The other mother received a call from her daughter’s case manager (who is a team teacher in the Life Skills classroom with the case manager mentioned above). The manager said there would be a class available in the fall for social development. She made it sound as if this were a new class.

In both cases, at no IEP meeting in the past was there any mention of this class. In this district, the SpEd classes are not published anywhere like “normal” classes, so the only way to get this info is from teachers in the IEP meeting. Clearly, this is an attempt on the district’s part to restrict who was in the class and obviously, they didn’t want girls in it. I don’t know why all of a sudden they want girls in it now. It is taught by a male teacher and male para.

To me this seems like a clearcut Civil Rights case. What do you think?

It raises red flags—-how and when did the parents of the girls find out?

Ironically, a family here—with an autistic daughter—noted that they thought they got her a good placement at a private school precisely because she is a girl, and not “yet another boy.” It has been years since there was a girl in my son Charlie’s room and I think he would like that much.

Is this class a special ed class or mostly a class to work on “social skills”?

Just FYI: If you get a direct email on this, check the ABC link before passing it on–I was surprised to find, not a story on the program, but an old one on the Geiers and thiomersal and autism!