Any Ideas on How to Help School Refusal besides Homeschool?

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Yes. Once their activities are finished, you can use the government's findings to sue the district for damaging your child by not providing that FAPE in the LRE. You can use the results of their evals and her standardized tests (the stuff listed in her IEP) to show that she failed to make progress (she was damaged) and then show how she was able to gain in the private school setting.

The court awards have gone into 6 figures.



Your daughter can benefit by having the court rule that the district must pay for her attendance in the private school.

She can return to district when they have been brought into compliance and all your issues have been resolved. They will treat you with respect after being hosed by the investigators. It is a criminal offense to penalize the student or family who institutes action against the district.

You can join the Autism Society, the PTA and other groups in your area and help other parents navigate the system. Become a member of the SpEd Committee or run for a seat on the school board. Local newspapers are happy to get articles from readers, so send them something. Write your local politicians, too. Many will include info to parents in their newsletters.

I did call the OCR and spoke with an investigator. I told him the story and asked if there is merit behind a complaint. He persuaded me to file the complaint so I did. It probably won't help my daughter (I don't think I can trust this school again unless the principal is gone) but it might help someone's child.

On a brighter note my daughter had a nice first day at the other school. She is a little overwhelmed with the move but I am hopeful she will be happy again. I hope the anxiety and school refusal was due to the lack of supports in the old school, and not hatred of school altogether. She has changed so much in the 1 year she was at public school. She went from writing inside the dotted lines to writing 2x larger than the space provided (her OT worked with her for SO long to get it better and it has just deteriorated). She went from loving books, reading 2-3 pre k level books a night to complete frustration shut down at the sight of a book in front of her. She went from a math wiz, constantly thinking in numbers, drawing patterns of numbers and geometric designs to being apathetic about math and disinterested in drawing.

I so hope I can turn this around and it is not a deterioration that will continue.

I totally understand you enrolling her in private school. My son was in private school from 3 yo to 3rd grade. Then I could no longer afford it and sent him to public - all hell broke loose. The private school made so many accomodations. The accomodations were good and bad. Good because they individualized everything from him, bad because they helped hide his disability.

I am all for waging war against the public school until they do what is right. I did it last year and am fully prepared to do it again this year. They learned real quick that I am not the parent/child to F with. If you are armed with knowledge of the law, they will be intimidated by you.

I did recently consider putting my son back in private school because I get sick of dealing w/ the public pain in the butts. But, if my son is in private school he won't get services through the school funded by the state. My son needs a lot of services that I can get through our insurance but he will miss so much school and the copays will add up fast ($30x4 a week=$120 a week). I need to get what I can through the school.

You made a good decision, but if I were in the situation, I would have raised hell with the school first, even take it to federal court. That is how strongly I feel about these jerks being required to do their job and follow the law. I know how hard it is.

BTW - if you ever decide to work w/ the public school again, get a mini tape recorder. Let them be aware you are recording and record every conversation. Correspond as much as possible through email.

Your daughter should qualify for both a IEP and 504 plan. Even IF she just has a severe anxiety disorder, she would at a minimum qualify for a 504 plan.

You might even want to consider paying a lawyer just to write a letter to the school to scare them a bit.

This public school was so out of compliance I didn't even know how to begin to fight them. When my daughter was diagnosed with AS and DCD over a year ago (at age 6), the neuro psych told me to give their report to the school and she would qualify for an IEP. I initiated the school's eval after much resistence from them-they wouldn't even give me the paperwork to do the referral, stating they needed time to see how she does in the public school setting. Anyway, the school did their eval and concluded she was not autistic but did have sensory and anxiety problems as well as problems with attention. They stated, however that these problems were not to a degree that was significant enough to warrant an IEP. They basically railroaded me in the IEP meeting-they glossed over her deficits and focused on her strengths-namely her profound math skills. The teacher at the time reported my daughter chewed on everything and flicked her fingers in front of her eyes. This was not enough to warrant her as autistic in the school's opinion, despite her obvious social anxiety issues. I concluded the school was not able to diagnose HFA and went along with their plan to provide informal supports and accommodations. They tried very hard to "handle" things for a year eventhough my daughter was having the problems and demanded much more attention from the teacher than the other kids.

This year, for reasons unknown to me they unilaterally dropped all those supports. I fought them, asked for an IEE, asked for 504, etc, etc but they were unwilling to budge and insisted her "issues" did not impact her ability to learn. The final straw was when they blamed her issues on ME.

I am focusing on getting her back up to grade level at the private school. Her homework last night was SO difficult for her so this may not be possible-they may have to bump her down a grade. I have initiated the OCR complaint. I don't know if I should continue with the IEE and try to get her qualified so that she could return to a school with supports.

We live in small town, small minded, old school world. Here there are only two levels of service in the school: typical or warehousing of those that will not amount to anything. Anything in between those is not able to be serviced in our public school.

The principal at my son's school is useless. He railroads every single issue that comes up. He is real big on 'We don't need a legal document to make accomodations, we are happy to make accomodations!'. Yeah - then not make them. The only way I get anything done is through the district Superintenent. Last year we had a major issue. Of course, the principal was a jerk, so I went to the Super. I absolutely would not back down. I sent written letter to everyone on staff reciting the law and telling them I am prepared to retain a law firm if they choose not to adhere to the law AND I will also feel obligated to make every other parent in the school aware of the situation and lack of response. Why did it have to go that far? Why couldn't they just do what they were supposed to do? Why do I have to be a complete B to make them do their job? I have no idea, but it is what it is, so now, as we go through the IEP assessment, I am prepared to do the same if they try to deny my son services.

All last year my son's principal did the same thing - He doesn't need an IEP. He doesn't need a 504 plan. We will just make accomodations. This year I am armed with more knowledge about the process, law, and I have a diagnosis and extensive test results. I am ready to go. If they deny my son the IEP, I am going to get a lawyer or advocate. I am not even messing around with them. They are going to do their job and they are going to do it right, I don't care how long it takes me to get them to do it.

Can you tell my frustration level w/ the public school is high and my tolerance is low??? LOL...

Good for you bjtao! My suggestion is to find an advocate just to attend the iep meeting with you. Even if you don't need it, it will be an insurance policy against them screwing you around.

Go BJ! I don't want to mess with you!! ! LOL!

Mama to Grace, have you ever considered or (would it be possible ) to move to a different area that could be of more help to your daughter. We live in a metro area, and the school systems here seem to be all over and on top of the autism/Asperger's situations. My little boy has had an IEP since he was 3 yrs old! LOL!

The following are just a sampling of court cases that deal with issues like what you are dealing with. As you can see, the law requires that districts provide services when a student's academic performance is adequate, but has substantial social and emotional problems that affect her educational performance. The rest address the requirement that schools reimburse parents for tuition when the student has not had services. In your case, she was receiving services which they unilaterally terminated, requiring you to seek an out of district placement to provide her with an appropriate education. They keep digging the hole they've put themselves in deeper and deeper.

Mr. and Mrs. I v. Maine School Administrative District No. 55: In August 2006, COPAA filed an amicus curiae brief in Mr. and Mrs. I v. Maine School Adminsitrative District No. 55, urging the First Circuit to uphold the District Court's finding of eligibility under IDEA for a child with Asperger's Syndrome. A child whose academic performance is adequate, but has substantial social and emotional problems that affect her educational performance, is eligible for services under the IDEA, including social and pragmatic skills training. The IDEA recognizes that the a child may need different kinds of special education services to access an education. These include functional, behavioral, social, and academic needs. COPAA's amicus brief further urged the Court to reject the school district's formulation that a student must demonstrate a "significant negative impairment" on educational performance to qualify under the IDEA. The statute includes no such requirement; nor is it narrowly limited to children who are having academic difficulties.

COPAA's brief was written by Diane Smith of the Disabilities Rights Center of Maine. COPAA joined with co-amici National Disabilities Rights Network, Autism Society of Maine, and the Disability Rights Center of Maine. COPAA has a deep commitment to all children with disabilities, including those who may be progressing academically but need special-education due to a wide-variety of non-academic needs. Read COPAA's amicus brief here (PDF, 36 pgs, 840k). Respondent Mr. and Mrs I's brief, written by COPAA members brief, Richard O'Meara, Amy Sneirson, and Staci Converse is available here (PDF, 71 pgs, 280k). The First Circuit ruled in the parents’ favor in March 2007. Download the First Circuit’s opinion here:
Richardson Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Michael Z. On November 24, 2008, COPAA filed an amicus curiae brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richardson Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Michael Z., arguing that district court appropriately ordered reimbursement for a residential placement for a student. More

Board of Education of New York v. Tom F. On July 18, 2007, COPAA submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Board of Education of New York v. Tom F. COPAA argued that parents may seek tuition reimbursement under IDEA for a child who has been denied a FAPE but who did not previously receive special education services from the school district. More

John M. v. Bd. of Educ. of Evanston Township. On June 22, 2007, COPAA filed an amicus curiae brief in John M. v. Bd. of Educ. of Evanston Township. COPAA argued that a school district may not unilaterally reduce its stay-put obligation to the details expressly specified in the IEP, but must provide all services that are part of the child's then-current placement. More

Forest Grove Sch. Dist. v. T.A. On 6/22/09 in Forest Grove School District v. T.A. a case in which COPAA filed an amicus brief supporting the Student and his Parents, the Supreme Court held (in a 6-3 decision written by Justice Stevens) that tuition reimbursement is an appropriate remedy when the child has not received special education services prior to the unilateral placement. School districts have argued for years that amendments in IDEA 1997 precluded tuition reimbursement under these circumstances. The Court rejected that argument, strongly re-affirming the Burlington-Carter decisions that first established the right to tuition reimbursement. In reaching its decision, the Court emphasized that, in passing IDEA 1997, Congress found "that substantial gains had been made in the area of special education but that more needed to be done to guarantee children with disabilities adequate access to appropriate services." Therefore, absent an explicit expression of intent to override Burlington-Carter, the Court would not erode the rights created by those cases. In addition, the Court reiterated its statement in Burlington that the review process alone is "ponderous" and not sufficient to ensure that there is a meaningful remedy for a failure to provide FAPE. Our sincere thanks to Ankur Goel, Tamu K. Floyd and John Walker from McDermott, Will & Emery, who wrote COPAA’s Amicus brief in this case. Congratulations and thank you to the COPAA Amicus Committee (Co-Chaired by Selene Almazan and Catherine Merino Reisman) for their excellent work. Finally, congratulations to COPAA member Mary Broadhurst on the substantial victory. The full opinion can be read here.



Grade level is an arbitrary concept the schools invented. Everyone learns at different paces and ASDs have different levels of understanding in various subjects at the same time. She can be several years ahead of the norm in math while being on track in some and behind in other subjects. Her IEP should provide for her to receive the appropriate level of schooling in each AND the special-education training needed to address the wide-variety of non-academic needs she has.



Difficult? For her to understand? Or hard to complete due to processing or dysgraphia issues? If her brain is not ready to receive the info, having her bump down can be a good thing. IDEA requires schools to provide FAPE through the end of the school year after they turn 21, based upon the understanding that people with disabilities need more time to finish their education.

The greatest hang up that parents have about repeating a year or not graduating with peers is that their friends will move on and they will have none. The truth is that ASDs developmental delays cause many of them to lag behind the NTs by 1//3 in the areas of those delays. The ASD with the chronological age of 6 may have a functional age of 4. That gap will grow and the NTs soon have little in common with them - they are into TeleTubbies and the NTs are into make-up, shopping etc.

If she understands the material and can answer the questions verbally, processing or dysgraphia may be behind her difficulties. ASDs often have excellent memories and get concepts without needing rote exercises to reinforce the lessons. This is easy to test for and accommodations should be made to address it. Teachers are taught that homework is necessary to learn, so it can be a struggle to sell them the idea of limiting written homework, but if it is appropriate, it trumps their beliefs.



That should help. Please keep us posted as their investigation progresses.



Absolutely. Have them do any evals which indicate her need for services. If their evals do not support your understanding of her disability, request they pay for a second opinion with a clinician experienced in her issues.



That will change when you (OCR) prevail. They must provide FAPE/LRE by changing the way they operate or pay for her to receive it somewhere else.

Remember to keep a running log of everyone you deal with, what was said, etc. in case it is necessary ro take the district to court for damages.



If you want to see the links to the legal cases, here's the URL - http://copaa.org/news/amicus-news.html

Thanks for your reply. Her homework was difficult because it was one page of questions of the type that go directly to her struggles. The questions were things like

Reading makes me feel _________________________

I like to read because _______________________

______________ is my favorite book because _________________________

My daughter prefers fact based questions and questions that have a specific answer. She will become quite agitated with questions like the above that send her into confusion and frustration because she says she "doesn't understand what that means".
She doesn't use words like "makes me feel" or "I like to because". Perhaps she's not matured to a level where she understands those types of questions. This is difficult for a school to deal with-they don't know how to modify an assignment like this.
I let her calm down and worked with her very slowly. Explained each question by answering how I might answer, which gave her an idea about what sorts of answers they were looking for. But at school on her own, it is difficult for her to have someone available to take the time to do this. This is why she is constantly going up to the teacher and asking for help/clarification.

I don't know if this is a processing issue or just inherent to the AS diagnostic picture.

Those are not questions. Those are incomplete sentences that cannot be answered properly due to lack of information. Reading does not automatically make somebody feel a certain way. It depends on what they are reading, how they read it, when they read it, what the context of the information is, what mood the person is in, etc. And even if all that information is provided, how can a person's feelings be adequately expressed. Do they want physical feelings, or emotions. And if they want a description of emotional feelings, then what characteristics are they looking for, and how can the emotions brought about by reading be separated from external factors?

That is an incredibly complex and open ended topic, which cannot be answered in the space provided. And the other two questions are worse. All three of those questions could easily be the subject of graduate level thesis. Not questions for an 8 year old. You should return the homework and request something that is more grade appropriate.

These kinds of "questions" have always been difficult for me (I'm NT) because I seem to get "lost" in a philosophical journey when I think about it. My AS son has an even harder time with them than I do - if I know I have to answer them, I can reign myself in and throw something down (not that I'm happy with what I write, but "it's something"); my son probably gets lost in his thoughts, if he gets that far, but he also gets stymied by difficulties with the fact that there is no "right" answer - he hates questions with no "right" answer. Also, as Tracker pointed out, how one feels when reading is dependent on so many variables, it is unanswerable. Favorite book? for what purpose? when? I have so many favorite books, I could be writing for months. And the "I like to read because" could easily become "I hate to read because then I have to answer these stupid questions!" LOL! Teachers tend to give these worksheets because they think they are easy (there are no wrong answers) and they are ways for the teacher to get to know the student. What the teacher doesn't understand is that for some students, the sheets are pure torture - they could get a much better sense of what they want by asking students about a book they liked, what they liked about it, etc. For some reasons, even though teachers should be teaching about the importance of the use of language, they toss around words like "favorite" without considering how seriously some children might take that term.

Thanks for explaining this. To me, these questions seem very easy. It is easy for me to understand that they aren't looking for a dissertation but a simple description. It is not about being accurate, it is just a "fun" getting to know you sheet. My daughter doesn't understand "getting to know you" as she sees things in the moment and finite. Thanks for helping me see how she might be percieving this!

This new private school is quite good and she is doing very well! I had a long discussion with the director and she really seems to "get" what we are going through as she has experience in this. She gave me some great tips and will be closely monitoring and helping my daughter.

So happy I finally have someone listening and willing to help! Now I just need to move on from my frustration and anger over how poorly my daughter was treated by public school.