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	<title>Lex Autism</title>
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	<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog</link>
	<description>An electronic journal of law autism from Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard.</description>
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		<copyright>&#xA9;Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard </copyright>
		<managingEditor>frank@slinkard.com (Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard)</managingEditor>
		<webMaster>frank@slinkard.com</webMaster>
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		<ttl>1440</ttl>
		<itunes:keywords>Autism, Law, Disability, Rights, Liberty</itunes:keywords>
		<itunes:subtitle>Autism, Law, Disability, Rights, Liberty</itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Lex Autism Blog  Podcast is an electronic journal of law and liberty for those with autism from Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard.</itunes:summary>
		<itunes:author>Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard</itunes:author>
		<itunes:category text="Society &amp; Culture">
  <itunes:category text="Personal Journals"/>
</itunes:category>
		<itunes:owner>
			<itunes:name>Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard</itunes:name>
			<itunes:email>frank@slinkard.com</itunes:email>
		</itunes:owner>
		<itunes:block>No</itunes:block>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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		<image>
			<url>http://www.slinkard.com/images/Podcast%20LogoS.jpg</url>
			<title>Lex Autism</title>
			<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog</link>
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		<item>
		<title>Autistic Boy Charged with Making Terroristic Threats Over Stick Figure</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=81</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=81#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2010 15:07:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=81</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a story about a school disciplinary action from Sandy Springs, Georgia about an autistic student drew an objectionable sketch.  The story is notable for the school&#8217;s excessive, over-reaching reaction.  In Autistic Boy Charged With Making Terrorist Threats Over Stick-Figure Sketch, one learns that a fourteen-year old boy is 

facing terrorist charges after [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a story about a school disciplinary action from Sandy Springs, Georgia about an autistic student drew an objectionable sketch.  The story is notable for the school&#8217;s excessive, over-reaching reaction.  In Autistic Boy Charged With Making Terrorist Threats Over Stick-Figure Sketch, one learns that a fourteen-year old boy is 

facing terrorist charges after a sketch he made in school. 
The sketch shows two stick-figures. One of them is labeled &#8216;Me&#8217; and is shown shooting a gun at another with a teacher&#8217;s name above it. Karen Finn says that her son, 8th grader Shane Finn, doesn&#8217;t understand why he is in trouble. She says the boy is autistic and has the mental capacity of a 3rd grader. 
Officials at Ridgeview Charter School say the student will face a tribunal and is being charged with making terrorist threats. 
Finn says she plans to fight the charges.

There&#8217;s also a news clip from a Fox television station that that describes Shane Finn&#8217;s actions.  Absent additional information about the student&#8217;s conduct previous to drawing the sketch, this is just thin gruel.

Such cases often come about through the poor exercise of administrative discretion, and in its place the imposition of a rough-hewn, one-size-fits-all approach to student behavior.  The teacher, or administrators decide that rules are rules, and that those rules must be applied the same way, each and every time.  
This amounts to an over-reliance on the need for consistency at the expense of sound judgment through the application of rules to specific conditions.   
If one had a dollar for every settle time an administrator worried excessively about assuring that everything was consistent, he or she could fund a good part of a school district&#8217;s budget.
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=81</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Oakstone Academy Promotional Video</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=80</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=80#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2010 20:04:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=80</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On Tuesday, I posted an Associated Press story about Oakstone Academy, an elementary and middle school with a mixture of autistic and non-autistic students.  The story did not describe the proportion of each group, and neither does a promotional video from the school.
Still, the video is suggestive of a large number of autistic students. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On Tuesday, I posted an Associated Press story about Oakstone Academy, an elementary and middle school with a mixture of autistic and non-autistic students.  The story did not describe the proportion of each group, and neither does a promotional video from the school.
Still, the video is suggestive of a large number of autistic students.  
Here it is, just under four minutes long: 

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=80</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ohio School Mixes Autistics and Non-Autistics Together</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=77</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=77#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 May 2010 21:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=77</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a very brief story from the Associated Press about Oakstone Academy in central Ohio.  The school has reportedly become popular for its approach of mixing autistics and non-autistics in classrooms, with a significant portion of autistics.
Well worth learning more.
The story is available at Ohio School Mixes Autistics and Non-Autistics Together.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a very brief story from the Associated Press about Oakstone Academy in central Ohio.  The school has reportedly become popular for its approach of mixing autistics and non-autistics in classrooms, with a significant portion of autistics.
Well worth learning more.
The story is available at Ohio School Mixes Autistics and Non-Autistics Together.
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=77</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Autism Pioneer Stanley Greenspan Dies</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=74</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=74#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 May 2010 19:38:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=74</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[CNN reports that autism pioneer and child psychologist Dr. Stanley Greenspan died last Tuesday at the age of sixty-eight.  
Greenspan was known for his &#8220;floor-time approach,&#8221; in which parents were encouraged to seek a relationship based approach with autistics rather than a behavioral approach.   
Countless children were helped in this way, and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[CNN reports that autism pioneer and child psychologist Dr. Stanley Greenspan died last Tuesday at the age of sixty-eight.  
Greenspan was known for his &#8220;floor-time approach,&#8221; in which parents were encouraged to seek a relationship based approach with autistics rather than a behavioral approach.   
Countless children were helped in this way, and the importance of this approach to advocacy on behalf of autistics as neurodiverse persons cannot be ignored. 
The CNN story is available at Autism Pioneer Stanley Greenspan Dies.
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=74</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>California: Families Sue Over Discontinued Autism Therapy</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=73</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=73#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:24:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=73</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Families Sue Over Discontinued Autism Therapy
Sent from my BlackBerry
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Families Sue Over Discontinued Autism Therapy
Sent from my BlackBerry
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=73</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Autism, WiFi, and Law</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=63</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=63#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:39:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=63</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some months ago, there were any number of reports that there was a correlation between increased use of Wi-Fi, and other communications technologies, and incidence of autism.  An example of such a report can be found from Business Wire, entitled, &#8220;Research on Correlation Between Autism, Cell Phones, and Wireless Computers by Tamara Mariea.&#8221;
That&#8217;s correlation, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Some months ago, there were any number of reports that there was a correlation between increased use of Wi-Fi, and other communications technologies, and incidence of autism.  An example of such a report can be found from Business Wire, entitled, &#8220;Research on Correlation Between Autism, Cell Phones, and Wireless Computers by Tamara Mariea.&#8221;
That&#8217;s correlation, not causation, by the way.
For a thorough debunking of the Wi-Fi and autism correlation, see the solid analysis at Ars Technica, entitled, &#8220;Autism and WiFi, a Detailed Debunking.&#8221;
This is one of the times that, concerns about the excessive creativity of the plaintiff&#8217;s bar notwithstanding, one can be sanguine about the legal value of work like Mariea&#8217;s.  The cost of undertaking a case is high, in analysis and money, and is a barrier to crackpot theories.  Could be, might be, perhaps, etc. are just not enough to justify a case against any number of tech companies with the means to mount a thorough, compelling defense.  
The cost for a press release of a shoddy study is low, but fortunately, law sets the cost of a lawsuit far higher.  
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=63</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lead in Toys</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=62</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=62#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:54:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=62</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over at AutismVox, there&#8217;s a justifiably skeptical post about a letter to the editor suggesting that lead in toys might be responsible for the supposed &#8216;autism epidemic.&#8217;
I know of no solid medicine supporting a lead-toy-to-autism hypothesis, but the plaintiff&#8217;s bar may find a reputed expert, somewhere.  It&#8217;s likely that there will be lawsuits over [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Over at AutismVox, there&#8217;s a justifiably skeptical post about a letter to the editor suggesting that lead in toys might be responsible for the supposed &#8216;autism epidemic.&#8217;
I know of no solid medicine supporting a lead-toy-to-autism hypothesis, but the plaintiff&#8217;s bar may find a reputed expert, somewhere.  It&#8217;s likely that there will be lawsuits over these lead-containing toys, but I am not sure if they&#8217;ll implicate autism.  
In any event, mere implication is neither evidence nor proof of causation.  
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=62</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Happy Father&#8217;s Day</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=54</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=54#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:29:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Excursion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=54</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Best wishes to dads everywhere for a great Father&#8217;s Day.  Here&#8217;s a picture of my late father, when he was only three years old, from Wyoming.

]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Best wishes to dads everywhere for a great Father&#8217;s Day.  Here&#8217;s a picture of my late father, when he was only three years old, from Wyoming.

]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=54</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Parents Have Independent, Substantive Rights Under IDEA: Winkleman v. Parma City School District (Part 3 of 3).</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=48</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=48#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 May 2007 23:57:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=48</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On May 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Winkelman v. Parma City School District.  The court held that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights (beyond mere procedural matters) regarding entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children.  (Readers may find the syllabus, opinion, and concurring opinion of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On May 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Winkelman v. Parma City School District.  The court held that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights (beyond mere procedural matters) regarding entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children.  (Readers may find the syllabus, opinion, and concurring opinion of the case at the website of my alma mater.  The syllabus is not part of the opinion, but merely a summary for readers convenience.)  In this post, I will analyze the minority (both concurring and dissenting) opinion.  
The Court faces two issues in Winkelman:
1. Does IDEA grant parents independent, enforceable rights, which are not limited to procedural and reimbursement-related matters but encompass the entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children?  
2: Does IDEA entitle parents to litigate their childs claims pro se?
The majority, in an opinion from Justice Kennedy, concludes that "Petitioners construe these various provisions to accord parents independent, enforceable rights under IDEA. We agree. The parents enjoy enforceable rights at the administrative stage, and it would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme to bar them from continuing to assert these rights in federal court.  Because the majority finds that parents have independent rights entitling them to proceed pro se, they do not address the second issue (can parents litigate their childrens claims pro se).
Justices Scalia and Thomas conclude that (1) IDEA grants parents only independent procedural rights at the administrative stage, (2) but that those independent procedural rights would enable parents to proceed pro se in federal court for reimbursement of private tuition and for violations of administrative rights.  For this reason, Justice Scalias opinion is both a dissent and a concurrence: Scalia and Thomas reject the means by which the majority allows parents to recover, but would recognize some right of recovery on more limited means.
Justice Scalia sees in IDEA a clear limit on how parents may proceed on their own behalf, with procedural and administrative rights for parents, but substantive rights  that is, whether the child received a free appropriate public education  residing with the child only.  
Its hard not to read this opinion and see how out-of-touch Scalia has become.  Most parents  far more than merely parents of autistic children  would be surprised that Scalia thinks that parents would not have a direct, substantive interest in a free, appropriate public education for a child.  When Scalia writes that keeping pro se cases from clogging the federal docket is a positive consequence of his analysis, he ignores the kind of cases he would be keeping out: parents trying to assert rights regarding their disabled childrens education.  Scalia contends that there is a difference between interests and rights, but here his argument will fall on deaf ears; a parental right so closely allied to a childs is one the majority of this country will recognize.  The majoritys interpretation of the statute is likely closer to that of most Americans from across the political s spectrum.
Although Scalia still has some rhetorical fire ("The Courts spraying statutory sections about like buckshot cannot create a substantive parental right to education where none exists), his opinion in Winkelman is narrow, unsympathetic, and unlikely to be remembered.  Scalia, himself, will be remembered as a consequential associate justice, but not for this minority opinion. 
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=48</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Memorial Day 2007</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=44</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=44#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 May 2007 11:30:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Excursion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Happy Memorial Day.  My late father served with distinction with the Ninth Infantry Division in the Second World War, and he and countless others have earned the thanks of our nation.  
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Happy Memorial Day.  My late father served with distinction with the Ninth Infantry Division in the Second World War, and he and countless others have earned the thanks of our nation.  
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=44</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Parents Have Independent, Substantive Rights Under IDEA: Winkelman v. Parma City School District. (Part 2 of 3).</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=42</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=42#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 May 2007 10:51:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=42</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On May 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Winkelman v. Parma City School District.  The court held that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights (beyond mere procedural matters) regarding entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children.  In this, the second of three posts, I will analyze [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On May 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Winkelman v. Parma City School District.  The court held that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights (beyond mere procedural matters) regarding entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children.  In this, the second of three posts, I will analyze the majority opinion. In a third post I will analyze the concurring opinion.  
(Readers may find the syllabus, opinion, and concurring opinion of the case at the website of my alma mater.  The syllabus is not part of the opinion, but merely a summary for readers convenience.)
Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority in Winkelman, summarizes the principal dispute:
The question is whether parents, either on their own behalf or as representatives of the child, may proceed in court unrepresented by counsel though they are not trained or licensed as attorneys. Resolution of this issue requires us to examine and explain the provisions of IDEA to determine if it accords to parents rights of their own that can be vindicated in court proceedings, or alternatively, whether the Act allows them, in their status as parents, to represent their child in court proceedings.
  (Emphasis added.)  
Thats why, yesterday, I listed two legal issues: 
1. Does IDEA grant parents independent, enforceable rights, which are not limited to procedural and reimbursement-related matters but encompass the entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children?  
2: Does IDEA entitle parents to litigate their childs claims pro se?
As well see, the majority only answered the first issue; the second remains unresolved.  
Sometimes, different federal circuit  appellate  courts reach conflicting opinions on a matter of law.  Thats what the court in Winkelman confronted.  Just Kennedy explains:
Relying on its recent decision in Cavanaugh v. Cardinal Local School Dist., 409
F. 3d 753 (2005), the [Sixth Circuit] Court of Appeals entered an order dismissing the Winkelmans appeal unless they obtained counsel to represent Jacob.In Cavanaugh the Court of Appeals had rejected the proposition that IDEA allows nonlawyer parents raising IDEA claims to proceed pro se in federal court. The court ruled that the right to a free appropriate public education belongs to the child alonenot to both the parents and the child. It followed, the court held, that any right on which the [parents] could proceed on their own behalf would be derivative of the child&#8217;s rightso that parents bringing IDEA claims were not appearing on their
own behalf
As the court in Cavanaugh acknowledged, its decision brought the Sixth Circuit in direct conflict with the First Circuit, which had concluded, under a theory of statutory joint rights, that the Act accords to parents the right to assert IDEA claims on their own behalf
Kennedy and the majority conclude that 
Petitioners construe these various provisions to accord parents independent, enforceable rights under IDEA. We agree. The parents enjoy enforceable rights at the administrative stage, and it would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme to bar them from continuing to assert these rights in federal court.
Heres why the majority decides the way it does:
IDEA defines one of its purposes as seeking to ensure that the &#8220;rights of children with disabilities and parents of such children are protected.&#8221; 1400(d)(1)(B). The word &#8220;rights&#8221; in the quoted language refers to the rights of parents as well as the rights of the child; otherwise the grammatical structure would make no sense.
The holding means that, since parents have independent, substantive rights under IDEA, the second issue before the court  can parents represent their childrens claims under IDEA in federal court without counsel &#8211; was not decided.
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=42</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Parents Have Independent, Substantive Rights Under IDEA: Winkelman v. Parma City School District. (Part 1 of 3).</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=41</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=41#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=41</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On May 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Winkelman v. Parma City School District.  The court held that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights (beyond mere procedural matters) regarding entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children.  In this post, I will summarize the basic facts, legal [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On May 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in Winkelman v. Parma City School District.  The court held that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights (beyond mere procedural matters) regarding entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children.  In this post, I will summarize the basic facts, legal issues, and procedural history of Winkelman.  In a second post, I will analyze the majority opinion, and in a third post I will analyze the concurring opinion.  
(Readers may find the syllabus, opinion, and concurring opinion of the case at the website of my alma mater.  The syllabus is not part of the opinion, but merely a summary for readers convenience.)  
Facts of Winkelman:  The Parma City School District receives federal funds under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), so by law the district must provide children, such as Jacob Winkelman, free, appropriate public education, 20 U. S. C. 1400(d)(1)(A), in accordance with an individualized education program (IEP) that the parents, school officials, and others develop as members of the students IEP Team.
Legal Issues: 1. Does IDEA grant parents independent, enforceable rights, which are not limited to procedural and reimbursement-related matters but encompass the entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their children?    2: Does IDEA entitle parents to litigate their childs claims pro se?
Procedural History: Regarding their sons IEP as deficient, the Winkelmans unsuccessfully
appealed through the IDEA administrative review process.  Without legal representatation, they then filed a federal-court complaint on their own behalf and on their sons behalf. The District Court granted the Parma City School District judgment on the pleadings. Thereafter, the Sixth Circuit entered an order dismissing the Winkelmans subsequent appeal unless they obtained an attorney, citing Circuit precedent holding that since the right to a free, appropriate public education belongs only to the child, and IDEA does not abrogate the common-law rule prohibiting non-lawyer parents from representing minor children, IDEA does not allow non-lawyer parents to proceed pro se in federal court.  The Winkelmans appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the case was heard for oral argument on February 27th, and an opinion handed down on May 21st.  
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		<title>Autism Awareness Walk: June 3rd, Manitowoc, WI</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=39</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=39#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 May 2007 13:40:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=39</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For those in eastern Wisconsin, there will be a Sunday, June 3rd Autism Awareness Walk in Manitowoc, Wisconsin beginning at 1 p.m.  The event promises &#8220;live entertainment, food, many wonderful raffle prizes&#8230;&#8221; but the real benefit is meeting others who support autism awareness.  The event will take place at the Lincoln Field House [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[For those in eastern Wisconsin, there will be a Sunday, June 3rd Autism Awareness Walk in Manitowoc, Wisconsin beginning at 1 p.m.  The event promises &#8220;live entertainment, food, many wonderful raffle prizes&#8230;&#8221; but the real benefit is meeting others who support autism awareness.  The event will take place at the Lincoln Field House in Manitowoc.  The location is available from Google Maps, and a downloadable brochure for the event is on the Autism Society of Wisconsin website as a .pdf file.
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		<title>Religious Education and Autism</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=34</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=34#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 May 2007 11:58:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=34</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over at AutismVox, Kristina Chew posts about a conference last year, on autism and advocacy, that included discussion of religious education for those with autism.  Her post includes several links, and it&#8217;s all interesting reading.
It&#8217;s a topic about which I have not yet posted, but which is of great interest.  I&#8217;ll make a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Over at AutismVox, Kristina Chew posts about a conference last year, on autism and advocacy, that included discussion of religious education for those with autism.  Her post includes several links, and it&#8217;s all interesting reading.
It&#8217;s a topic about which I have not yet posted, but which is of great interest.  I&#8217;ll make a few quick observations. 
Objections to religious instruction for autistic children are not made on religious grounds, but on the human basis of &#8216;realism&#8217; or &#8216;practicality.&#8217;  Parents themselves often fall into this way of thinking, but the objections can easily come from priests, pastors, or rabbis who contend that realism or practicality prevent inclusion of an autistic child in the ceremonial life of the church or synagogue.  More often than not, an especially officious lay-person will deliver the message of supposed practicality, common sense, or realism.
I&#8217;ll approach this as Lutheran, but the same conclusions hold for other Scriptural beliefs.  These messages are invariably contrary to Scriptural teaching, and represent a cold, false, and anti-traditional approach.  Through Scripture &#8212; without any doubt &#8212; autistic children should be included in the life of the church.  When you hear someone arguing otherwise, you hear someone who stands against Scripture and Doctrine, and places human rationalization against religious teaching.  
I&#8217;ve heard these contentions from &#8216;realism&#8217; and &#8216;practicality&#8217; more than once, and less than a year ago heard a Lutheran Circuit Counselor contend that bringing the disabled (not specifically those with autism, but other conditions) into the worship service produced &#8217;stigma&#8217; for a nearby church that adopted that approach.  (He used the word &#8217;stigma,&#8217;  and thus simultaneously confirmed himself to be both doctrinally-false and obtuse.)  That&#8217;s the way of the world, though: many clergyman see themselves as managers of competing needs, and quickly abandon their teaching for the sake of imagined managerial interests.  They&#8217;re actually poor managers, but then they really don&#8217;t know what they don&#8217;t know.
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		<title>Subway v. Kiwi Autistic Worker Sharing Soda</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=32</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=32#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 May 2007 14:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=32</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[UPDATED 5/15/07:  Criminal charge dropped; public-relations stupidity of Subway franchisee remains.
There&#8217;s a story circulating this morning about a worker at a New Zealand Subway sandwich shop being fired for sharing her complementary Diet Coke with a friend.  The Sidney Morning Herald reports that Jackie Lang, who has Asperger&#8217;s, was (1) dismissed for sharing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[UPDATED 5/15/07:  Criminal charge dropped; public-relations stupidity of Subway franchisee remains.
There&#8217;s a story circulating this morning about a worker at a New Zealand Subway sandwich shop being fired for sharing her complementary Diet Coke with a friend.  The Sidney Morning Herald reports that Jackie Lang, who has Asperger&#8217;s, was (1) dismissed for sharing her soda with a distraught friend, and (2) later charged with theft of services.
I cannot say that this situation is rare, at least in America; I often encounter people who tell me about children, neighbors, etc., who were dismissed &#8212; or at least strongly rebuked &#8212; for violating a fast food chain&#8217;s &#8216;worker-food policy.&#8217;  I have never worked in that industry, but I have also never met anyone who did who did not have a tale to tell.  These situations occur to many people, regardless of age, gender, disability, etc.  If you work there, some assistant manager will tell you that about the many restrictions on worker food consumption.  
There are often so many petty restrictions, enforced by so many petty managers that I have often felt they&#8217;d be better off not providing free food for workers.  The worker-food policy and its enforcement breeds ill will, and occasionally lead to the kind of bad press that Subway is feeling in New Zealand (and via the web, faraway America, too).  Some people will hear about the story and say, &#8220;she violated policy, and technically stole the drink, so can her!&#8221;  Others though &#8212; others disproportionately middle and upper middle class, I&#8217;ll guess &#8212; will see Subway&#8217;s actions as risibly draconian.  
That&#8217;s Subway&#8217;s PR problem &#8212; the upper middle class shapes trendy opinion, and Subway makes itself vulnerable to appearing something worse than unfair: backwards and stodgy.  Technical advancement of legal claims (&#8216;you stole that soda&#8217;) is often counter-productive.  I have no doubt that&#8217;s Subway&#8217;s mistake here.  
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		<title>Therapist&#8217;s Income as 15% of Clinic&#8217;s Fee?</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=31</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=31#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 May 2007 23:07:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=31</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I spoke with someone recently who told me that workers at a clinic (called specialists of various types) who deliver in-home, non-insured, autism therapy receive only 15% of the fee that parents pay for the therapy.  The fee is out-of-pocket to the autistic child&#8217;s family, and thus is not reduced by an insurance coverage [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[I spoke with someone recently who told me that workers at a clinic (called specialists of various types) who deliver in-home, non-insured, autism therapy receive only 15% of the fee that parents pay for the therapy.  The fee is out-of-pocket to the autistic child&#8217;s family, and thus is not reduced by an insurance coverage or other limitation.  If the family pays $100 per hour, the person delivering services receives about $15 in compensation, with the rest going to the clinic.  
Can anyone think that sort of fee structure will allow a clinic to retain anyone of quality?  If a family are prepared to pay privately for services, then they should sensibly direct as much of the fee as possible to compensation for a therapist.  When only 15% of the fee goes to the therapist&#8217;s compensation, then you can be assured you are not receiving the same quality of care that you would from a therapist who could command more in the market &#8212; on the basis of skill, education, etc. &#8212; on his or her own.  
In hiring a lawyer, few would want to pay $300 to a firm if they that the lawyer could only command $45 in compensation?  
Here&#8217;s my question: is it common in private autism clinics that those delivering therapy receive about 15%, but no more, of the fee that the clinic charges?  If so, and you knew as much, what would you think?   
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		<title>Lawyers Learning from Psychology</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=30</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=30#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 May 2007 12:31:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=30</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[AutismDiva writes about ten intellectual benefits of an undergraduate degee in psychology on her blog.  Like many lawyers, I do not have a background in psychology.  (I received an undergraduate degree in political science, with specialization in political theory &#8212; i.e., political philosophy &#8212; and my undergraduate thesis was on Rawls&#8217; Theory of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[AutismDiva writes about ten intellectual benefits of an undergraduate degee in psychology on her blog.  Like many lawyers, I do not have a background in psychology.  (I received an undergraduate degree in political science, with specialization in political theory &#8212; i.e., political philosophy &#8212; and my undergraduate thesis was on Rawls&#8217; Theory of Justice.)
Of AutismDiva&#8217;s ten benefits of a psychology degree that she lists (from a speach that Morton Ann Gernsbacher gave), the first listed intellectual benefit is the one that would most profit attorneys:
1. Correlation doesnt equal causality. Just because the number of churches in a city is highly correlated with the number of taverns, or the number of stork nests in a village is highly correlated with the number of births, doesnt mean that religion drives people to drink or that storks deliver babies.
Are psychology majors the only ones who learn to distinguish correlation from causality? When Cornell economists recently espoused that cable TV caused autism and Yale neurobiologists espoused the same for prenatal ultrasounds, I had to wonder. Ive heard non-psychological scientists assert that cell phones, Wi-Fi networks, microwave ovens, genetically modified foods, and latex baby bottle nipples cause autism simply because societys increased use of these modern-day inventions coincides with clinicians increased use of modern-day diagnostic criteria (and societys increased awareness of, and services for, the autism phenotype; Gernsbacher, Dawson, &#038; Goldsmith, 2005).
No doubt, attorneys would benefit by keeping that distinction in mind. 
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		<title>Autism in Illiberal Britain.</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=27</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=27#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2007 11:56:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=27</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We are often reminded that our liberal political heritage derives from Britain, but thats true only partly.  Our heritage does come from Britain, but only a part of a broader British experience: the classical liberal tradition we inherited shares space in British history with conflicting interventionist, restrictive, illiberal, and autocratic experiences.  We fortunately [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[We are often reminded that our liberal political heritage derives from Britain, but thats true only partly.  Our heritage does come from Britain, but only a part of a broader British experience: the classical liberal tradition we inherited shares space in British history with conflicting interventionist, restrictive, illiberal, and autocratic experiences.  We fortunately came to being when a more rational, liberal, representative current in British thought was ascendant.  
The British alternatives were not, and are not, pleasant.  Kristina Chew of AutismVox.com writes about a Britain where an autistic boy cannot jump on a trampoline suggestion of a visit to an "anti-social behaviour officer.  (Its common for autistic children to prefer some sort of stimulating  stim  activity like spinning, running, or jumping.)  Some neighbors may think that the boy is too loud; in any community in America, an overly-sensitive neighbor might complain about the noise.  (The story is available online in a British newspaper.)
The British example is different because it shows how far Britain has traveled down the illiberal path: no one thought better, perhaps, about the meaning of designating someone an "anti-social behaviour officer.  We may be thankful that we have preserved a better part of British tradition that Britain herself.  (For more examples of how far Britain has traveled from a free, open society, see the excellent Samizdata blog.)  
There are two ways that an American lawyer could address the complaint about trampoline noise  (1) dealing with the complaint as a complaint based solely on nuisance, and (2) to address the complaint as an impermissible restriction on an autistic childs needs.  These are not the same sort of response; one would prefer to address the matter only on the basis of an ordinary nuisance complaint.  (I will note that although the British family are tenants, and not property owners, American tenants still have definite rights as tenants that laypeople often overlook, or believe dont exist.)
The second way is available, however, and can be made both as a straight-forward legal claim  about the rights of the individual and his parents &#8212; and as a matter of social leverage (viz., the callousness of the community or state toward those with disabilities).   That second way can become as much political as legal, and use a sort of fire against fire defense ("you think this behavior is anti-social, but perhaps you havent considered the social needs of the disabled, and its your position thats anti-social)  Schemes that defend social coercion are susceptible of this sort of attack, in which whats socially acceptable can always be re-defined and trumped by another, more extreme definition of social needs. 
I would prefer to address the matter as one of supposed nuisance, and as a straight-forward legal claim about the rights of the autistic child and his parents.  To represent a client diligently, however, I would consider the second approach of leveraging a social claim  first subtlety and then less so &#8212; if I thought it would protect my clients liberty, then and there.
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		<title>The Plaintiffâ€™s Bar, Personal Injury, and Autism.</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=25</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=25#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2007 01:19:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=25</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A while ago, I wrote lawyers that often consider themselves medical experts after reading articles about a disability, and then imagining that theyre up-to-speed on the subject.  What they read is often the most simple, least accurate account, from a newspaper or newsweekly. 
The same is true of laypeople, of course.  Law, medicine, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[A while ago, I wrote lawyers that often consider themselves medical experts after reading articles about a disability, and then imagining that theyre up-to-speed on the subject.  What they read is often the most simple, least accurate account, from a newspaper or newsweekly. 
The same is true of laypeople, of course.  Law, medicine, architecture, space travel: people speak today on these topics with a false knowledgeableness thats boundless.  Ill not speculate why thats true with non-lawyers.  With lawyers, simple explanations are useful: a new theory of recoverable injury leads to new clients reportedly injured according to the theory.   
When Kristina Chew of AutismVox.com posts about how contaminated pet food may lead to theories about the contaminants (e.g., melamine) causing autism, she does so because she knows that some parents and activists will adopt any theory of causation.  When I read those same stories about pet food contaminants, I ask myself: How long until the unreasonable among the plaintiffs bar try to develop effectively another contaminant theory of autism?
Effectively, though, is the key: unlike ordinary people who can opine on any matter, there has to be enough to a lawsuit for a lawyer either to (1) prompt a defendant to settle, (2) survive judicial scrutiny, and, if so, (3) persuade a jury.  Even sympathetic victims  and who does not believe that those with autism can elicit caring sympathy? &#8212; often fail to present recoverable claims.  
If a contaminant theory cannot produce recovery in one of those ways, then its off to the legislature for a redistribution scheme to compensate victims of the supposed, injurious contamination.  That recourse offers little recovery for most lawyers, but affords activists a hearing before an elected body that may cater to popular  but erroneous  beliefs.
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		<title>Popularity, Unpopularity, and Legal Representation</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=26</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=26#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2007 01:20:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=26</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Many parents hope that their children will be popular: admired, destined for student assembly, homecoming, the prom, etc.  Parents of children with autism may have simpler concerns: that their children will be respected, included, and uninjured.  In countless schools across America, the autistic student  if he is part of the general population [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Many parents hope that their children will be popular: admired, destined for student assembly, homecoming, the prom, etc.  Parents of children with autism may have simpler concerns: that their children will be respected, included, and uninjured.  In countless schools across America, the autistic student  if he is part of the general population at all  will not be the most popular or carefree child in the school.  There is no lawyer in America who can change the feelings of other students; there is no lawyer advocating on behalf of an autistic child who should assume that the feelings of other students are an impermeable barrier to his clients advancement.
If what the unrepresentative, shifting mob decided was law, we would have no rule of law.  (I would prefer Paines community agreement by common reason as much as anyone, but were too many, and always were, for that &#8212; as Paine well knew).  That an autistic client is unpopular, disliked, etc., may have practical considerations, but should never be the starting point for deciding his rights.  What does, and should, the law recognize?   One does not need a lawyers representation to be the victim of a majoritys tyranny; an unpopular, disabled child can be the victim of disregarded laws, poor schooling, unprepared teachers, selfish principals, and ignorant townspeople without a lawyer.  If a lawyer allows those same people to circumscribe his representation, he has taken a clients money for nothing.  
For example, there are almost no popular criminal defendants.  Even if they were popular before, theyre scorned once the state prosecutes.  If popularity determined legal outcomes, then there would be little need for criminal defense attorneys, because many prosecutors rely on common bias against criminal defendants to do most of the work toward a conviction.     
I once had a conversation with an elementary school principal who assured me that there was no need for a parent to worry about teachers behavior toward an autistic student, because federal special education law afforded legal rights to each disabled student in the district.  (Principal: "Mr. Slinkard, theres a federal law that prohibits that sort of thing.  Mr. Slinkard: "Thanks for letting me know.)  
Its because the client cannot adequately represent himself, and because the community, so-called professionals, and numerous local officials act on sentiment or ignorance contrary to an clients legal rights that an attorney is necessary.  
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		<title>Excursion: Lewis Black on Earth Day</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=24</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=24#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:43:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Excursion]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=24</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My oldest son enjoys Lewis Black&#8217;s comedy; I know little about Black, and so I cannot vouch for every opinion, routine, etc., the comedian has (then again, who could?).  I can vouch, however, for this clever commentary on celebrities and Earth Day.
Enjoy.

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[My oldest son enjoys Lewis Black&#8217;s comedy; I know little about Black, and so I cannot vouch for every opinion, routine, etc., the comedian has (then again, who could?).  I can vouch, however, for this clever commentary on celebrities and Earth Day.
Enjoy.

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		<title>Differently-Labeled People Getting Along</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=18</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=18#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:52:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=18</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Kristina Chew of AutismVox has an always-interesting blog, with a perspective that&#8217;s different from mine (and that&#8217;s one of the reasons that I like her blog).  Here&#8217;s Dr.  Chew on her hope of labeling leading to a positive end:
Charlies [her sons] diagnosis happened much earlier than either mine or Jims [her husband]: He [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Kristina Chew of AutismVox has an always-interesting blog, with a perspective that&#8217;s different from mine (and that&#8217;s one of the reasons that I like her blog).  Here&#8217;s Dr.  Chew on her hope of labeling leading to a positive end:
Charlies [her sons] diagnosis happened much earlier than either mine or Jims [her husband]: He was just over two years old when we heard "he has autism. These were hard words to hear and yet they were also a relief, a confirmation of what we had suspected and had, perhaps, known for a long time.
So: "Gifted mother, ADHD father, autistic son. But rather than call us a family of labels, I would say we are a family of difference, and we all fit right in.
Within her family, that sort of harmony is possible, and fortunately for all, achieved.  
I am pessimistic that those labeled &#8212; and more accurately those doing the labeling &#8212; often intend for us all to take siesta together. If it were not so, and mistaken and nearsighted teachers, administrators, employers, and others did not misuse labels to the detriment of those labeled, then the world would not need so many lawyers.  The world does need lawyers, however, because people will misinterpret &#8212; accidentally or intentionally &#8212; the definition and meaning of a label.  &#8220;Autism?  Here&#8217;s what autism is, means, and requires.&#8221; It&#8217;s not that the label is wrong; it&#8217;s the number of &#8216;professionals&#8217; of all stripes who wrongly administer to those thus labeled.  
That&#8217;s nothing that Dr. Chew does not understand, of course; doubtless she and I both know it too well. The world has too few Charlie&#8217;s Moms to make it a safe place; if a lawyer here or there will advocate for those less well-situated, then we&#8217;ve done something right.  As a hope, I see the point of those with different labels &#8212; and seen merely as different, not labeled &#8212; living together happily; as a practical matter, though some people are labeled to their relief, others are labeled to their detriment, and live unhappily thereafter.
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		<title>Podcast #1</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=15</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=15#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:49:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Podcast]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://slinkard.com/blog/?p=15</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Lex Autism Podcast for Sunday, February 25, 2007  Show Notes:  Why Lex Autism? Lakeland School lawsuit Advocacy as Clarity  Lawyers and Medical News in the Popular Press  
Download Podcast 1]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Lex Autism Podcast for Sunday, February 25, 2007  Show Notes:  Why Lex Autism? Lakeland School lawsuit Advocacy as Clarity  Lawyers and Medical News in the Popular Press  
<br/><a href="http://slinkard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/podcast02252007.mp3">Download Podcast 1</a><br/>]]></content:encoded>
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<enclosure url="http://www.slinkard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/podcast02252007.mp3" length="21440434" type="audio/mpeg" />
			<enclosure url="http://slinkard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/podcast02252007.mp3" length="21440434" type="audio/mpeg"/>
<itunes:duration>17:52</itunes:duration>
		<itunes:subtitle>Lex Autism Podcast for Sunday, February 25, 2007  Show Notes:  Why Lex Autism? Lakeland School lawsuit Advocacy as Clarity  Lawyers and Medical ...</itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Lex Autism Podcast for Sunday, February 25, 2007  Show Notes:  Why Lex Autism? Lakeland School lawsuit Advocacy as Clarity  Lawyers and Medical News in the Popular Press  Download Podcast 1</itunes:summary>
		<itunes:keywords>Autism,,Law,,Podcast</itunes:keywords>
		<itunes:author>Atty. Frank Gilbert Slinkard</itunes:author>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
		<itunes:block>No</itunes:block>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Lawyers and Popular Accounts of Medical Studies</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=13</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=13#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Feb 2007 23:18:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://slinkard.com/blog/?p=13</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most lawyers have hobbies in which they&#8217;re knowledgeable.  A good lawyer shows attention to detail, and that skill may be useful learning a hobby like stamp collecting, embroidery, or baseball statistics.  All well and good, but not exactly a second vocation.  The true polymath is rare.  When lawyers start to tell [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Most lawyers have hobbies in which they&#8217;re knowledgeable.  A good lawyer shows attention to detail, and that skill may be useful learning a hobby like stamp collecting, embroidery, or baseball statistics.  All well and good, but not exactly a second vocation.  The true polymath is rare.  When lawyers start to tell you how much they know about medicine, you have every reason to be suspicious.  A good lawyer finds a medical expert; he doesn&#8217;t pretend that he went to medical school.
I think about this often in an atmosphere in which just about anyone seems to have a view about what causes autism.  Autism.  The idea that a few copies of Newsweek or Time magazine make one an expert on autism is more than laughable; it&#8217;s hopelessly deluded.  (The staff at Time struggle to keep their magazine afloat, and one wonders how there would be hours to spare to understand so complex a medical condition.  First pay your bills, then tell me about how you&#8217;re a medical genius.)
Lawyers, though, talk too much, and especially too much about what they think that they know.  There&#8217;s something about passing the bar that convinces the weak-minded among our profession that they have been initiated into the deepest mysteries of all life.  I am content to say that, although I have passed two bar exams (Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), my medical knowledge stops where first aid training ends.  
Recently, the Star Ledger &#8212; Newark, New Jersey&#8217;s leading newspaper &#8212; published an article entitled, &#8220;Jersey Scientists Find a Possible Key to Autism.&#8221;  Perhaps they have, but I&#8217;ll wait to see.  
Consider what the reporter writes: &#8220;Currently, the only way to diagnose autism is by a clinical assessment of symptoms [sic], which include difficulty with communication and social interaction, as well as obsessive behaviors and interests.&#8221;  (What the reporter describes are signs, not symptoms.)  Now, however, the scholars at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey believe that &#8220;in the future a person&#8217;s risk for autism could be measured with a simple urine test that would look for high levels of &#8220;bad&#8221; fat molecules, or a blood test that could reveal genetic problems, including the absence of a key gene, called GSTM1, which is responsible for metabolizing good fats. Many people with autism do not have this gene.&#8221;  The signs of autism would be present even without the genetic test as confirmation.  Risk of autism, however, must refer to the heritability of the trait. Unless, astonishingly, the author means to suggest that many people are on the verge of becoming autistics, and would do so if only they experience further chemical imbalance. 
I can see more than one lawyer &#8212; on behalf of one activist group or another &#8212; demanding research into fatty acids, etc.   (By the way, I know &#8212; and you do, too &#8212; that research of this kind has been going on elsewhere for a while.)  Can you see the argument: People might become autistics overnight without the cocktail, for goodness&#8217; sake!  It cannot be that simple, but somewhere in this vast, continental republic, some lawyer will argue that it is.  That, dear readers, will be one more burden for us to bear.
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		<title>Advocacy as Clarity: Autism Diva</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=12</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=12#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:44:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://slinkard.com/blog/?p=12</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s more than one skill useful to lawyers, but expressing a clear point of view, a memorable advocacy, is a most useful one.  Too often, one meets young lawyers who think that all statements on behalf of clients should be expressed in the alternative, lest any possible, theoretical position be foregone.  Non-lawyers rightly [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[There&#8217;s more than one skill useful to lawyers, but expressing a clear point of view, a memorable advocacy, is a most useful one.  Too often, one meets young lawyers who think that all statements on behalf of clients should be expressed in the alternative, lest any possible, theoretical position be foregone.  Non-lawyers rightly interpret this tendency as indecision, confusion, and muddled-thinking.  If your audience &#8212; judge, jury, peers, or public &#8212; doesn&#8217;t think you have a definite opinion, then don&#8217;t take up their time.  Just tell them that you don&#8217;t know, and then stop talking.  
I have been reading Autism Diva&#8217;s blog recently, and she has a definite opinion.  It&#8217;s one of the reasons that I enjoy visiting her website.  She tells readers what she thinks, and supports her views.  (I may not agree; that&#8217;s not necessary.  She has a clear point of view, and values her readers&#8217; time.  She&#8217;s direct, and a lawyer should expect that in any advocate, lawyer or non-lawyer.)
What does she think?  Autism Diva&#8217;s recent post, Dignity for Autistics, describes aptly what her blog advocates &#8212; that, in her words, &#8220;Every once in a while autistic advocates have to go dip into the work of other disability advocates to remember that it is possible to talk about loving and admiring your children, your sibling(s) or your peers for who they are, including their disabilities or their (far-out, generally recognized as socially unacceptable) personalities.&#8221;  
Well, that&#8217;s Autism Diva.  She&#8217;s &#8216;posautive,&#8217; and writes that way.  Advocacy on behalf of a client might, occasionally, place an attorney on the other side from the Autism Diva (e.g., advocating on behalf of a client&#8217;s access to treatments that she might not support).  Who, though, reading what she writes, does not find her clear advocacy admirable?  One might not want to encounter that non-lawyer&#8217;s coherence and tenacity in court, but a discerning man would find her a worthy interlocutor for a lengthy discussion over a fine meal and a good red. 
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		<title>Lex Autism</title>
		<link>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=9</link>
		<comments>http://www.slinkard.com/blog/?p=9#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Feb 2007 23:32:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Gilbert Slinkard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://slinkard.com/blog/?p=9</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was the habit of jurists in Ancient Rome, and in the Middle Ages, to describe what they considered a coherent field of law, or the law of a specific people, as a modifier of Lex, law: for example, the Lex Mercatoria (merchant or commercial law) or the Lex Gothica (law of the Goths).  [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[It was the habit of jurists in Ancient Rome, and in the Middle Ages, to describe what they considered a coherent field of law, or the law of a specific people, as a modifier of Lex, law: for example, the Lex Mercatoria (merchant or commercial law) or the Lex Gothica (law of the Goths).  It was a way to designate a law, or more likely, a set of related laws that comprised a legal field, like commercial law.
Although entitling a blog Lex Autism suggests a legal field related to autism, I certainly do not believe that there is anything so clear, comprehensible, and distinct about autism, either as a condition or as laws affecting those with the condition.  On the contrary, I would be the first to affirm the common saying about autism, that &#8220;if you have met one person with autism, then you&#8217;ve met one person with autism.&#8221;  Virtually everything about autism is in dispute: its definition, causes, treatment, and the role of law in the lives of those with autism.  
If neither autism nor laws affecting autism are so simple and coherent, then at least an attorney, writing on law and autism, can strive for clarity and consistency in his commentary.  It is only in that general way that I see meaning in the title, Lex Autism.
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