The effects on parents of obtaining educational services through due process for their children with autism: The human side

Several factors make it difficult for parents and school districts to agree upon appropriate educational services for children with autism, including the variability in presentation of symptoms in children with autism, an increase in the prevalence of autism, as well as the competing interests and priorities of parents and school districts. Consequently, parents find themselves taking legal steps, such as pursuing due process, in order to resolve educational disputes with school districts. Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact, on parents of children with autism, of pursuing due process rights to obtain educational services. Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 parents of children with autism, who pursued due process after having been unable to come to an agreement with the school district. These interviews were tape recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for themes across each of the posed questions. Results. A variety of themes were uncovered from the interviews with respect to obtaining a diagnosis. One theme being that parents agree that obtaining the correct diagnosis of autism is a difficult process but vary in how they react to such a diagnosis. Another theme is that parents feel a need to connect with others who can share in their experience when their child is diagnosed with autism. In addition, parents take immediate action in order to help their child after receiving the diagnosis of autism and all agree that their lives were altered by the diagnosis. However, parents varied in how they felt they were affected by the diagnosis as well as how they coped. Themes with respect to the pursuit and outcome of due process include: (1) Parents pursue due process for a variety of reasons related to attainment of appropriate educational services for their children. (2) There are both positive and negative effects of pursuing due process. For instance parents found the preparation for due process and the time span leading up to the decision to file to be stressful and time consuming. Whereas turning over the process to an attorney was frequently a relief for parents. (3) The majority of parents felt the outcome of due process was positive. In addition, all parents agreed that it is worthwhile to pursue due process, they would file again if need be, and recommend that other parents pursue due process if they find themselves unable to resolve disputes with their school districts. (4) Parents offered advice to other parents who are contemplating filing for due process. The advice most consistently offered is to document everything. (5) Parents were all affected by the outcome of due process but how so varied across parents. Many parents reported feeling relief; however, one couple's relief turned to frustration when the district failed to comply with the mandated outcome. Conclusion. The ambiguous nature of the law sets the stage for costly disputes between parents and school districts. Consequently, reform is needed that specifically targets the issue of mistrust between district staff and parents. Meanwhile, more children with autism are entering school systems that lack funding to make the necessary accommodations for them to benefit from their education. There is no doubt that full funding of IDEA from the federal government would aid districts in providing such services. In the meantime, parents of children with autism are pursuing due process and are concluding that the positive effects of due process are outweighing the negative effects. This is derived from the fact that all parents would file again and recommend other parents consider due process as a viable option when they cannot resolve disputes with their school districts.