Autistic Student Sues Over School Speech

An autistic student who was not allowed to deliver a speech at Royal High School’s graduation last year filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday against the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Ryan Rose, 18, claims school officials deprived him of his right to equal education mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. He is seeking unspecified damages and demanding the school provide other disabled students the opportunity he never had.

“Basically, I am continuing to fight so other special education students won’t be denied the opportunity to participate as equals in future graduation ceremonies,” Rose said. He added the suit was not about money.

Rose applied to be a speaker at his graduation, but a committee of students rejected the speech, which detailed his experiences overcoming autism. Two other students spoke at graduation.

When he asked school officials for an impartial hearing on the issue as mandated by federal law, he was again rejected, Rose said.

“He has a right to a full and fair administrative hearing by an impartial hearing officer that allows him to present his side of the case,” said Donald Adams, who is representing Rose. “We contend that Ryan was not allowed to speak because a bunch of 18-year-olds didn’t like him.”

Adams said he hopes the court will declare the school’s policies discriminatory and take action to redress them.

“We hope the district would set up a special five-minute speech for disabled students,” Adams said. “There’s no reason why this could not have been resolved.”

School officials could not be reached for comment.

Rose, who is now a freshman at Cal Poly in Pomona, said he hates coming home to Simi Valley because of the way he was treated.