This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters
Every day, Ileana Sadin picks up her 5-year-old son Julian from kindergarten in Denver and drives him to a therapy clinic. Julian has autism, and his pediatrician has prescribed 35 hours of applied behavior analysis, or ABA therapy, per week to help Julian communicate.
But Julian doesn’t get nearly that many hours of therapy. At most, he gets 10 a week after school.
Denver Public Schools has refused his parents’ request for a private ABA provider to work with Julian in his kindergarten classroom, even though the family’s private insurance would pay for it.
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Without ABA therapy in school, Julian’s parents worry he is losing skills. Before he enrolled in public school, an ABA therapist helped Julian participate in lessons at his day care, his parents said. Julian learned the alphabet and could count to 20 in English and Spanish.
When Julian transitioned to public school, his parents were told, “‘He’s making progress. He can count to 10 now,’” Julian’s father, Joshua Kurdys, recalled. “He could count to 20 a year-and-a-half ago. That says something to me.”
A 2022 state law was intended to make it easier for students to get ABA therapy in schools. But ultimately it was watered down to require only that districts have a policy that addresses how a student with a prescription for “medically necessary services” receives those services in school.
Parents and advocates say that has led to an uneven experience for families across school districts and less support for students, some of whom end up quietly lost in the shuffle while others end up in a loop of frustration, explosive behavior, and suspension from school.
While DPS is following the letter of the law, parents and advocates allege, it’s not following the spirit. Advocate Meryl Duguay called DPS’s policy and process “a show to get to a no.”
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Meredith Fatseas, the Denver district’s director of mental health services, said the district looks at each student’s case individually and that its process is “rooted in inclusive and equitable practices.”
“When requests come in, we are taking them seriously,” Fatseas said. “It’s not a rubber stamp.
“We are committed to the obligation of meeting students’ individual needs in the education setting, which is why we’ve taken a stance of owning this process,” she said.
Data shows DPS says no more often
ABA uses rewards to reinforce behavior. It’s often recommended for children with autism to help them communicate, interact with others, and manage frustration.
DPS’s policy says the decision of whether to allow an outside ABA therapist into the classroom is up to the team that develops a student’s individualized education program or IEP. An IEP lists goals for students with disabilities and the services the school district must provide.
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If parents disagree with anything in the IEP, their recourse is to file a due process complaint with the state, which many families see as daunting and potentially costly.
Data obtained by Chalkbeat in an open records request shows that last school year, DPS, the largest school district in the state with 88,000 students, received 28 requests for ABA therapy in school and granted only three, or about 11%.
Other big Colorado districts said yes more often. Jeffco Public Schools, Douglas County School District and Cherry Creek School District granted all of the requests for ABA therapy they received last school year. Aurora Public Schools granted half the requests it received in the last three years.
Fatseas said Denver’s rate doesn’t take into account approvals made through a second, long-standing process that allows parents to request a private provider work with their child during non-instructional time only, such as art class or recess. The requests are meant to be for services that are not medically necessary.
Those types of requests are made at the school level, and the district doesn’t track how many are received or granted by individual school principals, Fatseas said.
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Ileana Sadin stands with her son Julian outside the offices where Julian receives ABA therapy. (Helen H. Richardson / The Denver Post)
Bill set out to find “a path to yes”
Families’ frustration drove the 2022 Colorado state law. Originally the bill, known as HB 22-1260, would have required districts to allow ABA in school.
“When parents approach schools with a prescription, they are often told no,” state Rep. Meg Froelich, who sponsored the bill, said at the first hearing in April 2022.
“We are here to find a path to yes,” said Froelich, a Democrat who represents Englewood, Sheridan, Cherry Hills Village and part of Denver.
But now, Froelich said, it’s clear that the law isn’t always working as intended.
“We’re a local control state, so the prevailing wisdom is you can’t tell school boards what to do,” Froelich said in an interview. “We tried to write (the bill) that the path can’t be, ‘We don’t do that here.’ But there are too many ways the school can essentially say no while appearing not to.”
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At the first hearing on the 2022 bill, one parent told state lawmakers her son was suspended from his suburban school district 12 times in a four-month span for behavior that could have been addressed by ABA therapy. Another testified that her son’s school said she was welcome to pull him out of class to go to his ABA clinic but then held him back a grade for missing too much school.
The few parents who said their children had gotten ABA therapy in the classroom said it happened because of a lawsuit or a mistake.
Meanwhile, school officials said allowing outside ABA providers into classrooms could be a liability and would be disruptive and distracting to the student receiving the therapy and their classmates. ABA therapy could also interfere with other special education services, they said.
“We aren’t allowed to give up our services so an outside provider can come in to give their services,” said Lisa Humberd, then the executive director of special education for Widefield School District 3 and now head of the Consortium of Directors of Special Education.
Providers testified that’s not how ABA therapy works. It’s not a separate therapy delivered in an office, they said, but supports the student to participate in classroom lessons.
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ABA therapy is controversial. Nationwide, some parents have accused ABA providers of being overzealous or even abusive to their children, and some autistic adults have said the premise of ABA therapy forces people with autism to conform to societal norms in a harmful way.
But the controversy didn’t seem to play a role in Colorado lawmakers’ decision. The objections of the school districts did. To appease them, Froelich amended her bill. Instead of requiring districts to allow medically necessary services in school, the bill required districts to have a policy.
“I think we will probably revisit this if parents are finding they can’t quite get what they need or the policy isn’t addressing certain circumstances,” Froelich told fellow lawmakers in 2022.
Two years later, Froelich is frustrated.
In her mind, IEP teams should not be making the decision about whether to allow ABA therapy providers into the classroom. She has asked the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to issue an opinion to that effect. A spokesperson said they’d received the request and are looking into it.
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Froelich has also asked the Colorado Department of Education to issue new guidance. A spokesperson said the department is “working with districts and other stakeholders to review how the current guidance might need to be clarified or updated.”
In kindergarten and still without therapy services
Chalkbeat spoke with three families whose children have a prescription for ABA therapy. All three requested an outside ABA provider be allowed to serve their child in the classroom, at the expense of their private insurance. All three were denied by Denver Public Schools.
Two of the families did not want their names used in this story for fear of retaliation by the district.
All three families said they went through DPS’s process. As described by Fatseas, the district’s director of mental health services, the process involves an evaluation by a board certified behavior analyst, or BCBA, who works for the Denver school district.
The district’s BCBA interviews the student’s pediatrician and their outside ABA therapist. The BCBA also observes the child at school, reviews their records, and collaborates with other special education teachers and school-based providers to write a recommendation for the IEP team.
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Fatseas said ABA theory is baked into the interventions that all Denver school-based mental health staff use with students, even if they’re not providing one-on-one ABA therapy. With requests for outside ABA providers to come into the classroom, Fatseas said the question the district tries to answer is whether the service is necessary for the student to make progress toward their IEP goals.
In Julian’s case, DPS said it wasn’t.
Julian is a sweet 5-year-old whose mother describes him as agreeable. He struggles with communication, social skills, and learning, but he doesn’t lash out in frustration.
Unlike some children with autism, Julian can speak. But his speech is mostly phrases he’s memorized. On a recent drive to his after-school therapy, Julian sat in his car seat with a banana and a chocolate milk, marveling at the trucks on the highway.
“UPS truck!” he said. “That’s a big one! Orange semi truck! That’s a big one!”
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According to IEP documents provided to Chalkbeat by Julian’s parents, DPS rejected the family’s request for an outside ABA provider because Julian was making progress without one. But his parents wonder if Julian could be making more progress with help from an ABA therapist.
Advocates said it’s a common concern.
“The bar is so low, they’re not considering what a student is actually capable of and should be achieving,” said Duguay, who does not work with Julian’s family but has worked with several other families whose requests for ABA have been denied.
In IEP meetings, Julian’s parents pushed back. But so far, DPS has stuck to its denial.
“I don’t know how we can say with a straight face he doesn’t need ABA therapy,” Sadin, Julian’s mother, said in one IEP meeting, according to a recording provided to Chalkbeat. She was reacting to test scores that showed Julian was in the bottom first percentile for academic skills.
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“He has such problems with communication, it’s not easy to elicit what he usually knows,” she said in the meeting. “Not to harp on the ABA, but this is what ABA is about.”
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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NEW YORK — The NHL hits a roster freeze at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, so with defenseman Egor Zamula clearing waivers and being assigned to the American Hockey League, it left a roster spot open.
Forward Denver Barkey has been called up.
Drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2023 NHL draft, Barkey turned pro this season and has been impressive while skating primarily on the wing for Lehigh Valley of the AHL. The 20-year-old has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 26 games for the Phantoms, primarily playing on the wing with center Lane Pederson and winger Alex Bump.
“I think right from the start, he’s played very well,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr recently told The Inquirer. “On the production side, he makes plays, he works, and the details are great. Such a smart player. He’s got to get stronger and build up his body to handle the grind and but so far, so good.
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“Down there, he’s been arguably our best forward a lot of nights, and coaches love them plays, plays a lot. He’s certainly going in the right direction.”
» READ MORE: Flyers Q&A: Brent Flahr dishes on prospects Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, and more
Well, the direction now is east to New York City ahead of the Flyers’ matchup with the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m., NBCSP). The kid from Ontario is in line to make his debut at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
“I call him like a little mini [Travis Konecny],” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong said of Barkey over the summer. “He’s all over the puck. He’s grimy when he doesn’t have the puck. He’s always working to get the puck back.
“He’s really good with his stick picking pockets, transitioning, and his eyes are up; I don’t think a little guy like that skating around, his head down, is going to last very long in the game.
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“But when you watch him go into corners, and he’s not afraid of that, he’s quick to get in, he’s quick to get out.”
Some have questioned Barkey’s size at 5-foot-10, 173 pounds, but no one questions his grit, moxie, will, and determination. Last season, he notched 25 goals and 82 points in 50 regular-season games before adding another nine goals and 20 points in 11 postseason games for London of the Ontario Hockey League.
On June 1, he captained the Knights to the Memorial Cup championship despite suffering a high-ankle sprain in the OHL Final. In the finale of the Memorial Cup, against the projected No. 1 for this June’s draft, Gavin McKenna, and Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League, Barkey drove play and scored a pair of goals.
A month later, he was at the Flyers development camp but did not participate. He did, however, try.
“[Barkey] always comes to me every morning, ‘Hey, do you think you can get me out on the ice?’ No, no, you’re done,” Armstrong said with a chuckle in early July.
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The rest helped. He was again impressive at the Flyers’ rookie camp and in a game against their Rangers counterparts in early September in Allentown.
Barkey opened eyes with his speed, hockey IQ, puck possession and patience, and high-end passing ability. Looking completely healed from his high-ankle sprain, the forward used his quickness, leverage, and ability to win pucks to beat the defense at every turn and notched a goal.
It appears that his summer of eating Italian giant subs — Mike’s way, minus the onions — at Jersey Mike’s with his buddy, and former London teammate, Oliver Bonk, to add weight paid off. Phantoms coach John Snowden called him “a heck of a hockey player” in September.
“Continue to get bigger, stronger,” Barkey said of his summer plans at development camp. “It’s a big jump next year. I’m going to be playing against older men and strong guys. So, continuing to get stronger, faster, and I think the biggest thing is just using my brain and then finding a way to adjust. It’s a different game in pro.”
And Barkey has adjusted well to the pro ranks, skating on the wing of the Phantoms’ top line, which drives play and is relied on for offensive swings. His fellow winger, Bump, was actually the one many thought would be called up.
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The kid from Minnesota, who led Western Michigan to the NCAA championship in April, was pegged by everyone, including The Inquirer, to break camp with the Flyers; however, he was sent down after a poor main training camp. After a slow start in Lehigh Valley, he now has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 26 games in Allentown.
On the first of Bo Nix’s four touchdown passes against Green Bay, he did what he does more frequently than any quarterback in football.
Nix escaped from the pocket and took off running. He moved up and to the left before hitting Michael Bandy for a 20-yard catch-and-scamper.
The next three touchdowns, though, are where the Broncos offense can dream about a deep postseason run or even more.
Nix, operating from the gun, delivered strikes of all shapes and sizes and did so with clean footwork in the pocket.
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He identified coverage, took a short, one-step drop and fired a perfectly placed low ball to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Then a three-step drop to get the ball up and down with beautiful pace and timing to Courtland Sutton one-on-one up the right sideline.
Nix polished off the fourth touchdown when he five-step dropped, hitched up in the pocket twice and uncorked a rocket up the seam for Troy Franklin on a motion and route concept the Broncos have made hay on most of the year.
The Packers game represented a breakout as Nix completed 23 of 34 passes for 302 yards and the four touchdowns, but his game’s been heating up more broadly over the past month.
He had an efficient day in a much different style against Las Vegas, completing 31 of 38 passes and engineering three battering-ram touchdown drives. He threw for 616 yards in the two weeks before that in wins over Washington and Kansas City.
In those four games, Nix has completed 69.5% of his passes for 282.5 yards per game and thrown five touchdowns and an interception. Before that stretch, he completed 60.9% and averaged 212 yards per game.
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What’s changed? Start from the ground up.
“I think his footwork has got a lot better,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Thursday. “And the way he handles himself in the pocket, trusting the protection. We’ve talked about it all year and the last four games he’s done a really good job of that.
“He’s moving when he needs to and he’s hanging in there when he needs to.”
Head coach Sean Payton earlier this season said the quarterbacks get some specific footwork drilling done during a normal game week but not a ton. They’ll work a particular concept or drop between periods, but for the most part, the work is plan-specific.
Nix, though, has been working on his own pocket presence in his own ways in recent weeks.
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“I think he’s probably one of the best … at learning from mistakes, and looking in the mirror and seeing what his weaknesses are,” tight end Evan Engram told The Post.
“He’s sitting in there, he’s trusting the protection, he’s letting it rip. And that’s something that he saw. And he worked on. And like – I can’t say how hard that is. I’ve never done it in my life. You’ve got freakin’ monsters rushing you, every play. And credit to the O-line, too.
The staff also appears to be doing a better job of helping get Nix into good rhythm. Part of that is by playing more frequently from under center. The touchdowns outlined above came out of shotgun, but one commonly held belief is that playing from under center helps keep footwork clean because a quarterback is forced to do it coming back from the center.
Since the Broncos returned from their bye week, the uptick has been notable.
Denver averaged 29.4% of offensive snaps under center the first 11 games. Over the past three, the number is 42.8%.
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Nix has attempted nearly half as many passes from under center the past three games (25) as he did in the first 11 (51). That’s partly because he’s playing more from under center, though Denver’s under center pass rate has also jumped up from 24.5% over the first 11 games to 29.3% the past three weeks.
Nix only completed 1 of 6 passes against Green Bay for 16 yards from under center but the week before, he was 10 of 10 for 71 yards against Las Vegas.
“Each game is different relative to when we look at gun runs, under center runs, try to self-scout ourselves enough to where there’s enough play-action maybe under center, drop back,” Payton said between Vegas and Green Bay, adding that he thought Nix made a quick transition to playing under center even though he hardly did it in college.
“I think that hasn’t been a big learning curve. I think it’s gone pretty smooth.”
Particularly since the bye week, the Broncos have leaned more and more into it. Payton and Lombardi say the usage is dependent on individual game plans.
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The longer this uptick continues, though, the more it looks like a philosophical shift.
Broncos reporter Luca Evans contributed to this story.
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For his latest trick, Nikola Jokic dribbled into oncoming traffic and escaped unscathed.
Sometimes after he reels in a defensive rebound, the Nuggets center prefers to launch an aerial attack with one of his long outlet passes. This time, he brought the ball with him up on his usual route up the middle of the floor. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. trailed him by a step. Up ahead, Tyus Jones veered into his lane from the left, sensing an opportunity to pick the pocket of a lumbering big man.
But Jokic is nimble. Before Jones could cut across his front side, he anticipated the attempted swipe and transferred his dribbling hand with a behind-the-back move that shouldn’t have looked so graceful. Jones whiffed. Carter caught up, but Jokic decelerated to allow him to pass. Then the newly minted best passing center of all time went behind the back again — this time, a dime to Jamal Murray, who finished the play with a lefty floater.
Denver’s stars were just showing off at that point in the third quarter of a 126-115 win over the Magic that wasn’t always so smooth-sailing.
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DENVER , CO – DECEMBER 18: Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets passes behind his back as Tyus Jones (2) of the Orlando Magic watches during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
It was a monumental night. At 30 years old and 302 days, Jokic passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday for the most assists by a center in NBA history. Coming into the game, all he needed was six to match Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 5,660. He finished the evening with 13, highlighting a 23-point, 11-rebound triple-double.
“For those of us that love the history of the game, that one should be wrote about and talked about, and that should be a national story,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Because that’s passing a guy that you could argue — if you just want to go by generations and not, ‘Who’s the best player of all time?’ and all the talk-talk stuff — Kareem is in the conversation. Look at his MVPs. Look at the winning. And our guy tonight from Denver just passed him in a category.”
“This is a time that I can be able to look back and appreciate all the years I’ve had to play this game with him,” Murray said. “It’s special. Passing Kareem in anything is pretty cool. So I think it just speaks to his greatness and how unselfish he is.”
Jokic has also passed other Hall of Famers including Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson on the all-time list this season, now ranking 50th overall in career assists. Next up for him to catch is another legendary passer, Larry Bird. Jokic is 28 away from tying him.
“I always say the assist makes two people happy (instead of one). My coach ‘Deki,’ he always said that,” Jokic said Thursday, paying homage to the late Golden State Warriors and Mega Basket coach Dejan Milojevic.
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“Maybe it’s not a splashy pass or whatever,” the three-time MVP continued, “but I think when you make the right play, you’re going to feel good about yourself.”
Adelman was especially adamant about the historical significance of the occasion. He gave Jokic the game ball in Denver’s locker room after the win.
“It’s such a cool thing, because it’s Kareem, who was passed by LeBron (James) as the all-time leading scorer, which puts in perspective who Nikola passed,” Adelman said. “So it’s a celebration of both people. It’s somebody that completely changed the game. The sky hook. The longevity. … I feel like in the modern era, we talk about Tom Brady and all these people. But go look at Kareem. The guy changed his name while he played. The guy plays 20-plus years and, until the very end, was impactful on teams that went to the Finals. So for Nikola to pass him, I think, says a lot. And if we’re going to celebrate what LeBron did, (we should celebrate this also). And I know it’s a different kind of thing because it’s a center, it’s a position. I’ll just keep saying it. Just don’t get tired of this, because it’s unique.”
Jokic is also closing in on Oscar Robertson for second all-time in triple-doubles. Thursday was his 177th, bringing him within four of the iconic guard. He became the first center in league history to average a triple-double last season, and he’s on pace to do so again this year with 29.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 10.8 assists per game.
Orlando called a timeout after Jokic and Murray combined for that saucy transition bucket in the third quarter. As they sauntered to the huddle, Nuggets assistant coaches Ognjen Stojakovic and JJ Barea could only laugh at the duo’s skill and panache.
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DENVER , CO – DECEMBER 18: Assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic laughs as the Orlando Magic take a timeout during the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 126-115 win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
“That’s how kind of we made our staple in that second unit growing up, was just the give-and-go,” Murray said of Jokic’s passing. “… A lot of give-and-go, and you could see his court vision and his fluidity.”
The Nuggets did most of their work Thursday during an astonishing second quarter. They flipped a 47-33 deficit with a 35-7 run that only took the last 6:26 of the first half. Murray scored 20 of his 32 points in the frame. Reserve point guard Jalen Pickett ignited the comeback and was a plus-26 in eight minutes of playing time that quarter.
Both teams were short-handed at Ball Arena. Orlando was fending without Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Denver was down three of its best defenders with Peyton Watson (right trunk contusion) ruled out shortly before tip, joining Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon on the shelf.
In Watson’s place, Bruce Brown started his first game as a Denver Nugget since April 9, 2023. David Adelman used 10 of his 11 available players, including Julian Strawther, who was cleared to play earlier this week after missing a month with a back injury.
Orlando mounted mini-comebacks throughout the second half, eventually narrowing a 21-point gap to 121-115 with 90 seconds to go.
Moments earlier during a Nuggets timeout, Ball Arena had displayed a graphic commemorating Jokic’s all-time assists achievement. The crowd greeted him with a round of applause as he returned to the court. Then he treated Denver to one more beauty of an assist, passing out of a double-team with a missile across the court to Cam Johnson in the backside corner. His open 3-pointer sealed the win.
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“It’s a celebration of our guy, of a Denver Nugget, and it’s a celebration of NBA history, all in the same place,” Adelman said. “And we all got to be there to see it.”
