Autism / Autism Spectrum Support Group

If your child has a DX they cant do things like this.....take your DX and get an IEP and enforce it....they are required by law......your IEP is really the only leg you have to stand on with most schools....
Good luck.....sounds like your having a terrible time....poor little guy.....

they can't do that. you have a diagnosis, then they must provide free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. you and your child are entitled to an iep and special education services based on the diagnosis.

i suggest you get an advocate. go to www.copaa.com. at the top you will see find an attorney/ advocate. call them . they will help you.

I live in Texas and it is not easy to get the help if the school is not willing. Suspension is not an option for my kid. It is a reward, not a punishment. Oli was not exactly like that, but I can say the problem is that the teacher is not able to educate a child like yours. He deserves the teacher be able to not trigger such outbursts. You need to contact the TEA and file complaints. You need to have an ARD on Monday and demand they have an alternate to suspension. The district is required to educate but there are still no tolerance in Texas, and that is that. Your child needs a behavior plan the schol is required to evaluate and develop. He has rights and it is common in Texas these kids are pushed off and become juvi criminals. Texas is the worst in the entire country. You need to learn about the suspension laws and don't trust the procedual safeguards completly. If you feel they violated the IDEA contact the TEA IDEA number on the contacts page of your procedure safeguards, you got at the ARD, and see what the case is. Call and talk. If nothing else contact the special education director and explain how you are really just advocating to have his NEEDS MET and this situation is not acceptable. Call a meeting and get the BIP and proper evaluations established to educate him and help him with behavior.

I also live in Texas and I think it is one of the best in the country -however, each school district is different. Some do not do what is required but ,overall, it is a great state for autism. We have a list of 13 indicators that have to be addresed at ech ARD meeting above and beyond for kids with autism. We also are legally obligated to state in the ARD how we are educating the staff who work with each child with autism. We also have laws about restraint -cannot be done like it is in many other states. It is illegal in Texas to use any seclusion at all. There are a lot of protections that kids in Texas have that other states do not always have. Our district goes out of it's way to provide services. Regardless of academic need, we automatically refer to either 504 or Spec Ed if a child has an autism dx. I am both a parent of a child with a disability and an educator working in Special ed so I live and breath both sides of the story. The main problem is that there are too many teachers and campus adinistrators who do not know the law or anything about autism. Schools are legally obligated to provide for social/behavioral progress as well as for academic progress. -Jim Walsh the SpEd atty guru in Texas reinforces this. Additionally, your child, even if they are not in Special Ed, is legally protected by 504. That is the program provides protections for children with disabilities. They provide the protections guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act. I can tell you exactly what to do. Call the Special Ed director for your district and tell them what has happened and that you want a referral for Special Ed because your child's disability obviously has impacted him educationally when the school has to actually remove him. If they do not respond, then you could request a 504 meeting. Do not make this request of the teacher or principal. Ask who the 504 coordinator for your district is and ask them for a referral for 504. If they do not respond or if they refuse a referral, then call your Regional Service Center. You can find their number at the TEA website under "ESCs." Ask for the 504 or Special Ed coordinator. If you still do not get anywhere, then call TEA. Failing that, you need to get an advocate.

very interesting ddmo. I just moved out of a district that refuses to abide by the law, and the Due Process system is tainted with hearing officers far from impartial. I move to a neighboring town, that is the best indeed. Oli has EVERYTHING without me even needing to say a word. He has several teachers well trained and experienced.

I had the experience of the school in Dallas being willing to falsify documents and even forge and refuse to do anything.

One thing the state is known for is the high number of special needs students in hte same situation as this little boy.
This is from the New York Times last year.

August 9, 2008

Editorial

Writing Off Disabled Children
Many of America’s juvenile jails would be empty if the
public schools obeyed federal law and provided disabled children with the special instruction that they need. Instead, these children are allowed to fall behind. When they act out, they are often suspended or expelled, which makes them more likely to commit crimes and land in jails where they can count on
even less help.
This pattern seems to be repeating itself in Texas, judging
from an eye-opening report prepared for the Texas Youth Commission’s ombudsman. The report says more than 40 percent of the students in custody have been identified as having disabilities that make them eligible for services and
protections under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Children’s advocates believe the percentage is even higher and that many of the disabled have not been diagnosed.

The Texas system has nearly four times as many students
requiring special education services as a typical school and three times as many students with learning disabilities. In addition, it has nearly 18 times the number of emotionally disturbed students as a typical high school. These numbers are all the more alarming since the system’s educational services
are generally poor and especially bad when it comes to the disabled.

According to the report, the Texas system is
“basically devoid of what current educational research has consistently identified as ‘best practices’ for instruction.” There is
little or no direct instruction by teachers. Children are routinely asked to essentially teach themselves through “self-directed reading” — even though a substantial percentage have limited reading skills. The special education staff, such as it is, is poorly trained and woefully under strength.
The State Legislature will need to do at least two things if
it hopes to correct these problems. First, it needs to require localities to provide disabled children with the school services they are entitled to under federal law, instead of just dumping them onto streets. Then lawmakers must strengthen the educational programs within the juvenile system itself by hiring
better-trained employees and providing stronger central oversight.
Texas has both a moral and legal obligation to remake a
system that is crippling, then writing off, the state’s most vulnerable children.
Given all that....
Texas has laws, but as long as the issues are addressed the school does not need to effectivly produce anything, and the burden of proof is regularly affected by thebogus docs the school will create and use to cheat kids.
The regions are also different from one to another, so there may not be an opportunity to get the information, especially in the way that we now have Rudy Giuliani involved with the Govenor Perry to get the federal funds for the lawyers and not service the kids.

Kathryn, be sure to not allow them to push your kid out of school.
Good Luck.