You may have concerns about your preschool age child’s speech/language, cognitive, physical, social or behavioral development. Your pediatrician, or child’s preschool teacher may have brought their concerns to your attention.
 

If your child received Early Intervention services as an infant or toddler, they may need to continue with a Preschool Special Education program. In preparation for your child’s third birthday your ongoing service coordinator will assist you with transition planning and make a referral to your school district’s Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE).

If your preschool age child did not receive Early Intervention services, but has some suspected developmental delays, you may want to contact the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) of your local school district, who will then assist you in beginning the referral process.

Your first step is easy. Call up your local school district Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) and register your child for a preschool evaluation with Alternatives For Children. This will authorize appropriate evaluations to take place. Preschool Special Education Evaluations are provided at no out-of-pocket cost to families.

When your child is referred to the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE), you will be given a list of agencies approved by the New York State Education Department (NYSED), including Alternatives For Children, who can provide Preschool Special Education evaluations in the areas of:

After you choose Alternatives For Children and your district provides consent, an Evaluation Coordinator will reach out to discuss your concerns and schedule evaluations. These include the NYSED-required psychological evaluation, social history, and an observation at our location or your child’s preschool.

When evaluations are complete, we’ll contact you to review results. You’ll receive a packet before your CPSE meeting, and our representative will attend the meeting to go over the reports with the committee.

Alternatives For Children has a caring staff of licensed and certified professionals, with extensive training and experience working with preschoolers. These professionals will perform the evaluations and assist you through the evaluation process.

Alternatives For Children is state mandated to complete all evaluations, and send reports to the school district and families within sixty school days. Once the school district Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) receives the completed reports, they will contact you to schedule a committee meeting to discuss the evaluations and reports.  A parent must have all evaluation reports in their hands five days before the meeting.