Autism--assessment and placement under The Education for All Handicapped Children Act: a case history

Over the years, various clinicians diagnosed a school-aged child as mentally retarded, mentally retarded with autistic-like features, or autistic. A school district sought to place the child locally in a school for mentally retarded children, while the child's parents desired replacement in a residential school that specialized in the education of autistic children. After a due process hearing, the child was placed in a school for autistic children. The case demonstrates the importance of independent mediation and professional assessment in placing handicapped children and examines free appropriate public education in the context of Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District vs. Rowley (1982).