Trial over teen's special ed accommodations begins | Local ...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The mother of a teen with Asperger's syndrome says two Idaho school districts failed to give her son the education promised him under federal law, instead leaving him unprepared for the world.

An attorney for Diana Abramowski and her son, Matthew, told jurors in Boise's U.S. District Court during opening arguments Wednesday that they would be asked to award Matthew the money he needs to unlearn bad habits and get the education he should have gotten in the Boise and Meridian school districts. The Abramowski family filed the lawsuit against the school districts in 2011.

But the districts' attorneys say Matthew was given more time and more assessments than any other student in the districts and that his education was both equal and appropriate. School officials contend Matthew, who is now 19, successfully met all the requirements for graduation more than a year ago, but he remains a student under a judges' order while the case goes through the court system.

In the lawsuit, the Abramowski family contends that Matthew started receiving special education services when the family lived in California and the services continued in his Meridian school when the family moved to the Boise region in 2004.

But when he was an eighth-grader, according to the complaint, the school district decided he no longer needed the services and removed him from his individualized education plan. Diana Abramowski told jurors Wednesday afternoon that she had her son independently evaluated and the schools agreed to create a plan that allowed him additional time to complete assignments and other accommodations.

The plan didn't adequately address the trouble Matthew had relating to his peers, communicating with others, reading, organizing or meeting deadlines, Abramowski's attorney Scott Learned told jurors. Matthew was also bullied, Learned said.

"They were physically bullying him, pushing him, running into him," Learned said. "They knew he had personal space issues, so kids - both boys and girls - would come up to him and try to hold his hand because it made him uncomfortable."

Matthew's classmates reported the bullying to teachers but nothing was done, Learned said, and the teen didn't have the skills to express his feelings or struggles with family. As a result, in 2009, he set his parent's house on fire and was sent to juvenile detention, Learned said.

Today, he's in his thirteenth year of school, Learned said.

"He's socially isolated. He sees no need for organization, no need for meeting deadlines. He's going to have to unlearn those strategies so new strategies can take their place ... something the school districts should have been doing all along," Learned said.

Nick Crawford, the attorney representing the school districts, asked jurors not to make a decision until they hear all the evidence in the case.

"Our job is to provide him reasonable accommodations to ensure he has equal access to an education - and it's equal access in an educational setting," Crawford said. "... The idea that these schools are charged with is to allow a student to participate in general education as much as possible."

Matthew didn't qualify for special education and it would have been discriminatory for the school to keep him in special education classes rather than giving him accommodations in a general educational setting, Crawford said. School officials cared about Matthew and went to his family with ideas to improve his education, but they were rebuffed, he said.

"I will tell you, being accused of essentially causing this fire - the school districts will defend hard on this," Crawford said. "... The way (Matthew) is seen by school personnel and by his parents is widely divergent."

The trial is expected to last about eight days, according to court documents.

?

Source: http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Trial-over-teens-special-ed-accommodations-begins--216007961.html

keith urban Dorothy Hamill hard boiled eggs Red Equal Sign maundy thursday Mexico vs USA Harmony Korine