if we sign anything? Can we refuse to sign? Sorry, for all the questions. VERY new here.
