The term "adequate" is not necessarily as subjective as you think. The student MUST make growth with supports that are comparable to same-age peers. The term "adequate" is based on the Rowley case, in which courts ruled that the district in question did NOT have to provide sign language supports because the young lady who had hearing issues made average gains (e.g. was earning mostly "C's" as grades) using lip reading and print text support. Her parents had asserted that her intelligence indicated that she could be an "A" student with signing support. The court agreed that might be the case, but passing is passing, and 70% is passing.

No, public schools are not required to provide "best" education. Avoid words like best and optimal when you talk to schools. Do use words like "annual yearly progress," "average grade-level expectations," and "response to intervention." Buzz words like these, especially if you use them in terms of your child's personal growth, I can almost guarantee will grab administrator attention.

And yes, unfortunately, special education parents must become amateur lawyers to ensure an adequate education for their child.

I strongly recommend connecting to your state's parent advocacy group, such as Parents Educating Parents, or Parents Reaching Out, or similar. Veterans of the system volunteer through these organizations to help parents new to the battle; there is nothing like having someone like that sitting next to you in an IEP meeting. If I was not a teacher, I'd be advocating, and perhaps someday when I retire, I will be.

You also might be surprised how many staff, especially service providers and special ed teachers, are secretly rooting for you. However, they are caught in the untenable situation that in order to be there for your child, they cannot speak up for him. The trick is to identify staff that are indeed quietly dedicated to your child's learning, and focus on his placement with them. I am blessed to work in a system that allows me to advocate to an extent for my students... and tries to provide me with reasonable resources. Such situations are few and far between.

We paid out-of-pocket until we were able to get funded services. I don't know what we would do if we lost the funding again. If people under 21 have trouble accessing services, imagine the difficulty for adults with autism. What will they do?

We have a 12yr old son and we live in Tumwater. We have not gotten the help that we need or are required to receive from the SD EVER! Now it has become a civil rights issue and we are having to pay out of pocket for everything he needs. The only way to get it changed is to take the SD to court. We are in an interesting spot. Do we pursue this in a legal setting, and in the meantime put our kids in a district that clearly doesn't want them? It is a very hard place to be! I feel your frustration! You cannot expect the SD to do their job and follow the law, you need to either pay out of pocket for ABA, or no ABA.
There are a lot of resources for early intervention, make sure you get ahold of Parent to Parent, they are very helpful with younger ages!! You may be able to find additional help through them!

Michelle - I have a lawyer. Wouldn't work with my SD without one! ;-) And, yes, we know we could file...but, they will eventually file against us for not agreeing to their offer of what they feel is a "fair and appropiate" offer since they feel their aide's are just as good/educated as ABA therapists. Our district doesn't have very good training of potential aides. I know 2 aides personally and both of them had to "learn as they went"...and, 1 has a VERY involved ASD child in a mainstreamed classroom. He is harder than my son. At least mine is high functioning and tested "gifted and talented."

Anyway...we know...we just don't want to rock the boat. We'd rather have them file against us than us filing against them...because then the burden of proof is on THEM...not us! ;-)

We can afford this...yes, it isn't right...but, for us, it is the best solution for our son. We are willing to do it like this all the way through HS...but, I doubt it will go that far. Although, I didn't think we would keep our ABA aide through 1st grade either and now he is in 3rd! ;-)

If we file, we could lose what we have...meaning the judge could say we have to go with a school aide...and, we don't want to chance that! ;-)

Lori

I know. It's a battle, to be sure. I'm terrified for all the battles I will have to fight in the future.

The lingo I really like is, "the schools only provide 'adequate' education for the child." Not the best, but adequate. Adequate is so subjective, especially when you're dealing with procedures and different methodologies of standards of measures. It's all about who has the best documentation from the best experts. Next time I'm having an independent evaluation done by doctor BEFORE I start any of the IEP crap. Then I can point to it and say, "no, what you are offering me is not adequate."

I need to go to law school. lol