The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

I was reading this New York Magazine article. Just thought it may be of interest for anyone who knows of special education needs.
http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/23172/index.html

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

very informative read, thanks

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

thanks for posting this Barb. i am actually in a long battle with my son't school who thinks they can get away with doing nothing!!!

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

There is an actual "Gifted Learning Disabled Label" and it is actually accuarate for some children. In order for a child to be diagnosed learning disabled s/he has to be of average to above average intelligence, with a severe deficit in a specific area/areas. So, actually, there are many students accurately classified this way. However, I don't know if this is the accurate label for your son in particular.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.

Even though 25 points is a pretty big split, I don't think anyone would consider 119 a "severe deficit." My son has a similar split (with severe ADHD) and no one has ever even intimated classifying him as learning disabled.

However, I think that the classification might work to your advantage if you are trying to get the district to pay for out of district schooling. Since it is difficult to educate a child who is gifted/LD, you might have a case. (Not sure, just talking off the top of my head in the middle of the night.) There are some excellent educational lawyers who you could speak to. I am not sure how much they charge, but it might be worth looking into.

Message edited 10/26/2006 12:36:14 AM.

Re: The Autism Clause: A handful of new schools charge up to $140,000 a year to educate an autistic child. Who can pay that much? Anyone with the right lawyer.