LD Blog

A U.S. District Count has ruled that parents of an Oregon boy with special education needs were not due a tuition reimbursement that they had won in a state circuit court. District Judge Michael Mosman ruled that the Forest Grove (Lake Oswego, OR, US) local education agency does not have to reimburse the fees that Stan and Barbara Ash incurred in educating their son. Originally, the Ash family was awarded $350,000 to repay the costs of their son’s education. The case will be appealed to the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals. The case is known as “Ash v. Lake Oswego School District” [No. 7J, 766 F.Supp. 852 (D.Or. 1991) and 980 F.2d 585, 589 (9th Cir. 1992)].

Links:

• Linkfor a story in The World (Coos Bay, on Oregon’s southern coast).
• The Ash case is mentioned in a summary of selected decisions from a legal firm, Whitted and Cleary.

Another aspect of this report raises a recurring theme; the story describes the boy has having three different disabilities. Here are two quotes (my emphasis):

They were awarded $350,000 for reimbursement for their autistic son’s education.

Such was the case with the parents of a boy at the Forest Grove School District who in 2001, was evaluated by the district staff. They determined that he did not have a learning disability and so was not eligible for special education.

But the student – whose name has been withheld to protect his privacy – consistently had trouble paying attention and finishing school work, according to court records. His grades kept dropping and he was using marijuana.

The family contends that the district failed to diagnose him properly. A doctor hired by the family later diagnosed the boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

LD? Autism? ADHD? What’s the diff? Who cares, hunh?