Parents of Aspergers Children, Don't Be Intimidated by Medical and Educational Professionals

After raising children for sixteen years, I've learned to trust my instincts. In fact, one psychologist told me that I have a PhD in my children. In this particular case he was referring to my autistic son, who was five years old at the time.
He said, "You've been studying him for five years now. That's how long it takes some psychologists to earn their PhD. You are an expert on your son. Don't let anyone tell you different."
Medical Personnel:
I wish I had this much confidence in myself when my middle son was an infant. I kept taking him in for his well baby check ups and complained about developmental delays. He was months behind his brother for smiling, babbling, crawling, walking, talking, etc.
I was intimidated into not looking for answers for three years by one simple comment from his doctor. "Oh, you had the perfect child first." When my son was three and a half years old, I ventured to ask my own physician in the same family practice. She administered some developmental tests on the spot. Then she immediately handed me a referral to a children's developmental clinic.
It turned out I was correct in my concern. My son received the diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome from this clinic. Fortunately, my son was not adversely affected by the delay in a diagnosis and early interventions.
Educational Professionals:
When I took my son into preschool, the vice principal told me that my son was too young to receive a diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome. When I requested my son be tested for speech and language disabilities, I was told that he had none. The Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) my son had at the beginning of preschool was withdrawn.
In kindergarten my son came home thirty-eight days in a row having had a wetting accident during class. I thought I had complained to everyone that something was wrong. Maybe I did and maybe I didn't. All I know is after a meeting between my attorney and specialists and the school board's vice superintendent, attorney and the school's principal, my son was immediately moved to a different classroom and teacher. The wetting accidents stopped.
There was a discrepancy between the quality of work he was bringing home and what he was doing at home. I felt my son had a learning disability. The school did not. I went to the local learning disability advocates who confirmed that the school did not have to do anything more for my child. I hired an attorney and educational consultant who affirmed my position.
In the end, I did not continue with the services of the hired professionals. Once I had begun to trust in my own instincts, I began advocating on my own for my son. Eventually we did receive a new IEP for my son. He went from a child in the top two thirds of his class to earning straight 'A' report cards and being placed in the Honors program.