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Date: 2/1/2018
ENFIELD, CT – Alla Hale is hoping that parents of special needs students attend a hearing concerning the services offered to her autistic son on Feb. 5.
Hale explained to Reminder Publications the town’s school district has determined that her son – who is now a high school junior – no longer needs the educational services he has been receiving since being an infant.
Hale said that every three years there is an evaluation undertaken of a special needs student and the most recent for her son was Dec. 4, 2017.
She explained his proficiency in academic was “the major drive for the justification” for the removal of services. He has been receiving mostly A’s in class, she added.
Because of his grades, Hale said her son is being considered no longer autistic, “even though the medical diagnosis of autism is not believed to affect his academics.”
She explained there are areas in which her son requires help such as scheduling and social interactions.
During his lifetime there have been 37 evaluations of his condition and this was the first one her son attended. “He was getting extremely upset. They weren’t listening to him,” Hale said.
She asked for an independent evaluation and that request was denied. On Feb. 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the School Department offices at 1010 Enfield St. a hearing officer will listen to testimony from both the town and Hale.
She said of the hearing, “it’s nerve-wracking … I’ve never been through the process.”
Hale said the evaluations cost the town – which she described as very thorough –between $5,000 and $10,000. She has found an independent evaluator and has made a down payment in order to receive an outside assessment of her son.
If the hearing finds for her and her son, she is worried there will be lag in the resuming of services, which will affect her son’s academics.
She charged, “It’s all about money,” and believes the district should apply the money it will be spending on an attorney on student services instead.
Hale has received support from other parents in the district who have told her of similar incidences.