PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jessica Rivera, Parent of a Student with Autism
6:41:55
ยท
3 min
Jessica Rivera, parent of a 14-year-old student with autism, testifies about the challenges her son faces in receiving appropriate special education services. She highlights issues with placement, transportation, and access to related services, emphasizing the need for systemic changes in special education.
- Rivera describes her son's struggle to find an appropriate educational setting that meets his unique needs.
- She criticizes the lack of communication with parents and the failure of home instruction and related services.
- Rivera calls for expanding specialized and inclusive programs, improving school transportation, increasing staffing and compensation for special educators, and ensuring meaningful parent involvement in children's education.
Jessica Rivera
6:41:55
Okay.
6:41:55
Perfect.
6:41:56
Thank you to the New York City Council Committee on Education and chair Rita Jostick for the opportunity to speak today.
6:42:03
My name is Jessica Rivera, and I'm the parent of a Hispanic 14 year old district 70 5, 7th grader with autism.
6:42:10
I also serve on the citywide council for district 75, and today I'm speaking in my individual capacity as a parent.
6:42:17
Since entering the education system, my son Aaron has faced continuous barriers to receiving a free appropriate public education due to placement challenges, unreliable busing, and a failure to secure related services.
6:42:31
Despite multiple program and school changes, including private placement, we have struggled to find a setting that meets his unique needs.
6:42:41
He is either too disabled for some settings or not disabled enough for others that provide the necessary support.
6:42:49
A major issue in all of this is the lack of communication with parents.
6:42:54
We are constantly left in the dark about placements, services, and our children's education.
6:43:00
Families are forced into due process proceedings because specialized private schools offer the support public schools lack or moreover do not have, such as social cognitive learning, executive functioning skills development, self regulation support, and more.
6:43:18
For 2 years, Aaron has been without proper schooling and services as home instruction has failed to secure a teacher and related service providers are not available to take his case.
6:43:28
The distress has led to severe school anxiety and refusal for my son.
6:43:33
Unfortunately, too many children today experience the same systematic failures that my brother born in 1989 with an intellectual disability endured decades ago.
6:43:44
How is this still happening?
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I have an education background in public health and a professional background in human services, supporting individuals with developmental disabilities towards greater independence.
6:43:57
I work limited part time hours because I have to step in where the system has failed my son.
6:44:02
I fear that without proper support, Aaron will not be prepared for adulthood, something I see in many adults I work with as a seasoned professional.
6:44:12
I also fear society, I also fear a society unprepared to accommodate individuals like him, a consequence of the ongoing segregation of special education students from their general education peers.
6:44:29
We need systemic change, expanding specialized and inclusive programs and curricular, fixing school transportation failures, increasing staffing and compensation for special educators, powers, and other related service providers, and most importantly, ensuring clear and meaningful parent involvement at every step of a child's education.
6:44:50
New York Public Schools continues building on a faulty foundation, and the system is collapsing.
Eric Dinowitz
6:44:57
Thank you.
6:44:57
Time's expired, Jessica.
Jessica Rivera
6:44:59
Our present state is still broke.
6:45:01
Urgent reforms are needed, and I stand ready as a parent to advocate and work alongside leaders to make real change.
6:45:08
Thank you.