This is not directly related to Collaborative Law. I am making a
presentation to the Board of Directors of a non-profit mother's club because
my special needs children were deemed to be "not socially ready to deal with
the rigors of play dates."
My kids are 5 year old boy/girl twins.
* My daughter is mildly autistic and needs help to facilitate her social
interactions. She has had extensive therapy and has made extraordinary
progress. I made the coordinator of the play group aware of her special
needs.
* My son has been recently diagnosed as ADHD.
On numerous occasions my kids were being socially isolated and bullied by
other kids at play dates. Attempts to talk to the kids and their parents
failed. I brought the bullying to the attention of the group through the
email listserv. I did not identify either the children or their parents. I
just described some of the instances to help bring awareness of the behavior
that has been evolving. The teasing and harassment had gone on for over a
year and had grown in intensity and the physical nature over time.
Rather than deal with the problems in the play group, I was told my kids
needed to take a break because they were not socially ready for the play
group.
Does anyone know whether a non-profit is required to provide access to
children with disabilities? Can they lose the not-for-profit status for
failing to provide for the safety of children and equal access for children
with disabilities? More recently, my son has been threatened that they
would be killed and the boys threatened to push my son out of the tree house
where they were playing.
I am asking the board to:
1. Draft protocols and guidelines for play dates.
2. Provide training to play date coordinators.
3. Provide training to kids on how to cope with bullying and harassment
as part of the service we provide to our members.
Does this trigger any law school memories about civil rights and where to
locate information on access for children with disabilities?
Thank you for your help!
Leigh Metzler
Financial Specialist
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