C.B. v. Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis, MN (8^th Cir. April 21, 2011) 

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.  

 

I am a 41 year old man with aspergers. The church is in dire need of those who understand autism. I have all but given up on attending chuches. I have tried multiple churches over the past 41 years and I am essentially accepted nowhere. People just think I am weird. I try to get involved in ministries and I get the cold shoulder. People will chew their arm off to get away from me. I really want to participate in a disciple study or some other detailed bible study but I can't. Churches just don't understand I don't talk. I can, i just don't too often. Nothing to say. The words ususally come a day late. My anxiety level is so high that many times I can not verbally pray around others. There is no small group that will put up with you if you don't share or pray, but they don't understand how important it is for me nonetheless.

I hope you succeed in your mission. There is a whole generation of us coming, we are not being incorpoarted and will be lost. We get the lip service, but not the actions.
Rant over.

Hi Pat,

It's late at night, and I really should be going to bed, but somehow I stumbled onto your website as I look for Christians who are also on the autism spectrum. My wife and I have 3 year old identical twin boys, both of whom are on the spectrum. Our younger one, Gabriel, was formally diagnosed today by our medical provider, and his brother Nathan will have his evaluation next Thursday by the same the panel.

We first received a medical assessment back 19+ months ago when they were only 18 1/2 months old. We chose not to get the medical evaluation for fear of it being a stain on their medical record. The assessment did recommend early intervention for them (here in Silicon Valley), so we went ahead and start reaping the benefits of the free resources until the age of 3 when we had to start paying out of pocket.

Both boys have made a lot of progress, but Gabriel was formally diagnosed with being moderately autistic on the path to being high-functioning. His biggest deficits are in the areas of functional social language, verbal and non-verbal social communication, and social reciprocity. His cognitive levels are solid, and he has a good vocabulary, but in social forums, he's clearly behind. His brother is a little better, but we fully expect him to receive a comparable diagnosis as well. We decided to go for the diagnosis now only because we simply can't afford the $5000/month out-of-pocket expenses required for our boys' therapy. We have a long way to go in getting the services required for our kids through our medical provider, but there is precedence, so we're banking on that.

I read your "Welcome to My World" entry, and I have the greatest sympathy for you and your family. We are going to be going through something similar in the coming years, though we're thankful we got the boys started early on their therapy. However, I read a line in the entry, "The first time I met with one of our pastors, he told me that God may be giving me this experience so that later I would be able to bring comfort to others who were going through the same thing." and I was stunned.

I've been hearing similar things from people on pastoral staffs, friends who are pastors, mature and godly believers, and I have to say, I can't help but passionately disagree with that comment. Not so much that this experience will allow you to help other people, but that your pastor stated, "God may be giving [you] this experience..."

Nothing could be further from the truth. That theological stance drives me absolutely insane...that's saying that God is the source of your son's Asperger and subsequent struggles. That then implies that God can dish out bad things to people. If that really is who God is...why should I spend my time studying about Him, sharing with people about my core beliefs, attend worship services, etc.? Why would I worship and follow a God who, based on your pastor's comment (and a lot of people's comments), is the source of pain?

I broached this subject with some of my mentors, my church's lead pastor included, and I was thankful that they didn't have a cliched, perfectly-shaped Christian answer for me. Nobody knows why our children have been afflicted with something this painful. Nobody knows why as parents, we have to suffer the indignity of having to make adjustment after adjustment (both in public and in private) to just get our children settled. I still don't know why both of my little boys are on the spectrum. I don't know how this will affect our future...my wife and I both felt called to some form of vocational ministry, but now we're clueless about how all this fits.

But I AM understanding one undying fact that one of my mentors made clear to me the other day. It is, perhaps, a more theologically and semantically correct way of restating when your pastor and my friends had been saying:

God WILL NOT waste our experiences. He WILL NOT let our pain and our suffering go to waste.

How that will manifest itself, I don't know. Perhaps it IS a ministry of sympathy and empathy to reach other families with special needs. I've stopped trying to figure it out simply because this no longer fits into the neat little box, and my brain isn't big enough to fully analyze things. I also do know that death and disease were never part of God's original plan.

I'm still learning about my children's disorders, and I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful because I have more than just the natural world (therapy) to fall back on...there's a supernatural component for me take advantage of. I'm grateful for a wife who also refuses to give up on our kids. We've got a long road ahead, but I'm learning again how to be grateful for a God who also refuses to give up on my two boys.