adversarial with districts

[Guest guest]

Just a thought. We are from CA and moved to Austin 2 years ago. I

have a 10 year old son with Autism and seizure disorder. I know most

people would not want to have to hire legal help to get needed services

for their child. However, one of the reasons services are good in CA

is because families fought for them. We had to get a lawyer in CA for

an ABA program for our son when he was 4 years old. It was the best

decision we made for him. It was not easy but going to ARD meetings

and pleading for services that you know your child needs is just as

upsetting and wastes a lot of precious time. The moment we requested

all of our sons school records in a letter the district began to

cooperate. I know my son needs ESY and I intend to get that for him.

I will not sign the ARD if the district does not cooperate with our

request to meet his needs. Research/best practice states that children

with austism need schedules and routines to do well in school. I am

not willing to wait and see any regression that may occur over the 12

weeks of summer. These weeks are to precious to waste. Remember

parents/care givers are the best advocates.