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Collect Every Document From the Evaluation
The evaluation report is the key that unlocks every service your child will receive. Schools need it for an IEP. Insurance companies need it to authorize therapy. Medicaid waiver programs need it to determine eligibility. Without a complete, written evaluation you will hit a wall at every turn. Contact the clinician or clinic that evaluated your child and request the full psychoeducational or developmental evaluation report. This is not a summary letter — it is the detailed document that includes test scores, clinical observations, the DSM-5 diagnostic code, and the evaluator's specific recommendations for therapies and supports. You are legally entitled to this report. Under HIPAA, providers must furnish copies of medical records upon request, typically within 30 days. If the clinic charges a copying fee, pay it — this document is worth every penny. Once you have the report, make at least five copies. You will give copies to your pediatrician, the school district, your insurance company, your state's Early Intervention or Regional Center, and potentially a Medicaid waiver program. Never give away your only original. Store one copy in a safe place — a fireproof box or a secure cloud folder — and keep another in a binder you can grab for appointments.
Every service — school, insurance, Medicaid — requires this report. Delays in obtaining it delay everything else. Request it the same week as the diagnosis.