Absent exceptional circumstances relating to the health and safety of the parties’ child, a court may generally support the right of the non-custodial parent to have parenting time. The right of a parent to companionship with his or her child is a fundamental right generally protected by the First, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments to U.S. Constitution However, the welfare of the child is also a key consideration for a court in deciding issues of parenting time.
There are many different types of possible parenting schedules. One of the more traditional arrangements one may see is when the non-custodial parent has time with the child every other weekend, a weeknight dinner visit, and alternating holidays with extended summer vacation time (perhaps two to four weeks each summer). Schedules, however, can certainly vary from case to case, depending on various factors, including parental employment obligations, proximity of the parents’ homes, and other factors. Therefore, a non-custodial parent may by either agreement or court order have substantially more parenting time than an “every other weekend schedule”, depending on the circumstances. Some people even agree on 50/50 parenting time, although this may work much more successfully in some cases than others for various fact-sensitive reasons.
When there is a separation or divorce between parents of a child who has been diagnosed with autism and is undergoing therapy or special education services, it is generally important that a proposed parenting schedule give due consideration to any applicable after-school therapy schedule which may exist (behavioral therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.), the need for continued intervention, and the ability to modify schedules based upon the therapist’s availability. For example, a child might be in a year-round extended school year program for special education (known as an “ESY” schedule) in order to prevent regressive behaviors during an extended summer vacation without ongoing and structured educational support. In such a case, the removal of the child from such a program for three or four weeks to accommodate summer vacation travel with either parent might potentially have a detrimental effect on the child’s behavioral progress. Careful consideration and consultation with educational professionals may be helpful in addressing such issues to help establish appropriate lengths of vacation breaks, and also to help establish a vacationing parent’s ongoing educational responsibilities to the child during the vacation itself.
Similarly, if a child is involved in an intensive behavioral intervention program, such a program may require daily behavioral reinforcements from the parent in the child’s home(s) to be truly effective. In such a case, it is helpful that both divorced parents have appropriate education and training in behavioral intervention and reinforcement. Other members of each parent’s respective household (second spouses, etc.) may benefit from training as well. Unless there is reason to the contrary, both parents may wish to consider valid and reasonable educational plans established by the child’s professional therapists, and can strive to be consistent with each other in reinforcing therapy goals and helping the child generalize learned skills in each parent’s separate home.
If either parent refuses or fails to have an understanding of behavioral modification and reinforcement for a child, then this may cause setbacks to the child’s progress. A parent’s lack of understanding of autism can potentially lead to serious problems if the child has a behavioral meltdown, temper tantrum, or engages in other challenging behaviors. A court exercising parens patriae jurisdiction may possibly order that parenting time (or even custody) be conditioned upon the parent’s ongoing compliance with the child’s therapeutic needs, including ongoing parental training and education.
