what happens at an initial CSPE evaluation?

My son had Ei for speech and OTand tested out at age 3. He wil lbe 5 in April and entering public school Kindergarten in the Fall. He has been in catholic school for two years. I am going to have an eval more for OT than anything else bc I dont like how he holds the pencil and writes. He is very smart,and i mean VERY smart, but I do notice some signs of what I assume to be OCD. He can be very hyper and the Pre-k teacher says he does have a hard time sitting still. On the other hand, while I have seen him get worked up and be hyper, he can sit and read books with an adult for hours. He can play games on the computer for great lengths at a time. I want to have full eval and my dh is agaisnt it bc he feels he is a normal 4 year old boy and will grow out of the hyper stage. What can I expect at the eval? As a teach of an ICT class( general ed teacher) I know I dont have to sgn any IEP if I dont agree with it, which is why I just want to see what the results say and take it from there.

Re: what happens at an initial CSPE evaluation?

Once you contact the school, you are given a list and choose an agency to do the evaluations (I believe they must be done before 30 days). Mine were completed I believe within 2 weeks.

Your DS will meet with a speech therapist and child psychologist. The child psychologist also had DS meet very briefly with the OT while we were at the center, based on some of my feedback and concerns.

The providers then write up their evaluations. A copy is reviewed with you in advance, sent out to you in the mail, and then read at the CPSE meeting with the committee at the school.

At the CPSE meeting, the committee makes the ultimate decision to say if your DS qualifies for any kinds of services.

As an aside, my DS does have similar issues that you describe in your son, and they initially gave him 2 days with a SEIT, and then upped it to 3 (the hurricane really set him off) after I wrote them a letter outlining my concerns. He also just qualified for 2 sessions of OT after more feedback about need in this area from us and his SEIT.

We and the SEIT also feel that he does have some sensory issues, as well as problems with fine motor tasks.

DS just turned 4 and actually, his nursery school teacher was very surprised we referred him for services, but a lot of his problems come out when he's NOT in school (he's only there 2 mornings a week).

He also goes to private Catholic school, and IMO, just from my observation (as well as discussion with the SEIT who meets him there), several of the other kids are really off the wall and probably should have services, so I think the teacher's focus is more on them and not so much DS.

Regarding your DH concerns, I have several people in my family, including my mom, a retired elementary school teacher, who were against our decision to move forward with referring him for services, but I have to say, I have noticed a tremendous turn for the better in DS.

I really think it's because of the services he has had (We use his SEIT as a motivator for him to do what he's supposed to (i.e. if he's acting up I tell him that I'm going to text her and then he will usually yell "no" and stop what he's doing).

He has had the services in place since September, but especially since I would say the end of December, he's almost like night and day now with overall improvement.

Also, he will be attending a very diverse school district which I have to be honest, concerns me as a parent, if only in terms of him getting the attention he requires vs. kids that may have other things going on that again, would make DS not be seen as much of a concern. I'd be lying if I said that this was not another reason we decided to move forward with pursuing services.

The CPSE committee has been totally fine to deal with and I am actually surprised he has gotten so much compared to what I see others post about on this site, who are in different, or even more affluent districts.

I also feel like we pay enough in school taxes, our DC should be getting something from it if they could benefit in any kind of way.

I probably told you a lot more than you wanted to hear.

BTW, I used Kidz Therapies for the evals for DS and this is also where his ongoing services are based out of.

Re: what happens at an initial CSPE evaluation?

Thank you so much. I really appreciate all the info.

what happens at an initial CSPE evaluation?

considering your child will be 5 in April, it will be a CSE evaluation rather than a CPSE evaluation. they age out of CPSE at 4 and 5 starts CSE.

contact your school district. they can direct you. CSE evals are done through the district for OT/PT/Speech. psychs are done through a neurologist (unless its a tri/or review)

the above poster is semi correct for the CPSE.... now with EI/CPSE the agency you use for your evaluations cannot be the same agency you use for your services (unless you are grandfathered in)

30 days is also for EI only, CPSE is 45-60 days.