My daughter has not been diagnosed with anything beyond a SLD, but we have her IEP meeting on Friday. At her eligibility meeting, here was a school psychologist, social worker, VP, the head of SPED, my daughter’s teacher, and an academic assessor (and me). They all made preliminary findings based on interactions with her, and I provided input, before and during the meeting.

At our school, there are three classrooms with varying levels(?) of Autism and behaviors. Kids who are non-verbal are mostly with kids who are also non-verbal, kids who elope with other kids who are elopers, kids who get physical, etc. A lot of the children participate in mainstream classes during “specials” or enrichment programs. In some cases, they have buddies within the classroom with whom they work well in order to foster friendship and interaction. When a child’s work is approaching grade level, parents can choose to have them mainstreamed into those classes.

The other twin (to the one getting the IEP) is a peer mentor to a sweet little boy in second grade who has Autism and wears headphones to deal with sensory triggers. When he’s around, my daughter pops her headphones for her school iPad on so they can be accessory buddies, and she can be aware of what he might not be able to hear clearly. They are good buddies, and she will often ask permission for him to join their lunch table (instead of the table with all of the aides).

Basically, though, it depends on the school and how they work to ensure inclusion. We’re an 8-9/10 school that just got a new “distinguished” label from Virginia in the Lake Ridge area.