Richmond, Va., Autism Case

In a victory for at least one autistic child, a federal court ruled this week that Henrico Co. Schools "knowingly and repeatedly failed" to provide a FAPE...

The federal court ruled that Henrico Co. Schools "knowingly and repeatedly failed to provide a system of instruction suitable to a severely autistic child," according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In other words the child, Reid Tutwiler, did not receive a FAPE, (a Free Appropriate Public Education) as required by law.

Tutwiler is now eight years old. Specialists believed that Reid needed 20 to 30 hours a week of intensive instruction. When Henrico County determined that it would only provide 15 hours Reid's parents went to court and enrolled Reid in a private school - the Fasion School for Autism. The county is no liable for Tutiler's tuition there over the last four years (the time it took for the case to reach federal court); Fasion charges about $50,000 a year in tuition.

The ruling is just the most recent of a sting of court rulings on Autism this year:

• On January 30 U.S District Judge D. Brock Hornby ruled that a girl in York County, Maine, was eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The girl, who remains nameless in court records has Asperger's Syndrome - a condition usually grouped together with other developmental disorders under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder - and had been denied special education services by Maine's School Administrative District 55.
• On February 2 the parents of Paige Gaydos were awarded $700,000 by a U.S. District Court in California after they sued Cupertino Union School District and Karen Miller (a special education teacher) for the way their daughter was treated during the 2001-2002 school year. Paige, who now attends a private school, also has Asperger Syndrome.