I’m glad such families are beginning to speak up. No one else is speaking for them. Their child needs his routine back and the family could no doubt use some respite.
Unfortunately those in charge just don’t care.
The man’s son has an IEP (Individualized Education Program) which gives him and his parents first claim on the school district’s resources. That’s why he gets to find a school that’s a good fit for son, and you don’t. At the school where I sub, an autistic girl (who isn’t apparently hard to handle) has been assigned a full-time aide, as well as special ed teacher, and she sits in the regular classroom as well. If she causes a disturbance, the aide will take her away, but of course education for the other kids is disrupted.
If the IEP requires it, the district must provide 12 month service to the child until the age of 21. In this man’s case, I’m surprised the district hasn’t supplied a home-bound instructor/aide.
I don’t begrudge the expenses involved in cases of obvious handicap like autism or cerebral palsy. But you should know that IEPs are issued for all kinds of things including ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) which means a kid sometimes violently objects to being told what to do. Once he has been officially diagnosed, he can only be lightly disciplined, if at all for misbehavior.
The world of special ed. can seem surreal at times.
Don’t misunderstand, I hope the dad gets the help his son needs.
Thank you for posting this. I just spent the last 2 months home-schooling my 13 year old Down Syndrome daughter. For us, it has gone very well as she is high functioning and is generally fun to be around. However, I don’t think that her classmates are having that great of a time. Our school is already talking about not starting in August for what they call, ‘jump start.’ This makes me mad! When our kids can go back to school, then, parents can go back to work. I’m all for home schooling though. My wife did the bulk of it for our older 3. A lot of parents are unable to teach what they need and they need that extra hand. — Open up the schools!
I am not a Lawyer but perhaps you can sue the
governor and prior school under the Americans with Disabilities Act? If no one can advise you on this board, call a free consultation lawyer. Many like to file suit and wait till docket number comes up. They usually settle because they don’t like to go to trial. JMO.