Diaz

I. BACKGROUND

1 J.D. was a junior in high school at the time of the due process hearing and ALJ decision. 2 Administrative R. (“AR”) 1349 ¶ 1. He was identified as a student with a language or speech 3 disorder in preschool and started receiving special education services at age four. Id. ¶¶ 3-4. He 4 was eligible for special education in the category of speech and language impairment, as it was 5 then known, and in the category of specific learning disability. Id. He was eligible in the latter 6 category because of a severe discrepancy between his nonverbal reasoning skills and academic 7 performance and a processing disorder in his cognitive ability of expression. Id. ¶ 4. J.D. was an 8 English-language learner at the time, as his primary language at home was Spanish. Id. Although 9 J.D.’s father believes J.D. is autistic, the ALJ found that J.D had never been formally diagnosed 10 with autism spectrum disorder. AR 1360 ¶ 54. A 2018 diagnosis of mild-to-moderate autism 11 spectrum disorder submitted by the father was not found credible by the ALJ. AR 1360-61 ¶¶ 55- 12 57. The medical professional had evaluated a then-fifteen-year-old J.D. in the presence of his 13 father and…