Daniel's Next Step... IEP and Special Day Class

Shortly after Daniel was "officially" diagnosed with autism, he (we) were set up with Holdsambeck Associates to be assessed for ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) services. The next step with school, since Daniel was almost 3, was to have an "official" school assessment.  We scheduled the the first "official" IEP (Individualized Education Program) for Daniel with the school, this will be updated annually.

The assessment consisted of the special education teacher, school nurse, school psychologist, speech teacher, the school district's special education coordinator, and of course - us.. They would test him for fine and gross motor skills, general skill level, basic hearing and vision, education level. All these things would be measured against certain criteria that would show what age level he appeared to be at vs. how old he really was. Daniel showed several delays, the gap - which had grown since his first assessment with the regional center. This was very concerning to us, however, we had options on where he could be placed. Our options included an SDC (Special Day Class - Preschool) or a PALS (Playing to Learn and Socialize) program.

Because Daniel had retained what we thought were social skills, we all decided together as a group to place him in the SDC (it was, of course ultimately our decision). The best part was the SDC was a little less structured, and if it worked, he would not have to be in a structured program at school, and then at home as well.