Re: School district and funding

[Guest guest]

Sue them for services. It worked for me. I got a full-time ABA trained aid

for Mason. A once-a-week structured playgroup. The usual OT/Speech.

Modified PE coach to work on motor skills related to running, skipping,

throwing a ball, etc... ABA saved my son. When we started ABA, he was

considered by the school district to be low-functioning and unable to learn.

They told me that I needed to lower my expectations. 4 years later he is

considered the highest-functioning Autistic child in the district because he

is the only child in the district with 4 years of ABA. He is now

fully-integrated into a 1st grade classroom and making all A's.

You cannot worry about alienating the school district. You bet I alienated

the school district with my lawsuite. It didn't matter whether they liked

me or not. They had to provide an appropriate education for Mason. I think

that most of the teachers at the school district secretly admire me for

standing up and helping my child. They have watched his progress in

amazement and it has helped other children to ask for the same services for

their child.

You just have to stand up to them and demand that they teach your child.

Bush just said last week that every child has the right to get an education.

So do your sons.

Sincerely,

Day

[Guest guest]

To take the matter to court is sometimes needed. I am sure most of us would love

to be able to do this, however, it is very costly.

I for one, watch my son make tremendous progress at home using ABA. He goes to

school with his Aide to a regular education 1st grade and is lost in his world

in his head. Though the people I work with at school are pleasant and adore my

son, they are not getting the results I know he can produce. I have tried a

number or things to get them to cozy up to ABA with no luck at all. They look at

me as though I am some kind of nut case whenever it is mentioned. Not half way

through the year and I am seriously considering half day home schooling. I will

not let them steal this precious time of my sons.

Would I sue for ABA? Most definitely. Is the money there to go through a

possibly lengthy court battle? No. So what is a parent to do if they are not

able to fund the much needed fight for our kids?

KB

" There are intangible realities which float near us, formless and without words;

realities which no one has thought out, and which are excluded for lack of

interpreters. "