District Denied Autistic Boy FAPE for Four Years: OT, Behavior, and Placement Failures

A 10-year-old boy with autism, sensory processing disorder, and multiple medical conditions was denied a free appropriate public education by Redlands Unified School District across four school years (2003–2007). The district failed to conduct a timely occupational therapy assessment, developed inadequate behavior plans, improperly changed the student's placement without an IEP meeting, and placed him in an overly restrictive program through a non-public school. The ALJ ordered hundreds of hours of compensatory tutoring, Lindamood-Bell reading services, a full year of in-home ABA therapy, and an independent functional analysis assessment.

What Happened

This case involves a 10-year-old boy with autism, sensory processing disorder, mild cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, ADHD, asthma, and speech-language delays. His parents enrolled him in Redlands Unified School District beginning in Kindergarten in 2003. From the very start, his mother repeatedly asked the district to assess him for occupational therapy (OT) needs — requests the district ignored, mishandled, or lost documentation of for nearly two years. When the OT assessment was finally completed, the district applied an arbitrary numerical cutoff that initially disqualified the student from services he clearly needed, and only reversed course after administering a more specialized sensory test that revealed significant deficits.

The student's behavioral challenges escalated dramatically over the following years because the district failed to develop adequate behavior support plans, refused to conduct a required functional analysis assessment (FAA), and improperly moved him out of his special day class placement without holding an IEP meeting. By second grade, the student was eloping from classrooms, curling up in balls on the floor, and experiencing stress-related seizures and physical symptoms so severe that his neurologist prescribed home hospital instruction. In his third-grade year, the district placed him in an in-home ABA program through a non-public school (Big Springs) that isolated him almost entirely from peers, provided only four hours a week of educational instruction on campus, and ultimately left him with no services at all after a dispute in June 2007. The ALJ struck the district's closing brief entirely because it was filed nearly three days late with no explanation or request for an extension — meaning the district presented no written argument in its own defense.

What the District Did Wrong

Failed to conduct a timely OT assessment (2003–2004 and 2004–2005). The student's mother first requested an OT assessment in late 2002. The district ignored the request, misplaced a signed assessment plan, required the mother to sign a new plan, and then applied an arbitrary seventh-percentile eligibility cutoff that excluded the student from services he demonstrably needed. The district did not begin providing OT until March 2005 — more than two years after the initial request.
Failed to include required team members at the June 23, 2003 IEP meeting. No general education teacher or special education teacher was present at the IEP meeting that transitioned the student to Kindergarten, resulting in no academic goals being developed for him.
Changed the student's placement without holding an IEP meeting (2004–2005). The district transferred the student from a special day class to a general education classroom with RSP support at a different school without first convening an IEP team meeting, depriving his parents of meaningful participation in that decision.
Failed to develop and implement adequate behavior plans (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007). Despite the student's escalating behaviors — including eloping, hiding under furniture, aggression, and physical collapse — the district delayed providing a one-on-one aide, developed behavior support plans that were inadequate and not properly implemented, and never conducted the legally required FAA before developing a behavior intervention plan. His behaviors worsened each year.
Failed to develop appropriate IEP goals (2004–2005 and 2005–2006). Goals were developed late, were recognized by district staff themselves as unreasonably ambitious, and did not address the student's unique needs or give him access to the general education curriculum. When the student was placed on home hospital instruction, the district failed to revise his goals to match his new setting.
Provided an inappropriately restrictive placement (2006–2007). The district accepted a Big Springs program that gave the student only four hours a week of one-on-one educational therapy on campus and 25 hours a week of in-home ABA instruction — effectively isolating him from all peers and from any meaningful academic program.
Failed to implement the IEP during the 2006–2007 ESY. After a dispute with Big Springs in June 2007, the district terminated all of the student's services and failed to replace them, leaving him with no educational program whatsoever.
Refused to consider IEP modifications during pending litigation. The district incorrectly told the IEP team that it could not discuss or consider changes to the student's program while litigation was pending, which shut parents out of the IEP process entirely.
Failed to constitute a complete IEP team during 2006–2007 IEP meetings. Required team members were absent from IEP meetings during this school year as well.

What Was Ordered

Up to 430 hours of after-school individual tutoring (one hour per day on all school days, including up to 25 hours during ESY periods, over two years), provided by a Board Certified Educational Therapist or a credentialed elementary teacher. Parents have week-by-week control over whether tutoring focuses on mathematics or writing/language arts. The tutor must be trained in autism and behavioral interventions, or a trained aide must be present.
240 hours of Lindamood-Bell "Seeing Stars" instruction and 150 hours of Lindamood-Bell "Visualization and Verbalization" instruction, delivered during school vacations or extended breaks, at a Lindamood-Bell center or by a qualified trained provider, not to exceed four hours per day.
25 hours per week of in-home ABA therapy for the full 2008–2009 school year (50 weeks total), plus 10 hours per month of supervision and 3 hours per month of parent training, to be provided by the Center for Behavioral Research and Education or another qualified ABA provider if that agency is unavailable.
An independent Functional Analysis Assessment (FAA), to be contracted by the district within 30 days of the order, administered by a qualified independent assessor.
All other relief requested — including district-wide staff training, a transition plan remedy, and additional OT/speech services beyond what was already being provided — was denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

Put every request in writing and keep copies. The district in this case repeatedly claimed it never received the mother's OT assessment requests. The ALJ found in the parent's favor largely because IEP documents the district itself created confirmed the mother had submitted a signed assessment plan. Always follow up verbal requests with dated written letters, keep copies of everything you sign, and ask for written confirmation that the district received your request.
A district cannot change your child's placement without first holding an IEP meeting. Moving a student to a different school or a different type of class (such as from a special day class to a general education room) requires a prior IEP team meeting with parental participation. If a district tells you a change is happening and no meeting has been scheduled, that is a procedural violation you can challenge.
Escalating behaviors require escalating responses — including a Functional Analysis Assessment. California law requires an FAA before a formal Behavior Intervention Plan can be developed when a child's behaviors are serious and interfering with learning. If your child is eloping, becoming aggressive, or experiencing worsening behavioral or physical symptoms at school, demand an FAA in writing. A general "behavior support plan" without an FAA may not be legally sufficient.
A district cannot freeze IEP decisions just because litigation is pending. The district here wrongly told the team it could not discuss IEP changes while the due process case was ongoing. That was incorrect and constituted a separate FAPE violation. Parents retain their right to meaningfully participate in IEP meetings at all times, regardless of litigation.
Compensatory education is flexible — it does not have to match hour-for-hour what was lost. The ALJ ordered a combination of tutoring, specialized reading instruction, and ABA therapy calibrated to give this student the educational benefit he would likely have received had the district done its job. If your child has experienced years of FAPE denials, the remedy can be substantial and can include specialized private programs like Lindamood-Bell, even if the district never offered them during the school years at issue.

What Happened

What the District Did Wrong

Failed to conduct a timely OT assessment (2003–2004 and 2004–2005). The student's mother first requested an OT assessment in late 2002. The district ignored the request, misplaced a signed assessment plan, required the mother to sign a new plan, and then applied an arbitrary seventh-percentile eligibility cutoff that excluded the student from services he demonstrably needed. The district did not begin providing OT until March 2005 — more than two years after the initial request.
Failed to include required team members at the June 23, 2003 IEP meeting. No general education teacher or special education teacher was present at the IEP meeting that transitioned the student to Kindergarten, resulting in no academic goals being developed for him.
Changed the student's placement without holding an IEP meeting (2004–2005). The district transferred the student from a special day class to a general education classroom with RSP support at a different school without first convening an IEP team meeting, depriving his parents of meaningful participation in that decision.
Failed to develop and implement adequate behavior plans (2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007). Despite the student's escalating behaviors — including eloping, hiding under furniture, aggression, and physical collapse — the district delayed providing a one-on-one aide, developed behavior support plans that were inadequate and not properly implemented, and never conducted the legally required FAA before developing a behavior intervention plan. His behaviors worsened each year.
Failed to develop appropriate IEP goals (2004–2005 and 2005–2006). Goals were developed late, were recognized by district staff themselves as unreasonably ambitious, and did not address the student's unique needs or give him access to the general education curriculum. When the student was placed on home hospital instruction, the district failed to revise his goals to match his new setting.
Provided an inappropriately restrictive placement (2006–2007). The district accepted a Big Springs program that gave the student only four hours a week of one-on-one educational therapy on campus and 25 hours a week of in-home ABA instruction — effectively isolating him from all peers and from any meaningful academic program.
Failed to implement the IEP during the 2006–2007 ESY. After a dispute with Big Springs in June 2007, the district terminated all of the student's services and failed to replace them, leaving him with no educational program whatsoever.
Refused to consider IEP modifications during pending litigation. The district incorrectly told the IEP team that it could not discuss or consider changes to the student's program while litigation was pending, which shut parents out of the IEP process entirely.
Failed to constitute a complete IEP team during 2006–2007 IEP meetings. Required team members were absent from IEP meetings during this school year as well.

What Was Ordered

Up to 430 hours of after-school individual tutoring (one hour per day on all school days, including up to 25 hours during ESY periods, over two years), provided by a Board Certified Educational Therapist or a credentialed elementary teacher. Parents have week-by-week control over whether tutoring focuses on mathematics or writing/language arts. The tutor must be trained in autism and behavioral interventions, or a trained aide must be present.
240 hours of Lindamood-Bell "Seeing Stars" instruction and 150 hours of Lindamood-Bell "Visualization and Verbalization" instruction, delivered during school vacations or extended breaks, at a Lindamood-Bell center or by a qualified trained provider, not to exceed four hours per day.
25 hours per week of in-home ABA therapy for the full 2008–2009 school year (50 weeks total), plus 10 hours per month of supervision and 3 hours per month of parent training, to be provided by the Center for Behavioral Research and Education or another qualified ABA provider if that agency is unavailable.
An independent Functional Analysis Assessment (FAA), to be contracted by the district within 30 days of the order, administered by a qualified independent assessor.
All other relief requested — including district-wide staff training, a transition plan remedy, and additional OT/speech services beyond what was already being provided — was denied.

Why This Matters for Parents

Put every request in writing and keep copies. The district in this case repeatedly claimed it never received the mother's OT assessment requests. The ALJ found in the parent's favor largely because IEP documents the district itself created confirmed the mother had submitted a signed assessment plan. Always follow up verbal requests with dated written letters, keep copies of everything you sign, and ask for written confirmation that the district received your request.
A district cannot change your child's placement without first holding an IEP meeting. Moving a student to a different school or a different type of class (such as from a special day class to a general education room) requires a prior IEP team meeting with parental participation. If a district tells you a change is happening and no meeting has been scheduled, that is a procedural violation you can challenge.
Escalating behaviors require escalating responses — including a Functional Analysis Assessment. California law requires an FAA before a formal Behavior Intervention Plan can be developed when a child's behaviors are serious and interfering with learning. If your child is eloping, becoming aggressive, or experiencing worsening behavioral or physical symptoms at school, demand an FAA in writing. A general "behavior support plan" without an FAA may not be legally sufficient.
A district cannot freeze IEP decisions just because litigation is pending. The district here wrongly told the team it could not discuss IEP changes while the due process case was ongoing. That was incorrect and constituted a separate FAPE violation. Parents retain their right to meaningfully participate in IEP meetings at all times, regardless of litigation.
Compensatory education is flexible — it does not have to match hour-for-hour what was lost. The ALJ ordered a combination of tutoring, specialized reading instruction, and ABA therapy calibrated to give this student the educational benefit he would likely have received had the district done its job. If your child has experienced years of FAPE denials, the remedy can be substantial and can include specialized private programs like Lindamood-Bell, even if the district never offered them during the school years at issue.