Why We Fight
Don't give up. Don't ever give up.- Jim ValvanoWe had an IEP meeting at the school this past Tuesday. Those of us who have been through this process know that IEP should really be a four-letter word.This wasn't a typical IEP meeting. A typical IEP meeting, by my definition, is one where the parents get together with the school officials each year and develop a plan to ensure that the child with special needs gets the assistance needed to receive a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. We had this meeting for Helena back in the Spring.No, this was the IEP meeting you have when things are not

Close to Home- Third Update on the Bullying of an ASD Child at Hellgate Middle School
...it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds...- Samuel Adams(note - for more information on this story, please read my first two posts on this issue - #1 and #2)When I was a graduate student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, I lived in an apartment with a very dangerous intersection nearby. When it rained (which it does often in Tallahassee), most of the time an accident wou

Alone
To be alone is to be different, to be different is to be alone.- Suzanne GordonMy heart broke at 8am this morning. Again.There she stood, my oldest child, on the playground. I had dropped her off just a few minutes prior, and as I made my way out of the school grounds, I went by the playground again, and watched her.Standing there. No other child within 50 feet of her. All alone.And I cried all the way to work, wondering why it has to be this way. I realize that there is no one on this earth that loves her and cares for her more than my wife and I. But does anyone else really care at all?Sometim

Close to Home - Two Weeks Later
God forgive me for having thought it possible that a schoolmaster could be out and out a rational being.- Sir Walter ScottIt's been almost two weeks since the first story appeared in the Missoulian about the 8th Grade boy with autism who was bullied to the point that his parents removed him from the school. This story has really struck a nerve in Missoula, especially in the Hellgate School District where this incident took place, and where my ASD daughter will be attending middle school next year. I wanted to use this post as sort update on the series of events that has taken place since the initial article. A l

Close to Home
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.There have been many tragic incidents involving children with autism over the past year. There was Adam Race, whose family was asked under court order to leave their church because people were complaining about his behavior. There was Casey Reilly, who was basically held back from obtaining his Eagle Scout badge by his Scoutmasters because of his autism. There was Alex Barton, who was voted out his Kindergarten classroom, Survivor-style, by his classm