03-21-2006, 08:31 PM
With two autistic children, and teachers and consultants filing in and out of their home, Bobbie and Billy Gallagher know their lives are anything but typical.
Yet Austin, their 13-year-old son on the severe end of the autism spectrum, is in some respects a typical teenager — his parents say he says "no" often and seems happiest with the headphones from his MP3 player in his ears.
And then there is Alanna, 15, who has a milder case of autism and who goes to school at the Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center in New Brunswick, and Chelsea, a 16-year-old junior at the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences in Dover Township.
Although life may not be what they imagined it would be like before two of their children were diagnosed with autism, the Gallaghers take pride in providing their children with the things they need.
"(Putting Austin in a residential facility) was never an option for us as a family," said Bobbie Gallagher, Austin's mother. "We know there may be a time when we can't do what we now do for our children, and if we have to bring staff in to help when that happens, that is one thing. But right now we can provide for our children, and no one is going to take them away from us."
Nearly three years ago, the Brick Township School District tried to do just that.
In June 2003, three weeks after telling the Gallaghers that Austin would be taught in an autistic class at the district's Drum Point Road School, the district changed its mind, attempting to enforce its proposal that Austin be placed in a residential facility.
That same month, the Gallaghers asked the state Office of Administrative Law to enforce the earlier June 5 plan to educate their son in the district. Last month, a judge ordered the district to follow that plan.
In a decision released Feb. 15, Ana C. Viscomi, a judge with the Office of Administrative Law in Mercer County, ordered the Brick School District to bring Austin from his placement at a private school in Neptune to a public one in Brick. Even if the district appeals the ruling, the transition should begin immediately, the judge said.
Yet as of Friday, more than one month after Viscomi's decision, Austin remains at the Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune. A March 10 meeting, which the Gallaghers said they thought was called to discuss Austin's move to Brick, was fruitless, they said. And, if the district continues to take no action, S. Paul Prior, the Gallaghers' attorney, said he will likely ask the U.S. District Court for help enforcing Viscomi's decision.
"A month has gone by, and the district has done nothing as far as we can tell," Prior said. "It doesn't look like the district is willing to abide by the judge's order. This order, whether it is later reversed on appeal or not, is supposed to be put into effect immediately."
Other than to say the decision was being reviewed by the district's attorney, Schools Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger last week declined to comment on the ruling. If it decides to appeal, the district must do so to the appellate court within 90 days of the Feb. 15 decision.
Prior estimated doing so will cost the district an additional $40,000. Already, Prior said the Gallaghers have spent more than $100,000 on the case. Once the matter is settled, he said he expects to ask the U.S. District Court to compel the district to reimburse the Gallaghers for that cost.
A rocky return
Diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old, Austin was taught at the Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center in New Brunswick for five years and, from September 2001 through April 2002, was taught at the Brookside School in Wall. Then, in May 2002, the Gallaghers and school officials agreed that Austin would return to a self-contained autistic class at Brick's Primary Learning Center.
Yet after 10 days at the learning center, Austin was sent home, after biting one of his teachers. Four days later, the district placed him on permanent homebound instruction. From mid-May through June and then again from July through August, Austin received no therapy or instruction. For a one-month period in the middle, Austin received 20 hours a week of instruction from a speech pathologist.
It was during this time that the Gallaghers said Austin's self-injurious behaviors — mostly biting his own fingers and palms — increased to more than 300 separate incidents each day.
It was because of the frequency of those behaviors that the Gallaghers sent Austin to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an inpatient residential neurobehavioral treatment facility in Baltimore that specializes in treating children with brain disorders.
Austin's admittance to Kennedy Krieger was contingent on the district's plan to have a program ready for him upon his release. On Feb. 4, 2003, the district documented its plan to place Austin in an autistic class at the Emma Havens Young School. On June 5, the district again stated its intention to educate Austin in the district, this time saying Austin would join an autistic class at the Drum Point Road School.
The district even went as far as to send two of its teachers to Kennedy Krieger, where they observed Austin and were trained in the techniques used with him.
Yet on June 23, 2003, less than three weeks after the Gallaghers and school officials agreed that Austin would return to a classroom at Drum Point and two days before Austin was to return home, the district informed the Gallaghers that Austin would be kept at home until a residential placement could be found for him.
In testimony provided to the court, district officials said the decision not to allow Austin to return to school in Brick was made out of concern that Kennedy Krieger's program was too intense to be maintained in Brick.
After observing Austin at Kennedy Krieger, Vivian Attanasio, a school psychologist and a member of Austin's child study team, said Kim Gonzalez, the teacher of the class Austin would be placed in, expressed concern about the intensity of Austin's biting. Gonzalez also was concerned that loud noises made by another student in her class would disrupt Austin, Attanasio testified.
Other concerns expressed by the district was Austin's propensity not to wear shoes in class and his inability to participate in group activities. Attanasio also testified that Gonzalez was concerned about the placement of two additional students in her class, which increased the total class size to seven.
Yet after being ordered to do so by the court, the district provided Austin with home instruction for six weeks upon his return from Kennedy Krieger. And, beginning in February 2004, the district has paid teachers and consultants to work with Austin in a classroom it rented at the Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune.
In her decision, Viscomi called the district's explanation weak, perhaps reaching the level of being disingenuousness, and said it was not based upon reliable information. By providing Austin with no educational and behavioral program, Viscomi said the district was ultimately responsible for Austin's regression.
A family again
Despite months of testimony from district employees and their experts, the Gallaghers said they have never heard a valid explanation from the district as to why it wanted to place Austin in a residential home.
Bobbie Gallagher, an advocate and home-based consultant for parents of autistic children, said she has never heard of a district that wanted to put a child in a residential placement against his parents' will. Prior agreed the predicament is rare. In his five years at the firm of Hinkle & Fingles, Prior said, he knows of only one other family that fought to keep their children from leaving their home. More common, he said, is a district's opposition to parents' request for a residential placement.
"We have never looked to hit up Brick financially for anything other than what our children need," Billy Gallagher said. "Austin needs more because he is severe. It's the reason we are fighting for more."
Yet the Gallaghers said they are grateful for the care Austin received at Kennedy Krieger. As if he was a surgeon who had cured Austin of cancer, the Gallaghers credit Dr. Louis Hagopian, program director of Kennedy Krieger's neurobehavioral unit, with saving their son, and their family. Once only able to say 25 or 30 words, Austin now speaks in complete sentences.
Since Austin returned from Kennedy Krieger, the Gallaghers' 16-year-old daughter, Chelsea, said she enjoys spending time with her family. When Austin was at his worst, Chelsea said she would hide in her room to avoid his outbursts.
And, instead of staying at home, out of fear that Austin will have an outburst, the Gallaghers go out, taking Austin with them.
"Austin goes wherever we go now," Bobbie Gallagher said. "And, instead of acting out, he can tell us if he wants to go home. This is a little kid we didn't have before. We're a family again."
Posted by the Asbury Park Press
BY NAOMI MUELLER
Yet Austin, their 13-year-old son on the severe end of the autism spectrum, is in some respects a typical teenager — his parents say he says "no" often and seems happiest with the headphones from his MP3 player in his ears.
And then there is Alanna, 15, who has a milder case of autism and who goes to school at the Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center in New Brunswick, and Chelsea, a 16-year-old junior at the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences in Dover Township.
Although life may not be what they imagined it would be like before two of their children were diagnosed with autism, the Gallaghers take pride in providing their children with the things they need.
"(Putting Austin in a residential facility) was never an option for us as a family," said Bobbie Gallagher, Austin's mother. "We know there may be a time when we can't do what we now do for our children, and if we have to bring staff in to help when that happens, that is one thing. But right now we can provide for our children, and no one is going to take them away from us."
Nearly three years ago, the Brick Township School District tried to do just that.
In June 2003, three weeks after telling the Gallaghers that Austin would be taught in an autistic class at the district's Drum Point Road School, the district changed its mind, attempting to enforce its proposal that Austin be placed in a residential facility.
That same month, the Gallaghers asked the state Office of Administrative Law to enforce the earlier June 5 plan to educate their son in the district. Last month, a judge ordered the district to follow that plan.
In a decision released Feb. 15, Ana C. Viscomi, a judge with the Office of Administrative Law in Mercer County, ordered the Brick School District to bring Austin from his placement at a private school in Neptune to a public one in Brick. Even if the district appeals the ruling, the transition should begin immediately, the judge said.
Yet as of Friday, more than one month after Viscomi's decision, Austin remains at the Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune. A March 10 meeting, which the Gallaghers said they thought was called to discuss Austin's move to Brick, was fruitless, they said. And, if the district continues to take no action, S. Paul Prior, the Gallaghers' attorney, said he will likely ask the U.S. District Court for help enforcing Viscomi's decision.
"A month has gone by, and the district has done nothing as far as we can tell," Prior said. "It doesn't look like the district is willing to abide by the judge's order. This order, whether it is later reversed on appeal or not, is supposed to be put into effect immediately."
Other than to say the decision was being reviewed by the district's attorney, Schools Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger last week declined to comment on the ruling. If it decides to appeal, the district must do so to the appellate court within 90 days of the Feb. 15 decision.
Prior estimated doing so will cost the district an additional $40,000. Already, Prior said the Gallaghers have spent more than $100,000 on the case. Once the matter is settled, he said he expects to ask the U.S. District Court to compel the district to reimburse the Gallaghers for that cost.
A rocky return
Diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old, Austin was taught at the Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center in New Brunswick for five years and, from September 2001 through April 2002, was taught at the Brookside School in Wall. Then, in May 2002, the Gallaghers and school officials agreed that Austin would return to a self-contained autistic class at Brick's Primary Learning Center.
Yet after 10 days at the learning center, Austin was sent home, after biting one of his teachers. Four days later, the district placed him on permanent homebound instruction. From mid-May through June and then again from July through August, Austin received no therapy or instruction. For a one-month period in the middle, Austin received 20 hours a week of instruction from a speech pathologist.
It was during this time that the Gallaghers said Austin's self-injurious behaviors — mostly biting his own fingers and palms — increased to more than 300 separate incidents each day.
It was because of the frequency of those behaviors that the Gallaghers sent Austin to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an inpatient residential neurobehavioral treatment facility in Baltimore that specializes in treating children with brain disorders.
Austin's admittance to Kennedy Krieger was contingent on the district's plan to have a program ready for him upon his release. On Feb. 4, 2003, the district documented its plan to place Austin in an autistic class at the Emma Havens Young School. On June 5, the district again stated its intention to educate Austin in the district, this time saying Austin would join an autistic class at the Drum Point Road School.
The district even went as far as to send two of its teachers to Kennedy Krieger, where they observed Austin and were trained in the techniques used with him.
Yet on June 23, 2003, less than three weeks after the Gallaghers and school officials agreed that Austin would return to a classroom at Drum Point and two days before Austin was to return home, the district informed the Gallaghers that Austin would be kept at home until a residential placement could be found for him.
In testimony provided to the court, district officials said the decision not to allow Austin to return to school in Brick was made out of concern that Kennedy Krieger's program was too intense to be maintained in Brick.
After observing Austin at Kennedy Krieger, Vivian Attanasio, a school psychologist and a member of Austin's child study team, said Kim Gonzalez, the teacher of the class Austin would be placed in, expressed concern about the intensity of Austin's biting. Gonzalez also was concerned that loud noises made by another student in her class would disrupt Austin, Attanasio testified.
Other concerns expressed by the district was Austin's propensity not to wear shoes in class and his inability to participate in group activities. Attanasio also testified that Gonzalez was concerned about the placement of two additional students in her class, which increased the total class size to seven.
Yet after being ordered to do so by the court, the district provided Austin with home instruction for six weeks upon his return from Kennedy Krieger. And, beginning in February 2004, the district has paid teachers and consultants to work with Austin in a classroom it rented at the Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune.
In her decision, Viscomi called the district's explanation weak, perhaps reaching the level of being disingenuousness, and said it was not based upon reliable information. By providing Austin with no educational and behavioral program, Viscomi said the district was ultimately responsible for Austin's regression.
A family again
Despite months of testimony from district employees and their experts, the Gallaghers said they have never heard a valid explanation from the district as to why it wanted to place Austin in a residential home.
Bobbie Gallagher, an advocate and home-based consultant for parents of autistic children, said she has never heard of a district that wanted to put a child in a residential placement against his parents' will. Prior agreed the predicament is rare. In his five years at the firm of Hinkle & Fingles, Prior said, he knows of only one other family that fought to keep their children from leaving their home. More common, he said, is a district's opposition to parents' request for a residential placement.
"We have never looked to hit up Brick financially for anything other than what our children need," Billy Gallagher said. "Austin needs more because he is severe. It's the reason we are fighting for more."
Yet the Gallaghers said they are grateful for the care Austin received at Kennedy Krieger. As if he was a surgeon who had cured Austin of cancer, the Gallaghers credit Dr. Louis Hagopian, program director of Kennedy Krieger's neurobehavioral unit, with saving their son, and their family. Once only able to say 25 or 30 words, Austin now speaks in complete sentences.
Since Austin returned from Kennedy Krieger, the Gallaghers' 16-year-old daughter, Chelsea, said she enjoys spending time with her family. When Austin was at his worst, Chelsea said she would hide in her room to avoid his outbursts.
And, instead of staying at home, out of fear that Austin will have an outburst, the Gallaghers go out, taking Austin with them.
"Austin goes wherever we go now," Bobbie Gallagher said. "And, instead of acting out, he can tell us if he wants to go home. This is a little kid we didn't have before. We're a family again."
Posted by the Asbury Park Press
BY NAOMI MUELLER