A PLEA FOR ABIGAIL’S LEARNING ; Parents of the 9-year-old with autism said their daughter wasn’t getting a proper education in Duval schools. A judge…

A PLEA FOR ABIGAIL'S LEARNING ; Parents of the 9-year-old with autism said their daughter wasn't getting a proper education in Duval schools. A judge agreed, but the family is still in the dark about where she will go and what schooling she will receive.

What is an appropriate education for a 9-year-old girl who is nonverbal because she has severe autism and is so developmentally delayed she is not potty-trained and will eat things that are not food?

Asa and Priscilla Maass say their daughter, Abigail, has not had an appropriate education at Duval County schools.

They say she has made minimal progress and has even been in danger at school sometimes.

An administrative law judge in July agreed that school staff has not followed its educational plans for Abigail.

The judge ordered the district to provide Abigail with "compensatory" education services, including a behavioral modification program called Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which has shown promise with Abigail.

Less than weeks before the first day of school on Aug. 18, Asa and Priscilla Maass don't know how that will happen. They have not been told which school Abigail will attend, who will teach her or which therapies or services she will receive. They've only been told that Duval won't pay for private schooling.

"I'm a little disappointed, I guess," said Asa Maass, who owns a motorcycle repair business. "We were just elated when we won the court case. Now, I can't believe they can still drag their feet. It just doesn't feel like anything has changed."

The couple recently sought the public's help, launching a Facebook page Thursday - Big Fight for a Little Girl - that urged people to call the superintendent and the mayor's office. The page received more than 1,085 "likes" by late Tuesday afternoon and provided the telephone numbers for Superintendent Nikolai Vitti and Mayor Alvin Brown.

Duval officials commented little on the case, citing student privacy law, but Vitti said in a statement: "Our legal counsel is currently working with their attorneys to ensure that we meet the guidelines of the Final Order."

Public schools and the state are required by law to provide "a free and appropriate public education" for students age 3 through 21 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

That usually means a team at school creates an individualized education plan that considers each student's disability and sets specific goals and strategies for progress. The school hires the staff or contracts out for services to help the student make progress.

In recent months, Duval's disability program has been investigated by the state and found deficient in some areas. District officials say improvements are underway.

In this case, Judge Diane Cleavinger found that Duval's school staff often failed to comply with Abigail's individual education plan. She said Abigail has made minimal progress at school.

Since last summer, Abigail's parents' health insurance has paid for ABA services at home. It has enabled Abigail to learn to dress herself, use eating utensils and learn some sign language, things Abigail did not learn after years at school, the judge said.

Abigail was diagnosed at age 2 with developmental delays and is considered severely autistic.

She has a tendency to wander off, can eat non-food objects, can throw tantrums and be aggressive, and scream or make grunts. She also can bite herself on her arms when she's upset, her parents say, and has never spoken and cannot read.

Over the years, the fourth-grader has attended three Duval public schools, but mostly Highlands Elementary.

There, Abigail was in "communication and social skills" classrooms with other children with disabilities. She received speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, an extended school year and an aide to assist her, court documents show.

But that has not been enough to keep her safe or to make progress, her parents said. They sought a "due process" hearing in October, which was finally held in February and March, and Abigail was transferred to Sabal Palm Elementary.

Here are some of their complaints:

- Abigail had not only failed to make progress after several years but had regressed in some areas of behavior at class, the judge said.

- One day, Abigail came home covered in ant bites; another day she had homemade Play-doh and sand on her clothes and might have put some in her mouth, her parents said. The judge said there was no evidence proving she ingested Play-doh.

- Classroom doors and exterior gates were sometimes left open, even though Abigail was known to run away from adults.

- In Abigail's case, the judge pointed out that her communication challenges might have been exacerbated by the school's unwillingness to get an iPad for her to communicate.

Asa Maass said he battled the school for a year and a half before it got her an iPad with an app that helps her communicate.

Ironically, Abigail's seventh-grade brother, who is intellectually gifted, won an iPad last year from the mayor's office for writing an essay on education.

Asa Maass says Duval has supplied a superior education to his son but not to his daughter.

"Duval County does so well for gifted kids, but with Abigail, because of her disability, she slips through the cracks," he said.Denise Amos: (904) 359-4083