Blog — Gottlieb & Wang LLP

I invite the reader to imagine that they have a child with special needs, who is seven or eight years old. The child has no cell phone, and they're bussed to and from their school placement. But, today, there's a thunderstorm. An hour after your child’s scheduled drop off time, and there's no sign of the bus. You, the parent, call the school, and all the school knows is that the bus left on time — they have no idea where it is currently. And not only that, they have no way to find out.

How Christine Ford Can Teach Us to Thrive Under Cross-Examination

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is an honest-to-goodness hero. On September 27, 2018, Ford, a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a researcher at Stanford, stood her ground in the face of hostile questioning from Rachel Mitchell (acting at the behest of Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee) and served as a model example for parents who are in court proceedings with a school district or the Department of Education (DOE).

New York’s New 3-Year Settlements

Most special education tuition reimbursement cases follow a similar trajectory of events and timelines.

In order to vindicate their rights to tuition reimbursement (if eligible), parents must go through the process of suing their school district every year. However, recent changes to policy under Mayor de Blasio are aimed at decreasing litigation and lightening caseloads for DOE representatives, resulting in a policy where the city offers parents three-year settlements.

Private School Spotlight: Manhattan Star Academy

Our second installment of school spotlight articles features Manhattan Star Academy, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC. This private, special education school provides services for children with global developmental delays, autism spectrum disorders, speech and language delays, and neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Family Fun Day: An Inclusive Event by The Specialized Autism Support and Information Group (SASI)

The Specialized Autism Support and Information Group (SASI) recently organized a wonderful Family Fun Day Event that I was grateful to attend.

Prior to the event, I met one of the founding members of the group — a mother from Mount Sinai, Long Island, who has a child with autism. Together with another mother in the same position, she experienced an extreme dearth of resources and supports for families with autistic children — so they decided to do something about it.

Private School Spotlight: Shrub Oak International School

For a variety of reasons that are critical to ensuring success in our practice, it’s important and informative for Marc and me to visit various private school placements.

At the end of June, we toured a new facility, Shrub Oak International School, in Shrub Oak, NY (about an hour north of NYC). The typical student who would attend this program is imagined to be between age 14 and 22, have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, and face complex challenges.

Our Blog