C.B. had an IEP since kindergarten. His reading level never improved beyond the first percentile even by the time he reached fifth grade. His parents notified the school district that they were enrolling their son in a private school and they requested the district to pay his tuition. As the basis for their request, the parents asserted that C.B.’s special education remained the same year after year with little change to the goals and objectives. Also, C.B. had made no demonstrable progress during his years in the public school and the parents contended that he had not been provided with the right intervention to address his disabilities.

The parents requested a due process hearing. The hearing officer determined that the school district had to reimburse C.B.’s parents for the cost of the tuition because it failed to provide a FAPE for him. That victory was short-lived, however, because the school district appealed and the district court reversed. While the district court agreed that a FAPE had not been provided to C.B., it did not require the school district to reimburse the tuition because it determined that the private school was not an “appropriate placement” under the IDEA. The district court said that the private school did not offer C.B. an education in the least restrictive environment. The parents appealed to the Eighth Circuit, who reversed the district court and ruled in favor of the parents, requiring the school district to reimburse the parents the cost of the tuition.

The Eighth Circuit found that the central dispute in the case was whether the district complied with the procedures set forth in the IDEA, to ensure that the IEP was “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” The Court said that there might be instances in which an educational program that results in such slight progress is sufficient to comply with the IDEA, but this is not such a case.  

In a significant step, the Eighth Circuit joined two other circuits in concluding that a private placement need not satisfy a least-restrictive environment requirement to be proper under the IDEA.  The Eighth Circuit reversed the decision of the district court and remanded the case to the lower court to implement its ruling.

Of particular note is the length of time that the Eighth Circuit took to decide this case. Generally, opinions are issued on cases within 90 days of submission. However, it took the Eighth Circuit nearly a year to reach its decision here.

It is common to find a wealth of resources for young children and adolescents with autism.  Unfortunately, that is not true for young adults. In the next 15 years, over 500,000 autistic children will graduate out of school systems in the U.S. and launch into the unknown. Free, appropriate public education ends at age 21. Many insurance plans drop young adults from their parents' policies at a certain age.

The transition planning process from school to the world begins during a child's teenage years. However, most parents can't tell what their children are transitioning into. There are about 3,500 programs nationwide for autistic adults compare to 14,400 for autistic children. Some of the programs are little more than day care, while vocational programs may simply consist of participants working for a company in isolation doing piecework.

In the few programs for young adults that do exist, there are long waiting lists. Jobs for autistic adults are almost non-existent. The odds of an autistic person landing a paying job are bleak--only 20% are employed and at least 60% of those with jobs are thought to be underemployed or are being paid below market wages.

April is Autism Awareness Month. You will notice the blue puzzle piece representing autism all around you.  The puzzle piece is used to indicate that autism is a puzzling disorder. No one yet knows what causes autism, but researchers are hard at work trying to fill in the missing puzzle piece.

Autism is the fasting growing diagnosis among children.  More children are diagnosed with autism each year than with diabetes, AIDS, and cancer together.

A child is diagnosed with autism every 20 minutes in America. 1 in 110 children will be diagnosed with autism which affects boys more often than girls.

If you have a chance, please donate to autism research through Autism Speaks or the Autism Society of America.  www.autismspeaks.org  www.autism-society.org

Fourteen confirmed cases of measles have been reported in Minnesota. State officials have linked all but one of the cases to an unvaccinated Somali infant who returned from a trip to Kenya in February. Minnesota reported no cases or only one case of measles for most of the past decade. In fact, measles had been all but eradicatd in the United States, but it accounts for 200,000 annual deaths worldwide.  The Minnesota Dept of Public Health found in 2009 that young Somali children in Minneapolis public schools were over-represented in autism programs.  However, that fact alone didn't prove a higher rate of autism.

A discredited British researcher, Andrew Wakefield, who claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism has been meeting with Minneapolis Somalis.  Wakefield's work fueled a backlash against childhood vaccinations after he published a 1998 paper in the medical journal Lanclet linking autism to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine in a dozen children. The Lanclet retracted his paper last year. Wakefield continues to stand behind his work. However, numerous studies addressing autism and vaccines, or the mercury-based thimerosal, which was formerly used to preserve vaccines, have so far found no link. Researchers still do not know what causes autism.

One Minneapolis Somali family practice physician says that Wakefield has caused a global hysteria that has cost lives and he has warned the Somali community to stay away from the researcher. Meanwhile, health officials are working with the Somali community leaders to urge more parents to get their children vaccinated, although few people have taken advantage of the recent clinics offered. One clinic prepared 600 doses of the MMR vaccine, but only 20 children showed up to get the vaccine.  

Fourteen confirmed cases of measles have been reported in Minnesota. State officials have linked all but one of the cases to an unvaccinated Somali infant who returned from a trip to Kenya in February. Minnesota reported no cases or only one case of measles for most of the past decade. In fact, measles had been all but eradicatd in the United States, but it accounts for 200,000 annual deaths worldwide.  The Minnesota Dept of Public Health found in 2009 that young Somali children in Minneapolis public schools were over-represented in autism programs.  However, that fact alone didn't prove a higher rate of autism.

A discredited British researcher, Andrew Wakefield, who claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism has been meeting with Minneapolis Somalis.  Wakefield's work fueled a backlash against childhood vaccinations after he published a 1998 paper in the medical journal Lanclet linking autism to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine in a dozen children. The Lanclet retracted his paper last year. Wakefield continues to stand behind his work. However, numerous studies addressing autism and vaccines, or the mercury-based thimerosal, which was formerly used to preserve vaccines, have so far found no link. Researchers still do not know what causes autism.

One Minneapolis Somali family practice physician says that Wakefield has caused a global hysteria that has cost lives and he has warned the Somali community to stay away from the researcher. Meanwhile, health officials are working with the Somali community leaders to urge more parents to get their children vaccinated, although few people have taken advantage of the recent clinics offered. One clinic prepared 600 doses of the MMR vaccine, but only 20 children showed up to get the vaccine.  

Fourteen confirmed cases of measles have been reported in Minnesota. State officials have linked all but one of the cases to an unvaccinated Somali infant who returned from a trip to Kenya in February. Minnesota reported no cases or only one case of measles for most of the past decade. In fact, measles had been all but eradicatd in the United States, but it accounts for 200,000 annual deaths worldwide.  The Minnesota Dept of Public Health found in 2009 that young Somali children in Minneapolis public schools were over-represented in autism programs.  However, that fact alone didn't prove a higher rate of autism.

A discredited British researcher, Andrew Wakefield, who claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism has been meeting with Minneapolis Somalis.  Wakefield's work fueled a backlash against childhood vaccinations after he published a 1998 paper in the medical journal Lanclet linking autism to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine in a dozen children. The Lanclet retracted his paper last year. Wakefield continues to stand behind his work. However, numerous studies addressing autism and vaccines, or the mercury-based thimerosal, which was formerly used to preserve vaccines, have so far found no link. Researchers still do not know what causes autism.

One Minneapolis Somali family practice physician says that Wakefield has caused a global hysteria that has cost lives and he has warned the Somali community to stay away from the researcher. Meanwhile, health officials are working with the Somali community leaders to urge more parents to get their children vaccinated, although few people have taken advantage of the recent clinics offered. One clinic prepared 600 doses of the MMR vaccine, but only 20 children showed up to get the vaccine.