In our continuing battle to get Ashton and Zachary the therapy that they need and, we believe, deserve, Steve sent the following letter to our district Representative, Mr. Dave Weldon.

I realize that you are very busy and have many important matters that require your attention, but if you have a few moments to look into this I would appreciate it.

Both of our sons have been diagnosed with Autism by a private psychologist. Ashton, age 6, has also been diagnosed by the Indian River County Exceptional Student Education Department's psychiatrist. After numerous visits to medical doctors and therapists, it is obvious that he needs Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy and that our younger son, Zachary age 3, needs language Therapy. While our medical insurance is very good, our expenses have been enormous and the insurance does not cover these therapy needs. Ashton has qualified for Medicaid assistance, but we have been told that there is no money available in the state as they are currently trying to switch people from the state to federal records and are still working on 1999.

We have been told by the school district that Ashton is eligible for assistance but that they cannot serve it because we homeschool him. We have contacted various individuals including Brenda Dickenson of the Home Education Foundation in Tallahassee, and a child advocacy group concerning our problems with the school district. These groups have assured us that Federal and Florida laws require that we receive the same services as any other child in need.

We continue to get the run around while attempting to get assistance from the school district. We have spoken to the Director of Special Education for our county and for the state and have been told that they are not required to provide services.

We have been able to get Ashton in the Special Equestrian program and have been receiving at-home Physical Therapy provided by the Elks Lodge. His therapist has informed us that he really needs to get the Occupational Therapy and has virtually no muscle tone in his arms and legs. We simply cannot afford to pay for these on our own and have returned to trying to get the school district to provide these.

We have been instructed by the child advocacy center to hire a lawyer and force the school to provide these services. Again, we are faced with some difficulty, because I am a pastor in a local church. I do not believe that suing the school district is the appropriate action until I have exhausted all other avenues. I am writing to you in hopes that you may know someone who can interpret the education and disabilities laws as would relate to our case and then speak to the School district on our behalf. If you need to know names and dates for meetings that we have had thus far, please feel free to contact me [contact information has been removed for posting on the internet]. Thank you and God bless.

Update on Battle

After Mr. Weldon contacted various federal agencies, we have received multiple calls and letters all informing us that the state is not in compliance with federal laws. We were able to talk with a state education representative who in turned spoke to Larry Harrah, the director of Special Education for the Indian River School District. I was told to call Mr. Harrah that he would be willing to work with us. We called Mr. Harrah, who was very defensive, and he said he would mail us a form to fill out requesting screening for therapy. We waited two weeks without receiving the forms, so we went to the Special Education office and asked for the forms. Another person told us that they did not have the forms in their office, but would see if they could be faxed to them. He returned later with the correct forms and told us we could take them home and mail them back. We said that we would fill them out there and give them right back to him. He then said that we should receive a call from the therapists to schedule a screening. We waited a few weeks and then called the office of the therapists to request a screening. After several calls we got the screenings.

As of June 2002, Ashton has finally been screened by a Speech/Language Therapist and an Occupational Therapist. Both believe that he needs the therapy, but must go through the normal process of writing a report, filing the reports to the School Boards Special Education Director's office. We were told that we should hear from the school in August regarding a meeting together with both therapists and a representative from the Special Education Department. This meeting will be similar to the one we had with the Preschool Evaluation Team and the School Board last year in which we were told that Ashton qualified for therapy, but would not receive it since we have chosen to homeschool.

In the meantime, we are attempting to get Ashton Speech and Language Therapy through the Shriners at the Baptist Hospital in Orlando. Ashton continues to receive Physical Therapy once per week through the Elk's Lodge. They send a therapist right to our home once a week.