A local hearing officer refused the parents= demands for a specific paraprofessional for their daughter, ruling that there was no basis for their claims that she was denied FAPE when assigned an aide who was less familiar with her needs than another staff member.

The student in Bd of Ed of Oakridge Pub Schs was a nine year old spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy who was eligible as Otherwise Health Impaired.  She required the assistance of a

one-on-one paraprofessional to assist her with mobility, transfers, toileting, drinking, and feeding.  The student used a Dyna-Vox device to facilitate communication and assignment completion via a head switch.  Pursuant to her current IEP, the student spent nearly the entire day in a general education classroom.  In addition to her individual parapro, she received occupational and physical therapies.  The local ISD provided her team with consultative services from an assistive technology/ augmentative specialist.  A local hospital provided training for

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