TUSCULUM, Tennessee, USA: The mother of a young boy with autism could land up in jail in a fight with local schools.

Kim Mabry’s son, Jordan, is nearly 10 years old, and appearances would suggest that he is a normal, active fourth grader. But after Jordan was diagnosed with autism in November 1998, a dramatic struggle between Mabry and Metro schools has erupted. The dispute has resulted in, among other things, legal action which threatens to put Mabry behind bars.

In the autumn of 2002, Jordan’s Enhanced Language Resource class of around 17 students was moved from a Tusculum Elementary School classroom to Metro’s Granbery Elementary because, according to Metro School officials, the school could better accommodate the students. It was larger and had more special-education teachers.

Jordan’s private behavioural therapist, Kacy Darnell, has worked with Jordan and often attended classes with him since shortly after he was diagnosed with autism. She was at his side in the days following the move and noticed that the new environment was affecting Jordan’s behaviour. She said increased class sizes and numerous daily transitions could be difficult for a child with Jordan’s condition.

"With big classes, he has no attention span,"  said Darnell. "Not to mention the fact this is two, three weeks into school. It just wasn’t a good situation."

Mabry said school officials at Tusculum had never complained about Darnell’s attendance in Jordan’s classroom. Not so at Granbery. In the months following Jordan’s move to the new school, Mabry says, Granbery principal Lori Donahue complained about Darnell’s presence. But Mabry said the problem had occurred only after Darnell alerted Mabry of schedule and class-size changes, which she then brought up in a conference with Donahue.

Mabry claims that the changes in Jordan’s routine were a violation of his Individual Education Programme (IEP), which personalises educational needs for special-education students.

Metro Schools eventually denied Darnell the right to accompany Jordan to classes, saying that such "supplemental" aid as would be provided by a behaviour therapist must be done by a Metro employee.

"If Jordan needs a behaviuor therapist or any other supplementary aid or support, that need must be determined by an IEP Team," Metro attorney Mary Johnston said in a letter to Mabry’s lawyer.

Mabry said the school system had offered a Metro-approved aide in Darnell’s stead. Mabry refused, again emphasising the necessity of stability in an autistic child’s environment. Several medical specialists agreed, and strongly suggested that the school system reconsider the decision to eject Darnell from Jordan’s class.

"I feel that it is important to emphasise to you that [Darnell] is not an ‘aide’ or a ‘personal assistant'," a psychologist, James Mulick, wrote in a letter sent to Granbery Principal Donahue, Metro Schools Superintendent Pedro Garcia and several other educators. "She is a trained and skilled Positive Behaviour Support Specialist. I understand you had suggested to Jordan’s mother the possibility of the school hiring an aide to replace her. This would be a mistake."

Johnston said, however, that while the school system was required to accommodate the needs of children with disabilities and must consider the recommendation of the child’s doctors, such medical recommendations could not drive the school system’s decision as to how those individual needs were met.

Because Darnell was not allowed by school officials to attend classes, Mabry pulled her son out of school on September 23, 2002 She feels, she says, that "they forced him out" when they refused to allow his therapist in the classroom, disrupting what she says is medically necessary assistance to ensure the safety of Jordan and other students. According to court documents provided by Mabry, on one occasion Jordan tried to poke another student in the eye with scissors in an attempt to communicate.

Shortly after pulling Jordan out of school, Mabry and her attorney, Suzanne Michelle, filed legal action which calls for a private hearing before members of the Tennessee Department of Education and the Metro School Board. It seeks an award for damages and asks the board to allow Darnell to re-enter Jordan’s classroom. The request charges that denial of Darnell in the classroom is a violation of Jordan’s civil rights, likening it to a medical necessity much like that of a student with a wheelchair or a hearing-aid.

The school system, however, also filed legal action following Jordan’s removal from his Granbery classrooms.The action charges the boy with truancy for not attending school and threatens to put his mother in prison.

School system representatives have said they feel Jordan’s educational needs have been properly addressed, and that he is welcome to return to school. While school system representatives would not specifically discuss the suit because it is still pending, and because it deals with a juvenile, Mabry believes the suit is a retaliatory action against her.

"Jordan is not unlawfully absent from school," court documents state. "Rather, the local agency has unlawfully refused to admit the child to school with the accommodations he needs in order to obtain an education and to be safe in school."

Mabry has asked the court to dismiss the case against her. In the meantime, Darnell is attempting to teach Jordan at home. Mabry said Darnell was not a teacher but was "duplicating his education the best she can. He’s learning and making progress but he’s not getting any social interaction which is very important."

Metro’s executive director of special education, Sharon Wright, declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit but said in a statement that the system worked hard to provide services for children with special needs.

A date on which Mabry’s request for due process would be heard before the board is pending. In the meantime, she remains frustrated. "I don’t want any other parent to have to deal with this," she said.