The Law Office of Lillian E. Wong
A Massachusetts Special Education Attorney

Attorney Lillian Wong is pleased to announce that she has accepted seat on the advisory board of Autism Asperger's Digest.

AADigest debuted in 1999 as the first national magazine published for the autism community.  Its purpose is to provide practical, actionable information to help parents and professionals improve the quality of life and quality of care for individuals on the autism spectrum.  Temple Grandin, Ph.D is one of the magazine's regular contributors.

The AADigest Advisory Board is comprised of professionals, parent-professionals, parents and individuals with ASD.  Attorney Wong is honored to be the only special education attorney on the board.

If you have a child with Autism, Aspergers, or PDD-NOS or any other Autism Spectrum Disorder and have questions about special education law and IEP rights, contact the North Shore Law Office of Lillian E. Wong today.

A recent survey by Autism Speaks named Boston one of the best places to live if you have Autism.  The survey included questions about educational services, employer support,  access to recreational activities, medical care, and respite care, and proximity of services and resources

Still, even some of those individuals who were generally satisfied with their child's educational services emphasized that it was a "fight" to get their child the appropriate supports and services. 

If you need help advocating for your child's special education rights, contact attorney Lillian E. Wong today.

Look for Attorney Wong's latest article, True Potential: Your Child's Rights to Testing Accommodations, in the September/October 2011 edition of Autism Asperger's Digest.

Read the entire article here.

If you have a child with an autism spectrum disorder or having any questions about testing accommodations, contact the Boston area Law Office of Lillian E. Wong to schedule an initial consultation.

Yesterday the Alexa Posny, the assistant secretary for the federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, announced that Ms. Melody Musgrove  had been named the Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). 

What does OSEP do?
In a nutshell, OSEP administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA).  You can find more about OSEP here.

Who is Ms. Musgrove?
Formerly, Ms. Musgrove was the State Director of Special Education in Mississippi, a due process hearing officer, an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Federal Programs for the Lawrence County School District, an Assistant Principal, and a special education teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels.  Melody has been noted for her work to reduce the achievement gap for traditionally under-performing students, conducted statewide self-assessments, and designed and implemented a focused system of monitoring local districts.  You can find Ms. Musgrove's LinkedIn profile here. 

I've personally heard good things about her from several attorneys in Mississippi.  Let's hope she is able to live up to her reputation. 

The trial of John Odgren, a child with Asperger's syndrome who was found guilty of first-degree murder, has been all over the headlines.  This article contains one of the first interviews with his parents, and provides some important insights into the trial, the child, and the tragedy.  As a special education attorney, I think it is very interesting that the parents and school struggled to find the proper placement for Odgren, a child with superior cognitive scores but severe emotional disabilities.  In my experience, finding a school for a child with this profile in Massachusetts is incredibly difficult.  Read the entire article here and feel free to leave your comments.

Check out this great New York times article and video about APD and Rosie O'Donnell's personal experience with her son's disorder.  It is inspiring to hear that with proper diagnosis and intervention children with this challenge can make such amazing progress.

I recently came across this article in my copy of Parenting magazine.  While I applaud the magazine for addressing learning disabilities, I was disappointed with the advice.  In the article, a mother of a child with learning disabilities asked the magazine financial expert, "My son has been diagnosed with learning disorders. A special school could help him -- but it costs $7,000 a year. That's about what we have budgeted for savings and chipping away at our debt. Should we do it?"  While the expert did indicate that public funding for the school may be available, that was not the main focus of her answer.


My Response:

As a special education attorney, I think it is very important to emphasize that if a child needs to be educated in a special school it is the school district's legal responsibility to pay for the tuition.  Navigating special education law can be confusing, especially when advocating for private placements.  It is a good idea to contact a special education lawyer who can consult with you about the process and assess the strength of your case.