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Rialto parent says district delays left autistic son without working communication device for months
Summary
A parent told the board his son’s AAC device was not synced with the school device, was returned to the family with communication buttons removed, and he had to postpone an IEP meeting while district staff coordinated presence; the superintendent and board members pledged follow-up.
During public comment, parent William Lagos described ongoing difficulties getting timely speech services for his autistic son at Fitzgerald Elementary. Lagos said the district issued an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) device in December 2025 but staff did not allow him to sync the home and school devices. After repeated requests and delays — including a period when the assigned speech-language pathologist was on maternity leave — Lagos said a district staff member eventually placed a device in his child’s backpack so the family could take it home. The version he received, he said, had “all communication buttons removed.”
"My son was walking around from school with no way to speak to anyone for two months, three months almost," Lagos told the board, saying the delay left his child without effective speech support and required him to push back an IEP meeting. He said he had repeatedly tried phone and email contacts and only received prompt assistance after contacting a district staffer, Jonathan Abas, who helped return a device.
Board members and the superintendent responded at the dais. Board member Dr. Lewis acknowledged the difficulty families can face in securing consistent therapy and said the board would work to support the parent. The superintendent offered staff assistance and said district office or board designees would follow up with the family to resolve outstanding service needs.
Next steps: Board members invited the parent to provide contact information for follow-up; district staff said they would coordinate the family’s IEP meeting attendance and investigate the service delay described in public comment.
