When Speech Services Aren't Delivered, Parents Deserve Proof — Not Excuses

What Happened

A young child with autism had an initial IEP from July 2015 that included weekly speech therapy. However, the IEP language was ambiguous about whether services were truly weekly or limited to 26 sessions for the entire year.

After school started, the student did not receive regular weekly speech therapy. The service delivery was inconsistent, with sessions frequently missed or rescheduled.

When the parents asked the district for status updates on their child's speech services — specifically requesting to see the service logs — the district did not provide them. Without this information, the parents went into the October 2015 IEP meeting unable to meaningfully participate in discussions about their child's speech needs because they did not know what had actually been delivered.

What the Judge Found

ALJ Adrienne Krikorian found two critical violations:

1. Speech services were not delivered as offered:

"San Bernardino denied Student a FAPE by failing to provide him with an appropriate amount of speech therapy services for the 2015-2016 school year and 2016 extended school year."

The student did not receive the regular weekly speech therapy that the IEP contemplated, and the district could not hide behind the ambiguous language it had written.

2. Withholding service logs denied parental participation:

"The lack of consistent and accurate communication between San Bernardino staff and Parents regarding the delivery frequency of Student's speech therapy services, particularly when Parents requested status updates, significantly deprived Parents of the ability to meaningfully participate in the October 28, 2015 IEP meeting."

When parents asked for information and the district did not provide it, the parents could not effectively advocate for their child at the next IEP meeting. This constituted a procedural denial of FAPE.

The district prevailed on the aide and behavior service issues — showing that the ALJ examined each claim individually on its merits.

What Was Ordered

• The IEP was amended to specify 36 weekly 30-minute speech therapy sessions, alternating between collaborative and individual
• Compensatory speech therapy sessions for the school year and ESY periods that were missed
• Monthly written progress reports documenting every speech therapy session — including date, duration, and whether it was collaborative or individual — until the next annual IEP

Why This Matters for Parents

This case establishes two principles that every parent should know:

1. You have the right to service logs. When you ask the district how services are being delivered, they must provide accurate information. If they refuse or stall, that itself can be a FAPE denial because it prevents you from participating meaningfully in IEP meetings.

2. Ambiguous IEP language does not excuse non-delivery. If the district wrote unclear language about service frequency, the ALJ will look at what was intended and what was actually delivered — not what the district later claims the language meant.

Proactive step: At every IEP meeting, request that the district provide you with monthly service logs showing every session delivered for each service on the IEP. If they resist, cite this case. If they agree, hold them to it. If the logs reveal gaps, you have contemporaneous evidence of a FAPE denial.

The monthly progress reporting remedy ordered here is something you can request proactively in any IEP — you do not need to wait for a hearing to ask for accountability.