If anyone could navigate Vermont’s special education system, it was Chris and Pallas Ziporyn—or so they believed.
Chris, once a teacher, received a master’s degree with a focus on special education. As a teenager, Pallas served on her local school board, making her one of the youngest members in the country in 2006.
So when the couple’s eldest of three children, Noah, received an autism diagnosis at age 5, they thought themselves capable of advocating for his rights under federal and state law within the public school system. (VTDigger is using a pseudonym for Noah.)
.
