The Autism Special Education Legal Support Center

The Autism Special Education Legal Support Center provides training, technical assistance, legislative advocacy, and individual advocacy services necessary to ensure that children with autism receive equal educational opportunities. Goals include: Providing parents with information about state-of-the-art services and programs available to meet individual needs of students with disabilities; Ensuring that children with autism receive special education services necessary to reach their potential in areas impacted by their disability; Reaching families with autism in communities of color and families of varied disadvantaged economic status; Increasing public awareness and understanding of the potential and competency of individuals with autism, targeting policy makers, media, educators, service providers, as well as the general public. The Autism Special Education Legal Support Center accomplishes these goals by: providing community-based workshops for parents, educators, and medical professionals regarding legal rights and range of service options available for children with autism; providing a hotline to give legal and technical assistance to families of children with autism; training attorneys to increase representation of low-income students with autism to ensure that children receive legally mandated special education services; providing non-English speaking, immigrant, and Latinx parents with the support they need to advocate for their children’s education; researching and addressing racial inequities in classroom inclusion and provision of services; and providing information to the media, the legislature, and other policy makers regarding changes necessary to ensure children with autism receive services that reflect their potential.