Autistic and Seeking a Place in an Adult World

An excellent article in today's New York Times about the challenges and promises decades of special education have delivered for autistic children. People with autism, whose unusual behaviors are believed to stem from variations in early brain development, typically disappear from public view after they leave school. As few as one in 10 hold even part-time jobs. Some live in state-supported group homes; even those who attend college often end up unemployed and isolated, living with parents. But Justin is among the first generation of autistic youths who have benefited throughout childhood from more effective therapies and hard-won educational ...

XOb (USSC Decision: Forest Grove v. T.A.)

USSC Update - IDEA permits reimbursement for private sped services even though child never attended public school Link

XOb (Section 504, the ADA and the IDEA)

US Dept of Ed releases new guidance on interrelationship between Section 504, the ADA, and the IDEA Link

An Ode to Autism – Successful Student Teaches a Lesson

Finally some good news for a change. Last year one of my long-time clients graduated from high school and received a national award for this essay. I've been holding it for just a time like this, when we all need something positive. It's one of the best things I've read on the risks and rewards experienced by children with disabilities: It changed me. I finally felt that someone “got me.” I wasn’t an alien just because I have autism. I am so much more than my autism: I’m an artist, I’m a musician, I’m a student and I’m a person. My name is Sara and that moment came as I sat in the audience at Wicked, ...

Wong v. Regents of the University of California

In this rare but increasingly common Section 504 educational accommodation case, the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a successful but learning disabled student was not entitled to special accommodations. The student, whose reading comprehension scores when allowed to read without time limits were at the 99.5 percentile, but under time constraints at the eighth grade level, was deemed not disabled under Section 504. Highlights from the court's decision follow: "That is not to say that a successful student by definition cannot qualify as “disabled” under the Acts. A blind student is properly considered to be disabled, ...