In a perfect world, the parents of disabled children and the schools responsible for teaching them would agree on the best approach for maximizing the child's potential. But the world is far from a perfect place -- and differences sometimes are inevitable. This fact has been made agonizingly clear in the year-long legal battle between Miami-Dade schools and the parents of a 15-year-old autistic boy.

The long fight and unreconciled conclusion have prompted School Board member Evelyn Greer to suggest creating an Autism Task Force to advise the district. A panel of experts certainly can be helpful in devising a menu of "best practices" for the district. The board would be wise to create it.

Elusive perfect solution

Ultimately, though, everyone should understand that there may not always be a perfect solution, particularly when finite resources and parents' love and devotion to a child collide. This is the situation that the parents of Oliver Lauredo, who has Asperger's syndrome, find themselves in. The Lauredos believe that MAST Academy, with a marine-biology program and a small student body, is a more appropriate setting for their son than the larger Palmetto Senior High, where the boy has been assigned. The Lauredos have filed a lawsuit in federal court aimed at getting their son into MAST.

Federal law requires a free and appropriate education for disabled children, and state and federal funds are allocated to local districts to carry out the mandate. Those funds have not kept pace with a steady increase in the number of children with autism over the past two decades. Some believe better identification techniques may be responsible; others point to other factors, such as a possible correlation to vaccines.

Teaching children with autism -- a neurological condition that can affect communication, social and motor skills -- is both critically important and cost effective. The skills autistic children learn early can help them be less dependent as adults, and sometimes self-sufficient adults.

Worth the time, effort

Although Oliver had been mainstreamed in regular classes with other disabled children, he suffered setbacks. This caused the Lauderos to try home-schooling their son, which the district initially supported but later discontinued as "inappropriate" to meet the demands of the law. An administrative judge who reviewed the case wrote a detailed order describing the ups and downs of Oliver's educational experiences. Ultimately, though, the order recommended returning Oliver to Palmetto, with the school making adjustments to accommodate him. The Lauredos don't like this resolution.

Whatever the outcome of the federal lawsuit, the lessons for the district are that teaching these children is worth the time and effort; and that it must always do its level best with the resources available.