Houston Team Secures Critical Services for Student with Special Education Needs

A Houston team, in association with Disability Rights Texas, helped secure critical educational services for a student diagnosed with autism and ADHD. The child’s school had denied substantially all of his mother’s requests while developing his Individualized Education Plan (IEP). In crafting the IEP, the school had further refused to consider any contradictory recommendations drafted by an independent expert because those recommendations were not physically signed prior to the IEP meeting. As a result, the child was denied a meaningful education and was regularly suspended from school for behaviors directly related to his disability.

After the child’s mother filed a due process action challenging the school’s IEP, the school stymied her attempts to obtain critical discovery, including discovery of documents underlying the school’s evaluation of the child’s disabilities. The Winston team took charge of the discovery disputes, scoring decisive concessions from the school regarding its claims of privilege and securing the production of critical documents. After those documents were produced, the bargaining power of the parties shifted, and the child’s mother and the school were quickly able to reach a settlement favorable to the child’s interests. Because of that settlement, the child is now eligible for a full range of educational services that the school had previously denied, including small-group instruction, counseling services, special education resource-room instruction, and related transportation.

The Winston team was led by a Winston Partner and included Associate William Logan.