Parent Due Process Experiences and the Issues They Had Leading Up to Hearing
Danielle, the mom of A.J., found herself in due process over the issue of CIF eligibility requirements. Her son, with Fragile X syndrome, was denied access to team sports in high school during his extended years of high school needed for him to graduate. Danielle was instructed by the Asst. Commissioner of CIF that a CIF age waiver had to be issued from school Administration so A.J. could play after he turned 18. However, a CIF waiver was never issued by Administration or the District. Then through Due Process, Danielle found out that Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states "a waiver is not necessary for children who are attending school under IDEA."
Danielle writes "AJ was denied his right to participate in athletics for the 8 years he was in high school, the last 2 years it got uglier and they forbid him to participate due to his age. Restricting a disabled student because of his/her age is illegal. The District and the school discriminated and retaliated against AJ after I filed a complaint when AJ was 19, as it was always our family's decision along with Regional Center that AJ would stay in high school until he was 22. The school and the District forcefully and illegally made other plans for AJ without the family, Regional Center, and AJ's experts consent."
Since Danielle never requested an appeal and no appeal was ever denied, it was even more strange when her school principal received a letter of denial for the Waiver A.J. never requested or appealed. Check back for her Due Process Outcome Posted here - including the CIF laws! In the meantime, read this letter she received:
Jennifer Cummins Experience
Our due process hearing stemmed the LEA's own determination that our four year--old child, after their testing, was ineligible for special education services, after a year in the developmental pre-school program. Although the only child worldwide documented with two rare disorders, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a life-threatening disorder, and agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC), their testing (although inapplicable to the ACC diagnosis) was inappropriate, and their methods and conclusions under the Sensory Profile, created by Winnie Dunn, M.D., (and via email, said herself was incorrectly given and therefore interpreted incorrectly). Our child was functioning so well, due to sensory integration input received from his mother and through parent expense, that we lost. The adjudicator responded to my question of what we were to do next. In all his wisdom, he replied, "I don't necessarily disagree with you that your son needs services, I just can't make law." My child had to fail before any remediation services could begin to undo what could have been prevented.
Jennifer Cummins