Seclusion Issues | Autism PDD
Oh, I imagine they will be changing their tune, soon!
Keep us posted.
Unlike the last time I homeschooled my son, the school has refused to offer any educational services to my son. They are clearly violating the laws, and the advocacy center I'm working with is on top of this. The last time I homeschooled my son, the school contacted me and offered my son speech therapy services. Now, he's not receiving anything in his IEP. He's paying the price because of the school's abuses. Children's Protective Services went to the school this week to inspect it, and I'm waiting for their final assessment.THey don't HAVE to offer your son a single thing unless you live in one of the FEW "dual enrollment" states. For children who are privately educated, the school district has to give "equitable services" to the special ed population as a whole, not to any individual child. Once you refuse the IEP, the school is completely off the hook for FAPE. In New York and a few "dual enrollment" states, that's different. But most states don't owe a homeschooled child or one who is enrolled in a private school at the parents' expense a single thing on an individual basis. The fact that you got something the last time is because the last time the school CHOSE to provide something as part of their "equitable services." If you want to know what "equitable services" are, go to www.wrightslaw.com and search the term. Also, you can find out your state's regulation of IDEA and SEE if it has any rules about giving special ed services to "parentally placed" children, which is what your child is if you've "placed" him at home. If your child is getting home or hospital instruction because he CAN'T go to school, that is different and his right to FAPE stays. But that is the MOST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT, given only in severe behavioral or health situations, so I don't believe that's what you're talking about.CALL A LAWYER, AND GET HIM OUT! The seclusion room itself sounds pretty typical, that's a normal size for one, but it should be lit, with a window to the classroom, and someone should be standing watching him EVERY SECOND he is in there. They CANNOT lock him in there becuase he is not listening, that is absolutely inappropriate. Contact the local SD and alert them to what is going on, immediately follow up on your phone call with a letter to them stating what you talked about. If they do not take IMMEDIATE action, call a lawyer and do not send him back.Jessica
GET HIM OUT OF THAT SCHOOL TODAY. CALL A LAWYER TODAY. CALL THE POLICE DEPT TODAY. THIS IS CHILD ABUSE. THIS MAKES ME SICK!
That is crazy! How in the world is that supposed to help your child?
Good for you for fighting this and for pulling him out of there! Good luck to you.
Where is your son now?
Go Cindy!
Many states have laws governing aversives and seclusion. You need to find out what your state laws are and seek to enforce them. [QUOTE=Maria1]
That is crazy! How in the world is that supposed to help your child?
Good for you for fighting this and for pulling him out of there! Good luck to you.
Where is your son now?
[/QUOTE]
He's been with a babysitter during the day while I try to work. But the babysitter called today to tell me that she can't "deal" with him anymore, and I'll have to find someone else. The kid was traumatized at school, and he's been acting out ever since. So I don't know what I'm going to do. It's hard to be a single mom, work, homeschool him, etc.... and now I have to worry about childcare.
tzoya, the problem is that my state does not have regulations regarding seclusions in schools, only in a psychiatric/hospital setting. Schools aren't required to abide by those restrictions. This is the premise of the legal action the advocacy attorney is pursuing. He wants to establish laws/regulations for all schools in my state. Until now, nobody has come across something as severe as this, so there's never had to be an official ruling. The attorney said this case is very unique, but it raises a lot of concerns with the lack of laws and regulations. Most schools use real rooms for seclusions and they don't abuse other aspects such as length of time a child is kept in there and other such things.New York State recently approved aversive rules. That's because they were COMPLETELY prohibited and NYS kids who NEEDED aversives or seclusion. Now, those kids can come back home. Here is a link to the VERY LONG aversives policy in NYS. It could give you an idea of what is done in at least one state:
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/2007Meetings/January2007/0107em scvesida1d.htm
BTW -- The school district is REQUIRED to give your child a free appropriate education AT HOME if he is at least kindergarten age. Of course, someone would have to be home with her. So tutors could be sent to the babysitter's to keep your child occupied and educated. Perhaps that helps.WHAT???????tzoya, I'm not sure this is correct from what I just discussed with the attorney. First, you stated something about the school being "off the hook" if the IEP is refused. The day of our last IEP meeting, when the school made changes that I didn't agree with, I took my son home and didn't allow him to return. I didn't file any appeals, didn't write any letters to the school, etc. Nothing was ever done in writing to state that I was "refusing" anything, other than the little box on the IEP that I checked that said that I didn't agree with the meeting that day. Instead, I sought immediate help that day from the local advocacy agency. Since the agency has been involved, no formal papers have been submitted to the school regarding the IEP. They are still preparing and learning about his case. The plan is to request a new IEP with the involvement of the agency.
The day I brought my son home, I started homeschooling him. But it was solely because he was in a dangerous environment at school with the seclusion issue and because of the IDEA violations (one of the problems was that they were trying to force him into an alternative school despite his disability, and it wasn't for any particular behavior issue.... They just wanted to restrict him further for reasons that are too long to explain here. This school was a 2 hour bus ride from our home). They were also trying to protect themselves from action I was planning to take since my son's "special ed" teacher wasn't properly trained to teach special education. She was fresh out of college, had no experience, had never taught a special ed kid in her life, and had no certifications to TEACH.
So, I'm not sure that I can agree with your assessment that the school was under NO obligation to provide him with anything. The attorney feels otherwise, and we are not a "duel enrollment" state. I guess I'll have to wait to see how this plays out. The attorney contacted me again this afternoon and is proceeding with some legal action shortly.
I was also told that I couldn't have a say in the use of seclusions either. I either had to allow the school to use physical restraints or allow them to use this seclusion box (which I didn't know was an actual box until several months into the school year). My son had already been abused by a teacher who was using "physical restraints" so I wasn't about to approve the use of anything physical. He has scars all over his back 5 years after a teacher threw him backwards on the ground and drug him across a carpet until the skin was ripped from his back.
I had no idea such a thing even existed. I am no wimpy mama, I'm pretty strict and firm with discipline ... but these methods don't seem like anything resembling discipline. How terrifying!Everybody at the disability advocacy center is horrified. It has captured the entire office's attention, and it's one of their main focuses at this time. They've assigned 2 advocates to my son as well as an attorney. I'm very thankful for that, but let me tell you..... I found out how hard it is to find help in my state. There is literally only one attorney in the state of TN who specializes in education law, and he's not in my city. It's really tough finding people to help when you're in trouble.Cinday, have you seen the following? It looks familiar to me, so if it's been posted on this site before, sorry. But it's FYI. How is your son? Where is he now?
Agency: School mistreated disabled kids
The group has submitted a 21-page report to the state Department of Education and Colorado Springs School District 11 demanding the allegations be addressed.
The report by the Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People says the techniques were used on 45 occasions and involved five students.
District 11 on Monday issued a statement saying it “strongly disagrees” with the report.
Though parents and an attorney for the legal center admit the students involved exhibited extremely challenging behavior, they say the school was ill-equipped to deal with it and that the remedial action it chose violated numerous state education regulations.
In one instance, an 11-year-old girl was denied a trip to the restroom and had to sit in her urine, according to the report. An 11-year-old boy reportedly was bloody from hitting himself and banging his head while in seclusion.
The district allowed the nonprofit free access to the school and staff for its investigation, said Heidi Van Huysen, an attorney with the center’s special-education program.
The D-11 statement denied that any student had to sit in his or her own body fluid.
“District 11 maintains a special education program at Rogers Elementary that serves students with severe emotional disabilities,” the statement said. “Because of the dangers some of these students pose to themselves and others, it is sometimes necessary for the district to physically restrain them or place them in an unlocked time-out room.”
All the incidents outlined in the report occurred in a selfcontained classroom called the “Learning Lab” and an attached timeout room, Van Huysen said. Most students in the classroom had mental-health or developmental disabilities, she said.
“I have no doubt many of these students engaged in difficult behavior, but there is no excuse for the ongoing pattern and practices the Will Rogers staff engaged in with regards to restraint and seclusion,” Van Huysen said.
“The law is you can only use it in emergency situations, and the standard for ‘emergency’ is very high. It is one of being able to cause serious bodily injury to oneself or others,” she said.
Van Huysen said the center is required by state and federal law to investigate whether abuse and neglect occur in settings that serve people with disabilities. The agency was designated in 1977 as the state’s advocacy group for such investigations.
Van Huysen said some parents contacted the agency, which then interviewed students, parents, a special-education teacher and four paraprofessionals who worked in the Learning Lab.
Students were reportedly physically carried to the timeout room for infractions such as attempting to kick, hit or bite staff members; flipping a chair; throwing books; and breaking a teacher’s glasses.
In order to leave timeout, students were required to sit calmly on a tile floor for a time based on their age — 11 minutes for an 11-year-old, for example. School staff members told the agency the clock was restarted if the student did not remain calm, the report says.
Van Huysen said state school regulations allow 1 minute of timeout for each year of a student’s age up to a maximum of 12 minutes, yet some students were sitting on a tile floor for a half-hour or longer.
She said none of the five students still attend Will Rogers, located on South Circle Drive. The incidents allegedly occurred last school year and part of this school year.
Two mothers interviewed by The Gazette said their sons now live in residential facilities, in part because their behavior deteriorated considerably while at Will Rogers.
Christie Penny said her 11-year-old son, Christopher, was put in seclusion several times a week and often denied food until late in the school day.
Christopher has high-functioning autism, and his mother said he gets easily angered and frustrated if not allowed adequate time to finish expressing a thought. “If you don’t go at his pace, he can’t do it. They’re supposed to know that in that kind of setting,” Penny said.
Christopher is now in a “hospital-type setting” in metro Denver, and the family has moved from Colorado Springs to be closer to him, his mother said.
Another mother, Penny Gilliland, said her son, Alex, who is mentally ill, is easily agitated over seemingly little things.
“He can go from one to 10 quickly,” Gilliland said of his quick temper. “I believe they should have talked to an outside professional to intervene with Alex because obviously it was out of their hands.”
Alex is now in a residential program at Cedar Springs Behavioral Health System.
A third parent, Julie Rhuby, said her 11-year-old daughter, Kayla, was so frightened of school that she’d flee. “She was scared to death of school. She had gotten so scared she would literally disappear. She would leave the building.”
Rhuby said she didn’t know how many times her daughter had been restrained or put in seclusion until she read the report, which details nine incidents. She said Kayla, who has bipolar disorder, is now attending a home-school co-op.
Van Huysen said children like those in the report need individual behavioral plans and de-escalation techniques specific to them.
“If district staff doesn’t feel it has the ability to effectively de-escalate a student, they need to consult with experts, and there are plenty of those people that exist, and that was one of the big problems with this particular case,” she said.
She said the agency is filing a complaint against a specialeducation teacher at Will Rogers; such licensure complaints could result in the suspension or revocation of a teaching license. Van Huysen also is hoping the Colorado Department of Education conducts its own investigation.
No, I hadn't seen that, thank you. That case is a little similar to what I'm going through with my son's school. The advocacy center is investigating many aspects of wrong-doing including secluding the children in a wooden box that is 2 X 4 feet, keeping children restrained for up to 2 hours at a time unnecessarily, and using seclusion as a "punishment" whenever they don't participate in any given activity rather than as a means to keep the child from harming himself or others.
The issue of the school system being improperly trained and equipped to handle everyday situations is huge in my case. If the teachers tell a child to do something and he doesn't respond immediately, any behavior from the child is first ignored and if that doesn't work, the child is immediately secluded (for non-violent behaviors). For example, if my child doesn't immediately get up from the computer and transition into his next scheduled activity, the teacher will lose her patience and place him in the "box."
wow, i never heard of such a thing. Growing up in special education I have seen much, everyone in the class would be in trouble for something but i know at least where i went to school their was never a seclusion box nor did the teacher have restraints to physically stop the child from doing whatever. Im having a hard time with this one,its the hardest story i have read so far on this website i cant beleive they can get away with this or at least so far have gotton away with it. I was troubled to and all i had to do was sit in the courner away from the other students for a certain amount of time, loose resess, get detention or get a phone call home to the parents which was dreadful. The worse that could happen was suspension or expulsion. This did not stop me or others from getting into trouble but their never was a need for isolate the child with walls the laws are different state to state i guess. and I feel absolutly terrible about your child. No child should be treated like that they are not helping him at all thats damaging him further, stupid public schools.
Im sure your child was like i was his age, always in trouble but could not understand how to stay out of trouble because you cant see your behavior through other peoples eyes. Im sure your child hates being punished, and normal children will respond by addressing the behavior that got them their but autistic children just cant see the things they are doing are wrong and im sure if your child was like me he will have many years of being in trouble and being punished and having a difficult time understanding how to adress a behavior he cant control.
I really hope you hammer that school good, they are doing a service to nobody locking children in a wooden jailcell or restraining them physically, even harming them (the dragging).
Let me clarify what IDEA 2004 says about parents who "parentally place" a child. That means, parents who are placing a child in a private school for which THEY are paying tuition and/or parents who are homeschooling their children (this is considered a type of private school.)
State laws vary (my own state, NY, is a "dual enrollment" state, for example, so what I'm about to write does not apply in NY). However, Fed law says that school districts are off the hook for FAPE if the parents ultimately refuse the new IEP once all negotiations are over and have decided to refuse the new IEP by NOT accepting the new placement and removing their child from school at THEIR expense. Of course, the parents THEN have Due Process recourse, but in the meantime, the school is NOT obligated to provide FAPE. The parents have to send a 10 day letter seeking reimbursement for their paid tuition and the school has 10 days to answer that challenge before the parents need to file for Due Process if they want this argument to continue. If they DON'T file for Due Process (mediation, resolution session, Hearing, etc.), the school IS off the hook for FAPE. However that doesn't mean it won't pay for something, but that is UP TO THEM. They are REQUIRED to pay for something called "equitable services" which means they have to devote a percentage of their sped budget to privately placed kids, in general, but not necessarily to any one child. It's up to them. Clearly, the last time you homeschooled your child, they decided to provide him with something. This time they are not. You recourse is formal Due Process, which I assume your advocate will advise you about. Of course, your STATE law can be different, but what I post here is the minimum required by the Feds.
Anyone on this forum who takes their child out of public school into some kind of private education (including homeschooling) MUST go to their state ed website to find out the specifics of what that particular STATE says about private placements at parental expense. Each state is different. What I've posted here is from IDEA 2004. Of course, all things are negotiable in any state, but this is what IDEA REQUIRES. No more. When you got a change to your son's IEP, that meant that your negotiations hadn't yet gotten to the "take it or leave it" point. If the negotiations DO get to that point and you decide to "leave it" and pull your child, according to IDEA 2004, the school district IS off the hook for FAPE for that year. However, they MUST hold another IEP meeting next year and allow you to accept THAT one.
Please print out this post to show to your advocate. If he finds any of this to be incorrect based on IDEA 2004, please post that here. I certainly don't mind standing corrected if I'm wrong. However, this information came directly from the law as well as a confirmation from an Impartial Hearing Officer who teaches the intense advocacy course I just completed. My guess is that your advocate has found something in your state's law that is different.
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