I opened my email yesterday to find this link to a story in the Georgia news. A mother of an autistic boy near Macon, Georgia had been arrested for violating truancy laws. There weren’t very many years ago that I wouldn’t have thought twice about such a story and if I did, I would likely have thought “what a horrible mother.”

But this mom is far from a horrible mother. I don’t know her personally, but do know of her. She is a tireless advocate for children with special needs and assists parents as they work with schools to get the right special education for their children.

These words jumped off the page at me:

“…she requested hospital/homebound instruction for her son in May of last year on the advice of his doctor, who diagnosed the child as having post-traumatic stress disorder and needing home instruction.”

Hmmm…in March of last year on the advice of LuLu’s doctor, I requested hospital/homebound instruction, too. And LuLu not only has been diagnosed with PTSD, but according to her doctor, needed home instruction due to the level of anxiety. Like this mother’s request, mine was denied. In both cases the school districts decided that they did not need to comply with a doctor’s request to provide hospital/homebound educational services. I'm told that denying a doctor's request for medical homebound education is virtually unheard of in other states. But here in Georgia there are actually separate rules and standards for children in general education vs. children in special education. (And the general education children's hospital homebound requests are honored.)

In this mother’s story, the school district went one step further. They filed truancy charges against her since her son was not attending school. On Friday things really came to a head when she was arrested and then released on a $1,100 bond.

Now that hasn’t happened to me…yet. But frankly I wouldn’t be surprised to hear from the truancy officer. This awesome mom is living my life! Perhaps I won’t have to follow her into the next chapter, but who knows? For the past year, in addition to trying to help so many others, she has been teaching her son at home, keeping detailed records and information about his progress. And she’s been actively helping and advocating for special needs children and their families. Not to mention her passionate advocacy for her own son, who is getting no services from the school district. Instead he was verbally abused on the bus and had unexplained bruises. His anxieties were definitely triggered.

So, is there any doubt that retaliation is at the core of this move on the school’s part? It’s not like they didn’t know where the kid was or that she was educating him to the best of her abilities at home. It’s not like they didn’t know they had a dispute going on. It’s not like they tried to negotiate and resolve this issue. Instead, they hit her with the biggest hammer they could find.

The next stop…state court. This brave mom is facing all this alone, as (get this) her husband’s currently serving in Iraq. Let me get this straight, what we have here is a stressed out parent of an autistic boy who was being abused enough at school to not only show bruises, but develop PTSD. The said mom doesn’t even have her spouse to lean on as he's off fighting for our country, although I can imagine how nerve-wracking it must be for him being that far away from this whole mess.

Does this sound like the picture you had of public schools? Of nice teachers and cherubic children; of friendly administrators welcoming parents with opening arms; of caring professionals who have the child's best interest a heart?

I’ll admit it. If I weren’t living in this parallel universe along side this woman and her son, I’d be tempted to say that someone is making this up! I didn't believe, even after we filed due process, that school personnel could be dishonest, manipulative, cruel and vindictive. I truly thought other parents were being paranoid and exaggerating the truth. Schools would never treat parents this way!

Nope, it ain't a joke or an exaggeration; no one can make up a story this outlandish!