Lawsuit alleges Ohio took years to treat boy with autism

CLEVELAND – The Mansfield family who filed a federal lawsuit last month over the provision of autism services alleges it took years to get federally-mandated autism therapy for their son.

Gary and Nikki Ruhl filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland last month against the Ohio Department of Health, the United States Department of Education and Wendy Grove, manager of Ohio's Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act program.

The Ruhls allege Grove and the Ohio Department of Health refused to provide federally-mandated early intervention services to autistic infants and toddlers in Ohio, including their now 3-year-old son, Weston. They also claim the two parties refused to provide funding for compensatory services in order to make up for services not provided.

"There are rules and laws put into place to protect our children and the Ohio Department of Health didn't do their job," Nikki said. "It's sad to deprive our children of necessary resources."

Grove's office referred calls to the health department.

Health department spokeswoman Melanie Amato told the Associated Press in a September email that the department has "no comment at this time pending litigation."

Nikki said she and her husband noticed their son Weston began showing the early signs of autism when he was 5½ months old. As the months passed, Weston began losing eye contact and his language development skills became delayed.

"We started having huge concerns that my son might be autistic," Nikki said.

So the parents took Weston to their pediatrician, who referred them to the Ohio IDEA Part C — known as the Help Me Grow Program — where he was declared eligible for limited services in December 2011.

Nikki told Help Me Grow agents she believed her son may be autistic, but according to the lawsuit, Nikki was told by Help Me Grow agents they do not assess children for autism.

The Ruhls had not seen marked improvement in their son's condition and by April 2012. Nikki said they began looking for private autism services for Weston, who was nearly 2 years old at the time.

According to the lawsuit, Nikki reached out to Help Me Grow in August and September of that year, and nothing was done for Weston.

A private assessment performed by Nationwide Children's Hospital revealed Weston was indeed autistic and had significant impairment in socialization and communication skills. The Ruhls were told in the assessment Weston should participate in autism-specific therapy based on applied behavior analysis.

According to the lawsuit, the Ruhls went back to Help Me Grow repeatedly and asked for the applied behavior analysis autism therapy. Grove allegedly told them her program does not offer the specific therapy, but pays for a short, one-time consultation up to $450.

The Ruhls were told to seek the therapy elsewhere.

Almost two years had passed since the Ruhls approached Help Me Grow about autism services for Weston and no action had been taken.

At one point, Nikki wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Education explaining her problem.

"We were informed by Nationwide Children's Hospital that the sooner Weston receives ABA therapy, the better his life will be," she wrote. "...Wendy (Grove) informed me that it was up to my county to provide services for Weston.

"Our son was paying the ultimate price, his life."

Help Me Grow finally provided Weston with the applied behavior analysis autism therapy in November 2013. Weston, who was 2½ years old at the time, became one of the first children in the state to receive applied behavior analysis autism therapy.

"The whole reason behind the early intervention services is to reach the children while they're young," Nikki said. "The sooner you start those services, the better the prognosis is."

The Ruhls are seeking more than $500,000 for services to help their son achieve the development level they say he would have reached with earlier treatment. They also want unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

A similar, recently settled lawsuit in Cincinnati resulted in payment of more than $142,000 to Holly and Robert Young of Clermont County for their now 4-year-old son Roman. They sued the state health department and Clermont County's board of developmental disabilities, alleging their son was repeatedly denied intensive therapy.

The defendants were given 60 days as of the lawsuit's filing in September to respond to the allegations.

A response is expected to be filed in late November.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

cerokwu@gannett.com

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Twitter: @ChikeErokwu