Should I ask the school to assess my child for a specific disability?

When the school assesses a child for an IEP, they have to assess all areas of suspected disability. They figure out what areas of suspected disability are by interviewing the parents, the teacher, and other IEP team members. If parents have a specific disability in mind, then when the psychologist reaches out, the parents should say they’re concerned about a learning disability in the area of reading, autism, or whatever else the parents concerned about. Parents can also send an email to the psychologist to let them know their concerns.

Remember that a school will assess a child for eligibility for an IEP, which is different from assessing a child and giving a medical diagnosis. The assessing psychologist may not be able to diagnose ADHD, auditory processing disorder, etc., but can do some screeners to see if more testing is needed. For example, if the psychologist's test points to auditory processing issues, then parents can request APD testing by an audiologist from the school district.

If the child has any recent private evaluations done from a doctor or therapist, it's a good idea to share them with the school team so that tests are not repeated.

You can learn more in our article IEP Assessments 101.