Parent's Request for Full-Time Aide for Student with Cerebral Palsy and Intellectual Disability Denied

What Happened

Student was a 17-year-old girl with intellectual disability (classified as Mental Retardation) and cerebral palsy, attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles. Because of her cerebral palsy, she wore ankle-foot braces and had difficulty lifting her left leg, though she could walk laps on a track and participate in adaptive physical education. Her full-time placement was in a Community Based Instruction (CBI) class, which taught life skills such as using public transportation, shopping at malls, doing laundry, counting money, and safely crossing the street. The CBI class had one teacher and nine adult aides for just 12 students — a very high ratio of adult support.

Parents filed for due process in April 2006, asking that Student be given her own dedicated full-time aide (called "Additional Adult Assistance" or AAA). They raised three safety concerns: (1) Student might fall and injure herself due to her balance problems; (2) she might practice poor bathroom hygiene when using the restroom without dedicated supervision; and (3) because she was attractive and socially outgoing, she was at risk of sexual misconduct by other students or members of the public. Parents also argued that Student had regressed academically without a dedicated aide, and that a personal aide would help her access a more academic curriculum.

What the ALJ Found

The ALJ ruled in the district's favor on every issue, finding that Parents did not meet their burden of proof on any of their claims.

On the falling concern, the evidence showed Student had fallen only three times over two years at school, and none of those falls caused injuries serious enough to require a visit to the nurse's office. The ALJ noted that even a dedicated aide would not have prevented all of these falls — for example, aides do not walk directly beside students on the track. Student's ability to walk more than a mile around the track and climb stairs to the facility without incident further undermined the claim.

On hygiene, the ALJ found that Student had been managing her own toileting independently for six years, and there was no evidence that hygiene problems had actually occurred. On the assault concern, the ALJ found that Student was consistently supervised in small groups, frequently paired with a peer, and accompanied by the teacher and nine aides in public — leaving very few opportunities for misconduct. No assault had ever occurred.

On academics, the ALJ found that this argument missed the point entirely. Student was in a life skills class, not an academic class. A personal aide in the CBI class would help with CBI activities, not with math or spelling. The ALJ noted that if Parents wanted Student in an academic class, that would be a separate IEP placement question — but Parents had not requested a placement change and were not challenging her current placement in this hearing. The evidence also showed Student had made measurable progress in her CBI goals, including counting money, identifying job skills, copying from the board, and reading words.

What Was Ordered

1. Student's request for a full-time dedicated aide (Additional Adult Assistance) was denied.
2. The district was found to have provided a free appropriate public education through its existing CBI placement and staffing model.

Why This Matters for Parents

1. The burden of proof is on the parent filing the complaint. Under federal law, the party requesting relief must prove their case. This means parents need concrete evidence — not just reasonable fears — that a specific service is necessary for their child to receive an appropriate education. Documented incidents, medical records, and expert evaluations all help meet this burden.

2. Safety concerns must be supported by actual evidence of harm or serious risk. The ALJ rejected all three safety arguments because nothing bad had actually happened and the existing supervision was deemed adequate. If your child has genuine safety needs, document every incident in writing, report falls or near-misses to the school, and request that risks be formally assessed — ideally by an independent occupational therapist or physical therapist.

3. Placement and service requests must match each other. Parents argued a dedicated aide would help Student academically, but she wasn't in any academic classes. The ALJ pointed out that if Parents wanted academic instruction, the right move was to challenge the placement itself — not just ask for an aide within the current placement. Make sure your requests are logically connected to the program your child is actually in.

4. A high staff-to-student ratio can defeat a claim for a dedicated aide. The CBI class had 10 adults for 12 students — nearly a 1:1 ratio already. When a district can show robust group support, it becomes much harder to prove that a personal dedicated aide is required for FAPE. If you believe your child needs one-to-one support, gather evidence showing why shared aides are insufficient for your child's specific needs.