Preface: Over the past few months I've been beyond impressed by the collective knowledge of the 11W Community.  Lot's of amazing insight and information provided in countless questions that have been raised in threads as well as topics created asking for advice.  I enjoy being able to provide my own insight & help when I can.  I apologize in advance to those who may not want to see a non-OSU athletics post in the forum (I also like to keep 11W pretty Ohio State focused) but thought I could use some parental insight on the topic of IEP's.  Not a horrible thread for an "Anything Else" post, and figured many others have experienced (or are experiencing) issues with their school.

IEP Advice / Help

So, we just had an IEP Meeting yesterday for our 5 year old son who just started Kindergarten.  We are pretty darn certain he is high-functioning/mildly autistic (formerly known as Aspergers).  "We" includes my wife and I, his Pre-K staff, his new Kindergarten teachers as well as a number of family members who work in special education and school psychology.  The many behavioral, social and sensory challenges align directly with a diagnosis of mild autism.  With this, we've scheduled a formal assessment with a neurologist which is in November.

So, this brings us to the IEP issue.  Unfortunately, the rest of the administration is the standard road-block obstruction type.  The only aspect they will acknowledge is the speech.  They can list the numerous behavior, social and sensory issues they've had but quickly say "it's normal Kindergarten stuff, they're all like that".  The problem is, the other kids are clearly not displaying these issues and the interventions they've been providing informally are all specific for special education students and not "general education" as they insist he is.  In the IEP meeting, it was clear the speech therapist was running the entire process (as well as the meeting) and we also have recently learned that she has been suppressing the input of the 3 Kindergarten teachers.  Principal has too.  When trying to speak for our son and the observations/concerns we had, the speech therapist was constantly interrupting us, redirecting or minimizing the bit we could speak about.  She also appeared to have made her own evaluations about him behaviorally and psychologically (though it's not her area of expertise).

So, the only item they would acknowledge and address in the IEP is his speech.  They've had 2 brief intentionally "informal" assessments made by an occupational therapist and the school psychologist, but they both seem incompetent, unmotivated and under the pressure of the speech therapist and principal to minimize everything (confirmed by the teacher, who has followed up with her union president).  We are definitely pushing forward with the requirement of a behavioral therapist and occupational therapist FORMAL evaluation which they've said they determined they won't do.

So, the items we're looking for some insight are:

• We want to begin the speech therapy as soon as possible, but cannot unless the IEP is signed.  We're hesitant in signing it so we can ensure the behavioral, occupational and psychological assessments can be included.  Should we sign the IEP and continue pressing for the other areas?  Specifically, don't we have the ability to push for a revision with any new information?
• Do you know of any good resources (websites, guides, books) for us to continue educating ourselves on?  We've done a ton of reading and research, but most of what we've found doesn't seem to help directly.
• Any advice in ways you've been able to navigate similar situations?

Note: We are in California, so any state specific help is greatly appreciated along with the nationally applicable regulations.

Thank you all in advance.  I wouldn't post the question if I didn't think the great 11W Community wouldn't be willing to help as well as have many others who could benefit from what you've learned through your trials & tribulations, or as an educator yourself.

Feel free to send me a direct message via 11W if you'd rather not post on here.

Go Bucks!