Kindergarten child diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction obtains all necessary services to allow him to succeed
Client(s) Client CR
Julie Baker and Mark Rotatori, Jones Day Chicago, represented a kindergarten child and his family in a special education matter against a local school district. Before beginning kindergarten, our client was diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction and the school district created an IEP (individualized education plan) for him. Due to his sensory needs and his behavioral challenges, in December the school agreed to provide a classroom aide for a two-week trial. Although the trial was a success, the school district refused to continue providing this classroom support. Without an aide, our client's behavior worsened, eventually resulting in a suspension in March. Over a period of approximately six months, our client's mother repeatedly requested that her son have a classroom aide assist him, but the school district refused. The school district suggested that our client would have to transfer to a different elementary school and perhaps be placed in a self-contained, special education classroom before a classroom aide could be assigned to him. After Jones Day took this case through our partnership with Equip for Equality, documentation was gathered from our client's mother and his doctor supporting the need for a classroom aide. Jones Day then negotiated with the school district's attorney prior to the IEP meeting and at the IEP meeting was able to secure all of the recommended services. The school district agreed to provide two aides to assist our client at all times in first grade. The district also offered to provide training to all supervisors or paraprofessionals who might work with our client during the upcoming school year. Finally, the IEP also provided speech/language, social work, occupational therapy, and academic services needed by our client.
The IEP meeting was a great success for our client because now he will receive all of the necessary services to allow him to succeed in first grade.
