tryinghard,
I highly recommend an advocate! That's something else that I would have done differently. I tried to carry the load by myself and there was so much that I just didn't know about. Trust me, the SD unfortunately wasn't about to share...
We had a complete neuropsychological evaluation done. It was very comprehensive and took 3 visits to complete - but it has been worth its weight in gold. The SD has not been happy with accepting the evaluation and its recommendations but they have had to do so. Interestingly enough the SD head of Special Education recommended the neuropsychologist to me after I met with him and difficult child's principal out of sheer desperation. I don't think he was really expecting this type of outcome, but he did save the SD a lot of money by suggesting that we do this ourselves. I do have mixed feelings about that.
I found a listing of local special education advocates on the Wrightslaw website. I'm sure they would have listings for your area. I don't know if you have a Parent to Parent group in your area. They are very helpful as well. Some advocates are attorneys and some are not. Our neuropsychologist will also attend IEP and 504 meetings as well. The person who does your testing may also do this. You can probably find lots of info from the experts on the Special Education Board here. I think you have a plan that could help next year to be a little easier for you both.