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havioral method called Applied
Behavior Analysis. Instead, Max
was placed in a class taught by a
woman who was a Spanish immersion teacher and had no special education certification.
“Walker-Jones had just wasted
a year of our lives,” Greg says.
“At Tyler he’s being taught by a
Spanish teacher!”
What’s more, they weren’t
receiving regular reports from
Tyler. And the school’s supplemental services were no better.
Once, Greg walked into the school
to pick up Max, only to find him
sweaty from humping a beanbag
chair. A teacher’s aide sat four
feet away, reading a book, as if everything were normal.
Another time, when Maya
picked up Max, she thought his
classroom smelled but made
nothing of it. But the smell followed Max to the car: He had defecated in his pants, and no one
had cleaned it up. No one even
mentioned it. So she walked him
back and did it herself.
After parents learned that
Max’s teacher had been absent for
about 25 of 99 school days, the
school decided to combine Max’s
class with another. Max was finally placed in Schneider’s class, but
HUFFINGTON
01.12.14
now she had double the students.
On Nov. 5, 2012, Greg and
Maya filed for private placement.
Greg had visited one called Trellis, in Hunt Valley, Md. Trellis
used the tactile equipment his
parents believe Max needs to focus. For the first time, Greg said,
Max seemed at home and en-
“This is part of their
strategy. Make us
broke and tired, and
perhaps leave us with
no private school
choices in the end that
would meet his needs.”
gaged. One teacher showed him
images on an iPad as he jumped
on a small moon bounce. It was
heaven. It was also $400 a day.
In late January, Maya and Greg
learned that the district had denied them private placement, on
the grounds that Max doesn’t
have to be making progress for
D.C. to be in compliance with
IDEA. Quoting an earlier case,
hearing officer Bruce Ryan wrote,
“While the District of Columbia
is required to provide [disabled]
students with a[n appropriate]
public education, it does not guar-