School's refusal to accept Autism diagnosis

[jnrsmommy]

I apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post, and I apologize for the spotty information I'm about to give (my sister is not the best when it comes to details).

My nephew was diagnosed w/ Autism when he was almost 3 y/o (by a NP who specializes in... don't know the right word, but sis says all she sees are Autistic kids). Anyway, he's been going to her for the last few years, and although he is very functional, school wise, he is still far behind (he's 8 y/o in the 1st grade). My sister called me today b/c she received a progress note from his teacher last week, showing that he was failing his classes (the school mainstreamed him this year, I told my sister to fight that, but that's a whole other story). So today she had a meeting w/ his teachers, principal, counselor, and nurse regarding her anger on his failing when he should not have been mainstreamed to beging with. She said they all went back and forth on everything, but then the nurse said "You say he's autistic, but he's not, he was not diagnosed by a doctor. I've seen your son, he just doesn't try." How my sister was not calling me from jail is beyond me, but that absolutely infurated us. She said that after that comment was made, the tone in the room changed, she said that the counselor said (and backed by the principal) that because he was not diagnosed by a doctor, they were not accepting his dx, and there was no point to continue that meeting. The NP was able to direct her to an MD who would test him and got lucky that he can see them the beginning of next week.

I guess my question is, is this the norm now? You are presented w/ a dx, but it can just be ignored??

[luvschoolnursing, LPN]

Doesn't the NP work with an MD? So many parents want services, I think the school has to be careful who they accept diagnoses from. Not saying your nephew doesn't need services, but in my school we have seen major mental health diagnoses from family doctors. We ask them to get an evaluation from a mental health professional. For one thing, it helps us put in place the best services for that particular child.

I do think the teacher was out of line, though.