Mother Of Boy With Autism: I Am Very Sad
Published: June 30, 2009
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court is leaving in place an appeals court ruling that an autistic child from Ohio is not entitled to private education at taxpayer expense.
The court on Monday rejected an appeal from Jeff and Sandee Winkelman, who are seeking reimbursement from the Parma, Ohio, school district in suburban Cleveland. Their son, Jacob, is autistic.
The Winkelmans won a Supreme Court decision in 2007 that allowed them to pursue their case without hiring a lawyer.
“I’m very sad,“ said Sandee Winkelman. “We were right in pursuing it.“
She said Jacob, 12, has been making progress attending a suburban Cleveland private school in Shaker Heights, the Monarch School for Autism.
“Jacob still has a disability and we have to look out for what we needs. It took him four years before he could even sit at a desk,“ she said.
Andrew Cuddy, a lawyer who represented the family of a contingency fee basis, said the Parma schools have paid two years of tuition for Jacob at Monarch School.
“We are disappointed the Supreme Court didn’t take this case,“ he said.
He said a federal court has ruled the Parma district owes $174,000 for the Winkelmans’ legal representation. Cuddy said tuition for Jacob is about $64,500 per school year.
“We didn’t feel there was a legal issue raised that merited review by the U.S. Supreme Court,“ said Kevin Brennan, a Parma schools spokesman.
Christina Peer, an attorney for Parma schools, said the district was pleased with the court’s ruling and felt it was the right decision.
The case is Winkelman v. Parma City School District, 08-1089.
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Reader Reactions
I don’t think anybody was saying anything negative directed to this family inparticular (although I could be wrong). My point is why should taxpayers pick up the tab? I do understand that it is costly and that help is needed, but to make taxpayers pay in addition to the school tax that they are already paying is not right. Heck I’ve paid over 10 years worth of school tax and I don’t even have children!!!! How can this be justified that I should be expected to pay even more?
Ivbooks, as a parent of an autistic child, THANK YOU for putting that info out there.
To all the parties that have made some sort of negative comment about this family, I hope that you never have to deal with the frustration that is AUTISM. This family is not looking for a “free ride”. They need help. When it comes to the severity of the autism, and the amount of help that the child may need, the costs quoted in the article are not uncommon costs that a family with an autistic child may face.
I worked at a school for autistic children as an aide. The schools employ their own therapist, not everyday people that just come to babysit. They do occupational therapy, speech therapy, ABA therapy and various other things with the children. They also work on social skills. I think that the autistic community really get over looked in alot of areas. Alot of autistic people not only have social and academic problems but they also have digestive issues and feeding issues where they have eating programs and the teachers sit with each one at lunch time to get them to eat. Some children have to be hospitalized to get them to eat. I know Franklin County Board of MRDD has a school for special needs children but they can’t place all the special needs children. Also, You all might not be aware that most meds that autistic children are on aren’t covered by insurance even though they have been proven to help alot with digestive issues they have and other problems. Alot of parents have to pay thousands of dollars a month to get meds for their children. So, ask yourself this before you judge these people, would you want some help with the overwhelming cost of taking care of the child you love so that they can have some kind of normal life? Would you say you don’t want what is best for your own child because your worried about tax payers paying for it? Well, alot of the parent of special needs kids are taxpayers themselves. Mabe if they didn’t have to pay taxes for public schools they can’t send their children to they could put that money towards the private school they want their child to attend. We get to choose different schools for our children that don’t have special needs, like charter schools, and there is EdChoice where you can pick a private school for your child to attend through a list of schools if your neighborhood school is failing. So, why is it they can’t choose? I guess I’m not understanding why they aren’t getting help even if it does cost that much. The governer is talking so much about equal education for everyone, I guess that just doesn’t include autistic children because in our societies eyes they aren’t worth it. I say go visit or voluteer to work with just one child and you will see how much they are worth it. Just my small thoughts on this issue. Of course I care about all kids so mabe I’m bias.
Is the kid actually learning enough to justify the expense, or is the district paying all that money for glorified day care? Four years at $65K a year to learn to sit at a desk doesn’t sound like a good investment.
Why should the tax payers be responsible for sending someone elses child to school? It should be the responsibility of the parents to do what is best for their child even if that resulted in moving to a different district to better meet his needs. People need to look past their own noses and stop expecting other people to conform to fit their needs.
65,000 a year is very high. im sure there are other schools or programs that dont cost that much. there are alot of kids with disabilities and the government would go broke paying for each kid at parents choice of school. i think he could attend many higher education establishments for less than that. everyone is entitled to an education but not at parents choice, if there are other places that can help. one on one teaching would be cheaper than this.
I believ law states that if a child has been identified with special needs, and the school he/she attends is not equipped to meet those needs, the school must pay or find a way to meet the student’s needs. It is not only a parent’s right to be sure her child is getting everything he/she needs at school…...it’s a PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY! Kudos to these parents who are ready and willing to be advocates for their child!
If a school district is unable to properly educate a child with special needs, then I absolutely believe they should be responsible to pay for that child’s tuition. I’m positive that this boy’s parents would be more than happy to send him to one of Parma’s schools, IF they could give him what he needs.
Why should we have to pay for her child’s private education…I think parents are getting completely out of control about what the tax payers need to provide for THEIR children….YOUR child YOUR responsibility..is it that complicated!!!!
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