About eleven years ago, shortly after our 4-year-old son was diagnosed with autism, my wife and I attended our first Committee on Special Education meeting. We sat on one side of a long conference room table. On the other side sat two school psychologists, a speech therapist, a regular ed teacher, a parent representative, two people I don't remember, and the director of special education, who, we felt certain, would be sympathetic to our request for additional services for our son since, as was pointed out to us, he himself had a child with special needs. How could he not look favorably upon our request?
Pretty soon, we had our answer. The week before the meeting, my wife had sent a Hallmark card to the director, telling him that we appreciated the district's efforts to assist our son, and expressing hope that we could all work together. Five minutes into the meeting, after we told the assembled group about the 25 hours a week of applied behavior analysis therapy that we believe our son should receive, we sat horrified as the director pulled my wife's card out of his portfolio and began reading from it aloud, accusing us of wanting to spend unnecessary district funds only days after praising their efforts.
Read More