Here is what we (me, my wife, and my son’s teacher’s) do.

We write each individual short and long-term goal to address a specific need.
We address every single one of my son’s specific needs. I think the current IEP is 76 pages, but I will have to check on that.

My son’s educational level seems to be rather insignificant while we are designing the IEP.

The I in IEP stands for Individual for a reason.

Not so dramatic, then. Kids are wildly expensive no matter how you slice it. (I will fall down on the floor dumb with shock the day that single fathers’ groups recognize that.)

Sorry, Chuck, but I’ve a quick question if you don’t mind: A week or so back we were discussing educational labels. I’m urgently wondering how one would go about getting a DSM dx. set-aside, if you will, and educational labels put into place (eg. dyslexia among others)? To be more clear, how do you get the school to address specific learning disabilities, for which there are educational programs and materials, as discrete entities which need addressing when they’ve already “categorized” the student as ASD and are leaving the educational plan amorphous, direction-less and without any real academic solutions?

I don’t find it frightening. I find it appalling and disgusting.

I hear the rattle of the helicopter parents in the distance.

Sheesh.

Turning back to the actual subject of your post:

I look at it this way: an unremediated child would have to have total life care in an institution, at a cost of $X. Every dollar invested in education / remediation / therapy means that the total life cost should be reduced by some multiple.

Another example is drawn from the economic analysis of early childhood education programs for low-SES children

http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/books_exceptional_returns

There is a strong consensus among the experts who have studied high-quality early childhood development (ECD) programs that these programs have substantial payoffs. Although the programs vary in whom they serve and in the services they provide, most ECD programs offer wide-ranging education services as well as health services (such as immunizations and health screenings) and nutrition services, typically for children younger than six. Many also provide adult education and parenting classes for the parents of young children. Investments in high-quality ECD programs consistently generate benefit-cost ratios exceeding 3-to-1or more than a $3 return for every $1 investedwell above the 1-to-1 ratio needed to justify such investments. Even economists who are particularly skeptical about government programs make an exception for high-quality ECD programs. Follow-up studies of poor children who have participated in these programs have found solid evidence of markedly better academic performance, decreased rates of criminal conduct, and higher adult earnings than among their non-participating peers.

This is of course evaluating decisions through the lens of economics, which some parents find appalling (”what a heartless way to think about my child!”), but every family (except those in the very, very stratospheric income levels) faces trade-offs in decision-making.

Thinking of some of the ‘therapies’ touted for autism, I’m reminded of Dick Dalton’s post, The Fleecing of the Autism Community’.

http://specialed.wordpress.com/2006/03/20/the-fleecing-of-the-autism-community/

I would also like to point out that a “therapy” that is low-cost, but ineffective, has an actual high cost: taking up time and attention that could be devoted to a procedure that has more efficacy.

It can indeed be expensive, but there are many options out there for your friend. Here are some real-life figures:

We pay a little over $57.00 for each 1/2 hour of speech therapy for our 3 yr old daughter. (Insurance will not pay a dime. If new legislation passes, however, this may change.) She receives additional speech therapy, plus PT, at her special-needs preschool which is run through our school district. It costs nothing.

I don’t know where your friend lives, but here in Ohio, the Dept of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities (ODMRDD) will get you a case worker, who can then hook you up with other services. For example, a friend of mine was able to receive 15 hrs of free ABA per month with a therapist who normally charges $125/hr. The Ohio Dept. of Educ. also offers a $20,000 autism scholarship. This money allows parents to opt out of their local school district and pay for private schooling. $20,000 will not get you far, but in my town it pays for most of a half-day autism preschool (which costs $22,000). This money has absolutely no strings attached – if your kid has a diagnosis, the money is yours.

Also, your friend’s school district is obligated to provide her son with a free appropriate education. If the district does not provide a special-needs preschool or other adequate schooling for her son’s needs, she may be entitled to have his private schooling paid for by the school district. If that is the case, she should contact an attorney to discuss her options.