1) You recently were involved with a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Can you give us a few preliminary details?

As a defense raised by the school, which did not relate to the issues regarding FAPE or my son Jacob, they raised the issue whether I could represent Jacob's rights.  It was not that I wanted to act as a lawyer or to represent Jacob in court, it was that parents have the right to due process.  

Parents have a huge role and responsibility to their child and the whole IEP process.  We give consent, we attend meetings, and we enhance their education so that they can become independent adults in society.  With this huge role at the meeting and every step of the way--these are the rights of the parent.  We need not use the child's name when we challenge because parents have the same rights and ever broader rights than a child so parents have the right to bring the claim under procedural and substantive issues pro se in federal court if need be.

2) How old was your child when he or she first went to school and what would you consider his/her main difficulty?

Jacob attended the public school in 2000 at age 3.  We found the school using aversive techniques and found the answers to why his behaviors at home were so severe after observing him in Parma.  Parma agreed that his services were not available in the public setting and placed Jacob in a private school--with their full support--for the 2001-02, 2002-03 school years and summers. 

In June 2003, Parma was simply going to bring him back to the public school with no data to support their position.  We have been in dispute since that time in 2003.

3) In what regard was the school not cooperative? And what were your first steps to rectify the situation? The school pre-prepared an IEP in 2003 as a "take it or leave it" option.