Blogs and Scholarly articles

Temecula Valley Unified School District now in midst of growing scandal as second claim in two weeks filed regarding drug stings involving special education students

Tags : autism, special education, marijuana, drug use high school, temecula valley unified school district, temecula, autistic student , student civil rights, student drug scandal, expulsion, student expulsion, wrongful expulsion

May

01

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UPDATE: Hearing Officer Stops District From Expelling Autistic Student

Article/Publication

Lawsuit filed against Temecula Valley Unified School District, alleging that TVUSD knowingly participated in an undercover drug sting operation that targeted an autistic student

Tags : autism, temecula valley unified school district, temecula, civil rights, rosa k hirji, TVUSD, autistic student , autistic student expelled, autism marijuana, lawsuit, student civil rights, riverside county, riverside county sheriff, undercover, special investigations unit

May

01

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Chemicals and Your Child's Health

Article/Publication

Is it just blind luck, or are there things we can do in utero to improve the chances of our unborn children?

Tags : autism, bonnie z yates, chemicals, chemicals autism, boaz brizman, inflammation, sugar, alcohol, environmental working group, EWG, gi tract health

Mar

28

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National Civil-rights Reviews Focus on School Discriminatory Discipline Practices

Article/Publication

The Seattle Times provides an excellent overview of the national review of school district discriminatory discipline.

Tags : bonnie z yates, school district, Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, Title IX, rosa k. hirji, civil rights, seattle times, disciplinary discrimination, seattle

Mar

26

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Hearing Officer Stops District from Expelling Autistic Student Who Sold Marijuana to an Undercover Cop

Article/Publication

In a rare decision, Judge places reasonable limits on schools' zero tolerance drug policy

Tags : IDEA, autism, IEP, zero tolerance policy, juvenile law, marijuana, drug use high school, chaparral high school, marian h tully, temecula valley unified school district, temecula

Mar

13

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BREAKING NEWS: Emergency regulations for children's autism treatment approved

Article/Publication

Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approves emergency regulations aimed at eliminating delays and denials of coverage for autism treatment.

Tags : autism, autism insurance, insurance, sb 946, california, office of administrative law, OAL, dave jones, mental health parity act, medically necessary, behavioral therapy treatment

Mar

06

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SB 946 UPDATE: Insurance Coverage for Autism

Article/Publication

Steinberg Letter Urges Adoption of Emergency Regulation to Ensure Insurance Coverage of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Tags : autism, insurance coverage for autism, sb 946, steinberg, asd, office of administrative hearings, behavioral health treatment

Feb

06

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Children's Rights Litigation Committee

Article/Publication

Attorney Rosa K. Hirji discusses the launch of the Educational Civil Rights Accountability Project.

Tags : ABA, OCR, education rights, rosa k. hirji, american bar association, children's rights litigation committee, crlc, school to prison pipeline, disability rights, education

Feb

02

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Autism and Health Care Reform

Article/Publication

BREAKING NEWS: Senior Brown Administration Officials Will Convene Health Care Reform Stakeholder Group Public Meeting Friday Feb 1st to Look at Medi-Cal Eligibility Expansion Options

Tags : autism, california autism, health care reform, medi-cal, medical eligibility, autism medi-cal, california healthcare, cdcan, california disability community action network, governor brown

Jan

18

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"Some With Autism Diagnosis Can Overcome Symptoms, Study Finds"

Article/Publication

For years, people have been strongly divided over the issue of whether recovery from autism is possible. Now here is an article from a very mainline, reputable soruce suggesting that it is.

Tags : autism, autism recovery, bonnie yates, new york times, ivar lovaas, aba therapy, behavioral therapy, journal of child psychology and psychiatry

Dec

06

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The Autism Advantage

Article/Publication

A recent New York Times magazine article discusses how one Denmark company is profiting off the unique skills of its Autistic "specialist" consultants.

Tags : autism, new york times, denmark, thorkil sonne, gareth cook, autism advantage, specialisterne, autism denmark, savantism

Jun

19

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Autism Service Dogs in School: What Does the Law Say?

Article/Publication

The use of service dogs as supports for children with autism is gaining popularity as these animals can provide physical and emotional support for children with autism. (Autism Service Dogs of America). But how will this support be legally incorporated into the student’s educational setting?

Tags : IDEA, autism, special education, IEP, school district, ADA, FAPE, individualized education plan, Individuals With Disibilities Education Act, Free Appropriate Public Education, autism service dogs, service dogs, autism service dogs of america, americans with disabilities act, service animals

May

18

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Private Insurance Companies Must Serve Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Article/Publication

Reproduced with permission from Howard Fulfrost, Esq. Mr. Fulfrost gives a school district attorney's impression of the new insurance mandate for autism services coverage. Many thanks to Mr. Fulfrost for allowing us to share this in its entirety!

Tags : autism, autism insurance, insurance coverage for autism, health net, cigna, insurance, private insurance, howard j fulfrost, sb 946, autism health insurance coverage, anthem blue cross

May

16

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Child Find: A Game of Hide and Seek

Article/Publication

An overview of the Child Find process and the Compton Unified Sch. Dist. v. Addison case, and how parents can use both to gain the firepower needed to approach the School District with a request for IEP or evaluation.

Tags : IDEA, special education, ABA, school district, Child Find, evaluation, FAPE, request for evaluation, request for IEP, compton unified sch. dist. v. addison, 20 USC 1412, 20 USC 1415, Individuals With Disibilities Education Act, Free Appropriate Public Education

May

07

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"California Agency Ripped Over Disparities in Autism Spending"

Article/Publication

Advocates for children with autism testify at hearing that families with the least resources also get the least help from California's Department of Developmental Services.

Tags : autism, bonnie yates, la times, alan zarembo, darrell steinberg, regional center, california autism, autism discrimination, autism racism

Mar

01

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Health Net, Cigna Make Deal With California on Autism

Article/Publication

Two large health insurers, Cigna Corp. (NYSE:CI) and Health Net Inc. (NYSE:HNT), have agreed to cover applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy and similar therapies for California residents with autism whenever a behavioral therapy approach is found to be medically necessary.

Tags : autism, ABA, applied behavior analysis, autism insurance, insurance coverage for autism, health net, cigna, autism, insurance, autism insurance, insurance coverage for autism, aba, applied behavior analysis, california insurance, health net, cigna, insurance, california insurance, speech therapy, occupational therapy

Jan

19

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$5000 Scholarship Available to Graduating Seniors With IEPs

Article/Publication

A $5,000 College Scholarship Opportunity for Graduating Seniors With an IEP

Tags : IEP, IEP scholarship, special education scholarship, autism scholarship, D.R.E.A.M.S.

Sep

28

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"Insurance & Your Child's Needs"- Free Seminar Oct. 26th 6:30-8pm

Article/Publication

Don't miss our Free Autism Insurance Seminar! Wednesday, October 26th from 6:30pm-8pm at CDI Friends & Family Connection in Woodland Hills.

Tags : autism, autism insurance, CDI, child development institute, upcoming events, events, autism insurance attorney

Sep

26

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Is ED being misrepresented in schools?

Article/Publication

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Sep

09

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Part 3: Common Ways In Which School Districts Do Not Comply with Laws Governing the IEP Meeting Process

Article/Publication

Part Three in our series on District noncompliance: this week, we focus on District noncompliance with IEP Team Member attendance and parental participation.

Tags : special education law, IEP, school district, individualized education plan, IEP meeting

Sep

01

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Notes from the Road

Article/Publication

Bonnie Yates explores the ups and downs of the special education community of Olympia, Washington

Tags : nick, autism, special education, special education law, special education washington, olympia

Aug

28

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News From the Front

Article/Publication

Where does a family go when there is no program in the public school district where their child can benefit? What does a family do when the teachers, aides and staff at the public school just don’t have what it takes to help the child learn?

Tags : autism, special education, NPA, NPS, Non Public School, Non Public Agency, special education law, CCR Title 5, Section 3065

Sep

15

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Part 2: Common Ways in Which School Districts Do NOT Comply With Laws Governing the IEP Meeting Process

Article/Publication

Part Two in our series on common ways in which School Districts do not comply with laws governing the IEP meeting process. This week’s blog focuses on District timeliness and teacher attendance noncompliance.

Tags : special education law, IEP, school district, individualized education plan, IEP meeting

Sep

10

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Part 1: Common Ways in Which School Districts Do NOT Comply With Laws Governing the IEP Meeting Process

Article/Publication

School Districts can be tricky... read part one of our series on common ways in which they violate the laws governing the IEP process.

Tags : special education law, school districts, IEP meeting, Individualized Education Meeting, 17 USC section 107

Aug

04

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Communication Deficits and How They Interfere with Social and Behavioral Functioning

Article/Publication

Three interesting articles from the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"

Tags : bonnie z yates, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, recent articles

Jul

08

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A Parents' Guide to Nannycams

Article/Publication

Monitoring the Care Provided to Your Special Needs Child

Tags : special education, nannycam, hidden video camera, CA Penal Code 647 (j), Hernandez v. Hillsides

Mar

26

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Spring IEP Season: Defend Your Child's Rights in the Face of Budget Woes and Program Cuts

Article/Publication

How to get your child's individual education needs met in the face of education funding cuts

Tags : autism, special education, IEP, individualized education plan, IEP meeting, stay-put, partial consent, private placement

Feb

16

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Ordinary Families Doing Extraordinary Things

Article/Publication

What is a parent of an autistic child to do? How to find hope when landscape looks bleak? A recap of the "Life Afterwards: Hope After Autism" event.

Tags : autism recovery, bonnie z yates, autism treatment, applied behavior analysis, recent events, CARD, LA FEAT, Recovered documentary

Jan

25

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