Reducing Services?

Has this happen to anyone?

DD was diagnosed with PDDNOS at 18 months. She officially started getting ABA services in October. she started with 16.5 hours of ABA therapy. a month later they worked in a few more sessions so DD was getting 22.5 hours a week. DD had a speech therapist on the team however she would be doing ABA therapy. my 2nd IFSP meeting I asked for speech. instead they gave me an extra session of ABA that the speech therapist would be doing...but to me ST was not the same as a ST on the ABA team.

on my 3rd IFSP meeting that I called, I asked for speech and got her 3x a week on top of her 24 hours of ABA therapy. She started Speech in Jan. so now her 6 month eval is up. she scorred average in 3 of the 5 categories. she scored slightly below avg in communication and social.
her speech scores are also average. she scored on the lower end of the avg.

It was great to hear all this progress. but in speaking with all the therapist and also the coordinator at the school/therapist, they think that EI will reduce her services and especially take away her speech.

I definitely dont want her speech taken away since that is suppose to help with the spontaneou and more naturalistic communication/language.

I am just trying to prepare myself for the meeting and don't know where to start. So i was looking for any comments, opinions or stories of yours to share so I can figure out a game plan at the next IFSP meeting.

DD still has problems answering to her name or looking at her. most of her language is all scripted or phrases she remembers from books, shows or from us promtping her and teaching her.

I am not sure what EI looks for and is most concerned about during this time. I dont think she will lose all services b/c she has a diagnosis but what is the least amount they can reduce it to?

Reducing Services?

I work in EI and hold IFSP meetings. If you want to FM me her receptive/expressive scores I might be able to give you an idea of what to have prepared to fight at the IFSP meetings. Do you have an Ongoing Service Coordinator? They really should be the one that is helping you with this, its there job to make sure you are getting the services your DD is eligible for. When you FM me her scores let me know if its the PLS 5 that the SLP used or if its a different test. Also, include her scores from her previous evaluation so I can see the progression.