Fighting for Josiah

From Josiah's Mommy and Daddy ...

Josiah is our 8-year-old autistic son. His empathetic, energetic, and lovable character are the many reasons why we love him. He is smart, creative, comical, adorable, and very friendly. Even as we are describing Josiah and what he means to us, it comes with great humility that we come to this platform to help us FIGHT FOR JOSIAH.

As of March 2025, the school staff at Josiah’s IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting explained how our son was doing and goals needed and objectives needed to be met. This meeting took an hour and a half for them to talk as we carefully listened. Then came the news:

The district's special service director stated that our son was to be outplaced at the district's special education program, insisting that they did not have enough “resources” to help Josiah.

A little backstory: We were no strangers to an IEP meeting like this. This was towards our more SEVERE son Lennon back in 2023 where staff had told us the same. Needless to say, Lennon never went anywhere as we fought for him and are happy to report that he is doing well and thriving!

Back to Josiah: After this, the IEP meeting was shortened and for me to reply I was given no more than 3 minutes of the floor with this numb feeling and utter disbelief and with absolutely no time to process the news. The director sent an email within 2 days after letting me know where Josiah was to go and when transportation will be picking him up with NO OTHER OPTIONS GIVEN. This person made the call on OUR SON and assumed we would just blindly agree with it all as if we had no say or choice in the matter.

I visited the school's special education program and upon entering and without relaying too many specifics; the environment was very bad. The class was disorganized, loud, stressful for both adults and children accompanied by an extremely overcrowded classroom, with half the size of a regular classroom holding over 10 human beings. It was extremely hard to watch, and it was within a few minutes I knew immediately without a doubt that if allowed; he would digress, which means that even with his challenges he is already facing and still developing, going into an environment like the one I observed would result in overload, skill loss, unnecessary environmental stress or “autistic burnout” which would increase where digression would be inevitable and since Josiah has echolalia, mirroring others it very much will happen.

Since March we have fought to keep our son and have his “stay put” rights enforced, so Josiah still benefits from his regular routine.

**UPDATES ON THIS: As of 12/1/2025, Josiah has been getting home-schooled.

Since last March, to this trimester, his behavior has DRASTICALLY made a positive turnaround. Even after this turnaround and to our dismay, the school still stated that our son is better elsewhere and here is the kicker... the therapeutic schools I visited stated that their school wasn’t the right fit for Josiah because he does not demonstrate the SEVERITY they witnessed in the other children they are serving! After multiple mediations and with no positive result we filed Due Process. The result was that we were met with no resolve, exhausting legal papers and jargon we do not understand, and dates that only work for the district's lawyer and that of the hearing officer, which according to them was ALL OR NOTHING.

So, we said ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH and at whatever cost we know now that we must FIGHT FOR JOSIAH!

At this time, we are looking into the generosity of our community to extend a helping hand to help us fight for Josiah so we can keep him in his general education setting and hold the district accountable for their countless efforts of neglect for our son's well-being. We need to act as soon as possible, and we cannot do it alone! Your contributions, no matter how big or small, would help get legal counsel to properly and effectively represent our son. This is for the best cause and for the future of our son and his education. I know the holidays are tough and with injustices happening everywhere and we are no strangers to that, but, if possible, we are asking all to help us fight for our son. If you are unable to donate at this time, we understand, so we humbly request that you PLEASE SHARE THIS with your friends and contacts. :)

Every little bit helps.

The estimated legal cost to Fight for Josiah is between $25K - $35K.

Here is a breakdown of how the funds will be used:

• $5,000: Attorney retainer

• $25K -$35K: Overall legal attorney fees (Collectively)

Thank you for your consideration and generosity. May God bless all our children!

ATTN :: DISCLAIMER: This fundraiser is no way related to nor affiliated with no r a f f l e s, sweepstakes, giveaways or promotions that are in exchange for any donations. This fundraiser is not an offer for free perks or free rewards. This is strictly for the aid and support of our son Josiah and to secure a fair fighting chance for him at a better education and future.

David and Cristina