July 2010.  T.A.'s mother was referred to Eileen H. Libutti and Jennifer M. Frankola by a prominent New York City non-profit education and civil rights advocacy law organization for help in obtaining special education services for her son.  T.A. is a very lovable and curiously precocious five year old boy with Autism who is "twice exceptional."  Finding the appropriate public school placement where T.A. can make meaningful progress was quite a difficult process for T.A.'s mother and the New York City Department of Education ("NYCDOE").  What made it even more difficult was that T.A. and his family live on Staten Island, a borough with limited appropriate educational and therapeutic resources to meet T.A.'s needs.  Since T.A. is so young, has many other health impairments and has difficulty with transitions and travel, his mother was very concerned about sending him on the bus to an outer borough every day.  Lewis Johs worked with T.A.'s mother to create an appropriate educational plan for her son.  T.A.'s mother found a private school on Staten Island which, coupled with his extensive therapies, could educate her son appropriately.  Within a matter of weeks, T.A.'s mother received notice that the school had to close its doors due to lack of funding.  Lewis Johs reconvened with T.A. to create Plan B.  Through our advice, T.A.'s mother found another private placement and walked into her special education meeting with confidence and successfully secured the necessary additional therapies and services T.A. needed to make meaningful progress during the school year.