Ending therapy: a very real possibility

Joey had PT today (as he does every Friday morning) and his therapist said he is doing great and meeting or exceeding all his goals. She advised that progress reports are coming soon and that she would be recommending another 3 months of therapy and that at the end of that, she thinks he will be ready to stop it.

This goes in line with his speech therapist and occupational therapist, who both feel he is doing great. It also coincides (unintentionally) with the fact that his 1 year review with DDD is coming up. He can lose services at 6 (3 months after the review), or at the review itself, because he does not (and will not) have a full blown Autism diagnosis. However, the Epilepsy diagnosis should be enough to keep services. BUT, we live in the 2nd poorest state in the country and they are doing best to cut all "unnecessary spending" which always means services to the handicapped and disabled get cut first.

I am relieved that he may not need the services for 2 reasons: 1) he is progressing so much and 2) I won't have to go through the lengthy appeals process with the state.

My DDD coordinator is already busting my chops about having Joey re-evaluated, which he has in a few weeks at his 6 month check up at Melmed. He's also pissed that Joey is in general education at school and is insisting that he go to Zuni Hills next year instead of starting at Parkridge because only Zuni Hills has self-contained classrooms.

I understand that the coordinator only wants the best for Joey but doesn't he want to see progress? Putting a child, who is progressing, in a self-contained classroom, would hold him back. Those classrooms are only for the severe cases. Joey has always been a mild case and has come such a long way that most days, his Autism is barely noticeable.

So...it seems like DDD is playing both sides of the fence: he's doing well so cut his services vs. he needs to get services from the school because he's so severe. Oh wait a minute....are they just trying to make Joey the school's responsibility? Why doesn't he state focus more on cutting "real" unnecessary spending and leave the kids alone?