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.

 

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

 

 

 

 

My name is Thomas John Bopp and I am an 18 year old boy who has just graduated from High School. I have Aspergers Autism. And this, this is my story...

I was born on July 14, 1992 at 7:17pm in Mineloa, New York. I weighted in at 1 pound, 9 ounces, 12 inches long. Doctors tole me I only had 24 hours to live. But my mother and my father both prayed that I made it through the night. The next day, my mother and father were told that because of my physical condition, I had to stay in the hospital until I gained some weight. So I stayed in the hospital for 3 months, with my mother staying right by my side in the hospital until the day I lefted the hospital in her arms.

I could not talk until I was 3 or 4 years old. I was also deaf in my ears until I was six because of fliuds in my ears that was blocking my ear drums. The first thing I ever heard was an airplane. I turned to my father who was with me waiting for the School Bus with me and I said," What is that sound?" My father said, "That is an airplane, Tommy."

At the beginning of the 2006 School Year, I started my frist year of High School. For these next 4 years I would have challenges up ahead for me. I was diagonsed with autism at age of 16. Finally, On the 26th of June of 2010, the day where all the doctors said I would never get the chance to do, I walked the graduation line and I got my High School Diploma. I am now 18 years old and I am attending college for Computerized Accounting.

"People have to face death and fear in the face to become stronger"
-Thomas J. Bopp
William Floyd High School
Graduation Speech
26 JULY 2010

Hi Pat,

I don't think that this quite qualifies as a question, but I wanted to suggest a possible blog post topic.

My name is Bill Rowland and I work with KenCrest Services, a non-profit human services agency that help people with developmental disabilities.

KenCrest recently introduced a series of videos to help individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Designed for use with Apple’s ipod or iTouch, “Mi-Stories” are portable tutorials that help those affected by ASDs interact with the world around them. This project generated research that found on-demand lessons like these have been helpful to many that have used them.

I recently stumbled across AutismIsOK blog and I thought that you may be interested in these tutorials as a topic for a post.

If you’d like to learn more about KenCrest’s Mi-Stories, I’ve included a Press Release that describes them in more detail below and included a link to KenCrest’s Mi-Stories page: http://www.kencrest.org/autism_mi_stories.htm. Alternatively, you're welcome to contact me directly.


Thanks,

Bill

URGENT URGENT
11 yr old Zakh charged with a felony!! Crime: AUTISM
Zakh had a meltdown at school because his FBA and PBA were not done. The two things the district agreed to do at the IEP they didn't do. He had a meltdown and when they tried to restrain him, he kicked the principal (once) and pushed the teacher (and her words she says 'I fell into the bookcase'...not that he pushed her into it.
He destroyed the room as they escalated his meltdown by nothing following the IEP.
The principal claim injuries...but no one went to a doctor or missed a day of work.
This is the good ol boy network in play. They want to get him out of the schools so they don't have to pay for his services..and yet the judge refused to let me homeschool him.
It is much more complicated...but he has his felony hearing 12 Jan...but when the district and judge found out this is all over the internet and international, they cancled the hearing. They are furious with me and the public defender has said this won't be good for Zakh. They want him to do a competency test with Dr. Dahoe in Little Rock. Zakh knows right from wrong, but not in a meltdown! The goal is to put him in the state hospital for the rest of his life!
PLEASE HELP SAVE MY GRANDSON!
I'd send you a link but I doubt it will go through.
I have documented EVERYTHING, every law they have broken etc. The DRC is helping with his IEP meeting (11 Jan) but not legal case. The state is doing an investigation. These people would not be doing this if what I'm saying wasn't true as I sent them all the documents I have.
PLEASE HELP, I'M BEGGING YOU. The public defender screamed at me "I DON'T HAVE TO TALK TO YOU OR THE MOTHER...JUST ZAKH! I asked you mean an 11 yr old autistic boy with MR?
And she yelled YES!
If you can't help, do you know anyone not afraid of Ft. Smith Schools?
Thanks
Carole Reynolds
479-459-2730

PS: Google Zakh- autistic and you will see the info about him.

The mother of an 8 year old autistic boy who has severe peanut allergies has sued a special ed teacher who allegedly gave her son a peanut-filled candy bar in hopes of making him sick so that he wouldn't go on a field trip. The teacher allegedly told a classroom aide that the boy would likely misbehave on the trip and "maybe he could get sick enough not to attend and we won't have to deal with it." The mother said that her son, who is mostly non-verbal, gets hives and experiences swelling if he merely touches peanuts.

A classroom aide told school officials that the teacher treated the boy like a "caged animal" by keeping him for hours at a time in a cubicle that should have been used for short times alone. She was also accused of pinching the boy, standing on his foot so he could not move his leg, and grabbing him by the arm to drag him around the classroom. The school fied a report with Child Protective Services immediately upon hearing of the complaint and put the teacher on administrative leave.

Classroom aides also claimed the teacher hit a nine-year old girl with Down Syndrome on the lips in an attempt to make her pull her tongue back in. The teacher claimed it was a therapeutic technique.

In 2007, the same teacher was placed on administrative leave in another school district after a nurse told a child's mother that she saw the teacher force-feed her daughter, slap her and improperly restrain her. The teacher has denied all of the allegations.

A Miami, Florida special needs teacher was convicted of abuse for putting hot sauce in an autistic student's doda to teach the boy a lesson after he grabbed the soda from her desk while she was with other students.

The most effective way to advocate for your child at IEP meetings is to be prepared. You must walk into the meeting knowing what you want to achieve. When I go to an IEP meeting, I take a couple of things with me:  (1) binders that hold all of my son's IEPs since kindergarten: (2) a tape recorder to record the meeting; and (3) pen and paper to take notes.

I'm told that most parents come to the meetings with nothing--just empty-handed. The more prepared you are, the more prepared the school must be. So, the first thing you need to do is get some 3-ring binders and gather up all of the paperwork you can find, every IEP, meeting notice, behavior plan, etc. Put them in order by date. Put divider tabs between the years. Get some pocket folders with 3-ring punches in them and put standardized tests in one pocket and grade cards in another. It's very intimidating to walk into a meeting with a stack of binders labeled "Your child's name; IEP; Vol. III).

Take notes at the meeting. Write down the date and time and the name of every person in the room. When you walk in, put your tape recorder in the middle of the table and turn it ON!! Yes, you absolutely have the right to make a tape recording of the meeting. There must be a representative of special education present.

Before the meeting, know what you want to accomplish. Does your child need less homework, reduced pencil and paper assignments, a classroom aide, speech therapy, OT. Know what you want and then ask for it. Be prepared to explain why the thing you want is necessary and how it will help your child succeed. If you have homework examples, test scores, reports from your doctor or therapist, take them to the IEP meeting.

Most importantly, do all of this in a spirit of cooperation. It is easy to go to these meetings and feel angry. However, if you act angry, then nothing is going to be accomplished. Remind yourself and those around the table that your child's success at school is the thing that matters the most. It is much harder for the school to say "no" when you are being polite and professional and stating your case with facts. Trust me, the school officials find it somewhat intimidating to have a prepared parent walk into the meeting. It drastically changes the school official's perception of what they can get away with telling you if they realize you are prepared. If you are angry and blame the school for everything that has happened with your child, you are going to be told "no" to everything. Please don't be in denial about your child. As his or her advocate, the best thing you can do to help your child is be honest with yourself about your child's limitations. This doesn't mean to settle for anything or nothing. Be able to explain why the relief or action you are seeking from the school will benefit your child and the school at the same time.

I've also found that walking in with a box of donuts and some coffee can get a meeting off to a really sweet start.