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…
By Denise Smith Amos | |
Proquest LLC |
A PLEA FOR ABIGAIL'S LEARNING ; Parents of the 9-year-old with autism said their daughter wasn't getting a proper education in
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?
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
"I'm a little disappointed, I guess," said
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
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,
In this case, Judge
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
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
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.
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.
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