Law Office of Matthew H. Storey

For me, the path to becoming a special education attorney was straight forward. I vividly remember my family’s frustration with my brother’s education. He is a year younger than I and is diagnosed with cerebral palsy (“CP”), a group of neurological disorders that effect movement. CP, like many disabilities, is abroad spectrum. Some are able to move with relative ease, for others all movement may be virtually paralyzed, bound to a chair and require constant supervision for life. I suppose fortunately, my brothers is more the former. At one point, I recall my mother arguing with the school principal about my brother being placed in a room by himself with only a television. He must have been in the 2nd or 3rd grade, and apparently this had been going on for over a month with no notification to my parents. The principal told my mom the school did not have the ability to support my brother, and the room with a television was all they could do. My parents, not knowing they may have had other options, moved my brother to a private school. To be clear this was illegal. There is a robust set of federal and state laws which require schools to provide an appropriate education to all children with disabilities. Unfortunately, all too often they are not followed. When my brother was placed in a room by himself the school was clearly violating the law. What my parents may not have known at the time, was they were not required to just accept whatever the school offered my brother or place him at their own expense into a private school. When a parent disagrees with the IEP or its implementation they can file a complaint with the state department of education and have a judge determine whether or not the school is complying with the IDEA. I think, had I been their attorney at the time, either the school would have had to create an appropriate program or pay for my brother to attend a private school. A common outcome with cases as egregious.