couldn’t beleive this article
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I got this as a post on MySpace from another parent of a child with ASD. Some of the parents there post articles of interest when they come accross them. If you don't have a MySpace, I would recommend started a page and networking with parents and teachers that way too. Sometimes parents post things that are not related to Autism and it takes up room on my page. But others really post alot of good stories and recommendations. That was the whole reason I started myspace page, and I have met lots of moms this way, too. Plus, I started seeing old friends. It was really weird. If any of you would be interested in see my page, pm me and I will give you the link. I thought that some of you might be interested in this article. I was stunned by what happened and the outcome. This is the EXACT reason why there has to be never ending promoting awareness. 9-year-old accused of tossing brick at principal  My 13 year old Asperger had been bullied at Public School another younger child. He came home frustrated every day because the kids wouldn't leave him alone. In Oct he decided to take things in his own hands since the school could not provide him with assistance during free times and was left literally on his own. He took a knife to school in his backpack and when he was playing basketball got hit in the head with the ball by the boy that had been bugging him. He took the knife out and waved it in the air and was told to put it back which he did. The school's vice principal called the sheriff, had him make a statement and signed it and the sheriff took him and booked him on 3 felonies: possession, threatening with a weapon, and having a weapon at school. The sheriff asked if he had a disability and the office personnel "didn't know", he's been on an IEP since grade school. He ended up in juvenille hall for 3 days, and then the county mental health attorney got him into a group home at which time we were able to finally see our son. My poor son who is afraid of the dark, has eating issues and taken to a strange place without any contact. We went to court a month later at which time the county attorney relayed that he would stay in the group home until 12 Jan at which time he recommends keeping him there to rehabilitate and try and get the DA off our back and try to get all charges dropped. Meanwhile, I have to put up with the fact that my son has been pulled out of our care. My husband and I have done everything possible to get him help. This year we retained a school attorney and had a behaviorist and therapist and then this happens. We are beside ourselves, we can't believe this has happened to our family. We are Air Force veterans and Civil Service employees and have always been actively involved with our sons well being. If any one has any suggestions from the state of California's view or the county of Kern, please respond.[QUOTE=remy567]I had to pour coco on my shirt make my big boy walk. He did not want to get dirty so he informed me that he is a walker now . Me and my back loved this. He still will not eat much outside cheese and pizza this is 65% of his food. I love him. Tell more about your kids. [/QUOTE] I can relate to remy567, my son has always had a limited diet. He is very sensitive to textures, sour tastes, and spices. Try to keep introducing different food to him and reward new behavior. Make sure he has vitamins. They seem to crave what they need if it's not a sugar or salt based diet. It comes along with the syndrome, obsessiveness, rigidity, etc... My son grew at a normal rate, it's ok. I will try talking to my senator, thanks[QUOTE=vexx]in what world does a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder get charged for crimes he doesn't even know he committed,yet the school's own teacher isn't charged with child endangering? if i leave my son in a car while going into a store by himself and a cop sees it i can be arrested but this same teacher regardless if her lackey aka aide is out for an emergency isn't even questioned. wtf, am i in america or iran? my son is autistic, and if this was my child all hell would break loose. i am not talking all big and bad i mean legally this school system is out of it's damn mind.i am not saying that it's ok that the child did it but come on doesn't he have enough to try and figure out with an absent father a poor mother working and trying to do the right thing for her child and educate him then a few hard asses in a legal system trying to make him an example. i am truely sorry for this and in a perfect world we wouldn't have these problems. every child would be perfectly so called "normal" and autism and the spectrum would not exist. the child did not choose this rational thought is a luxury we all take for granted [/QUOTE] It seems that once the legal system gets envolved all your rights are taken away. We want to go after the school for calling the sheriff for an incident that could have been prevented and handled more appropriately. My son cooperated with the teachers and sheriff and was still taken away. He probably thought they were going to help him. This got so out of hand. We have a District Attorney that won't let this one go, even though the court stated that because of his disability he would not be able to represent himself. I don't know why the attorney representing my son from the center couldn't have had him home that very day. He said in order to get the DA to drop the charges he needed to have him kept at the home. The same services should have been provided here in our neighborhood and at his home. We've been very upset not having him home for Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas. The attorney representing my son said he wouldn't be coming home anytime soon. They have to keep him and rehabilitate him and we are to receive classes as well. This I've got to see. I've been all over the internet trying to get help on this one. Mary Beth, I am soooo sorry to hear about what you are going through right now. Your son's IEP needed some help. Subscribe to Wrightslaw.com and read all you can there. Also, whatever local organization for MRD--the Arc?? See what they can recommend in terms of special ed legal advocacy groups. Lets see..there is justice for juveniles, most states Dept of Ed have a center for autism and low incidence and also a legal rights service (in Ohio we have OCALI and Ohio Legal Right Service). The attorney you have, unless they are well versed in special ed (and most are not) will be missing key things. Did you write your concerns down for the school and keep a copy? Is there goals in his IEP addressing the things on the playground or whathave you? Is the attorney even looking at the IEP? Check he county mental health board, do they have a cluster board that works with high risk kids and can you get him services through this? Luckily y son was well connected with services to start with, so this worked in his favor. OLRS cannot represent him for criminal, but is representing him in all dealings with the school and will advise any attorney he has for the criminal aspects of the case, which luckily there have been none. My son took toy guns to school last year which did not set well, the cops confiscated his bright yellow and orange "look alike" weapon (LOL) last year. I checked his backpack every day and watched him like a hawk wit things. I still do, but at 10 he is easier to monitor. I shudder to think what will happen as he ages. Good luck, you have lots of work to d, educate yourselves in every way posible and read lots. Justice for Juveniles might take something like this on...also hate to suggest it but did you think to try attacking it with the ACLU as a discrimination issue?? Maria (Jake's mom) http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/jj.kids.arrest.pw.htm http://www.cleweb.org/Downloads/when_schools_criminalize_dis abil.htm http://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/iep.special.factors.htm
You should be able to find something in here to assist you . Thank you MB Hi Wray:What an article? do you know if this child was in a special ed class at this school? The article doesn't say anything about if he was receiving any services or not. Hopefully, now he's in a special ed class and receiving services. Here in Baltimore last summer an austic student who was in some type of day program/camp wondered into a city pool and drowned. I don't know what happened to this progam. The big bad woolfFrom what I have understood Muhlygal to say, he was in sp ed. Muhlygal, who has posted all through this thread, is this boy's mother. I am sure she will see your questions and answer them. If I remember correctly from one her previous posts on a previous page of this thread, he was receiving services, just obviously not up to par and things did change for the better as far as his services go. LOL....reaching a certain amount of noteriety I see.... He is in special ed, but was included. He had a rough start to the year and I am not sure how he will manage to get through it and continue on academically. He is transitioning back into the school at present and things are up and down, but the school and I are holding firm--GOOD behavior and he gets to go home, bad behavior just gets him into trouble when he gets there, but does not get him home any sooner. Still working the behavior plan out, but at least we are geting some socail skills training and some supports in place that we did not have before and sorely needed. He only has to stay for two hours and some days it has been very rough. I did wind up taking him up the Akron Children's and having him evaluated very thoroughly, and get this, he has a comunication disorder, social skill deficits, behavior problems and a fine motor delay that shocked even me, but makes too much eye contact and maintains too much conversation to be considered on the spectrum any longer. They made recommendations for OT and more speech, which I have been pushing for and unable to get, and the school now is hopping on board with these, which is nice to see. They said it changes nothing as to his educational needs or his treatment, so that is fine. Just a labeling issue. Delays, just not pervasive ones. Honestly though, I am still trying to keep up with all the different labels he has. Maria [QUOTE=muhlygal]LOL....reaching a certain amount of noteriety I see.... He is in special ed, but was included. He had a rough start to the year and I am not sure how he will manage to get through it and continue on academically. He is transitioning back into the school at present and things are up and down, but the school and I are holding firm--GOOD behavior and he gets to go home, bad behavior just gets him into trouble when he gets there, but does not get him home any sooner. Still working the behavior plan out, but at least we are geting some socail skills training and some supports in place that we did not have before and sorely needed. He only has to stay for two hours and some days it has been very rough. I did wind up taking him up the Akron Children's and having him evaluated very thoroughly, and get this, he has a comunication disorder, social skill deficits, behavior problems and a fine motor delay that shocked even me, but makes too much eye contact and maintains too much conversation to be considered on the spectrum any longer. They made recommendations for OT and more speech, which I have been pushing for and unable to get, and the school now is hopping on board with these, which is nice to see. They said it changes nothing as to his educational needs or his treatment, so that is fine. Just a labeling issue. Delays, just not pervasive ones. Honestly though, I am still trying to keep up with all the different labels he has. Maria [/QUOTE] He sounds the same as my son and UCLA diagnosed as high functioning 2 years ago but, if that's what they are going to call it, whatever, they still have a definite disability that is really difficult to manage. My son started in inclusion, did not like being in a "class of dummies" mixed ages. He was smart enough to go to regular classroom, with few modifications. The teachers liked him but, the school grounds with our mixed batch of kids was too much for him to handle without an OT or aide and the school offered none. Thus, he ended up taking things into his own hands and now he's in the group home. It makes me so mad because it was the result of the school not following through that my son is where he is today.Muhlygirl- So what are his labels? You are saying that they are removing the label of ASD despite all the delays you mentioned? All because he makes eye contact? You sure you don't want to get a 2nd opinion on that? This is very interesting. The reason I am asking what his other labels are is because sometimes getting ASD interventions without that label is alot harder said than done.Grrrrrrr.....Christmas is coming and Jake is on the naughty list again bigtime...
Another suspension. He is only in school two flippin hours and has all told bee in school for two hours a day since November 8th....not even a full month what with the holiday and he is now out for the next two weeks because he hit the teacher. I am sick of this crap. And guess what?? His aide was not there again...what is up with that? And no replacement either. Not sure I get it. hohoho Merry Christmas....and by the way, he might get more charges added. Now that makes me proud. Maria School has always used Cognitive disorder for his label. Though at one time it was Emotional disturbance which I think will get back to him again if things do not change. As far as medically he has been dignosed with PDD-NOS (now changed), ADHD (up for debate, some say yes, some say no), Sensory processing problems though not SID, Fine motor delays, mixed expressive receptive communication disorder, mood disorder-NOS, psychotic disrder-NOS, OCD, ODD, Conduct Disorder (altho that one is usually reserved for children over the age of 13 and he was dx'd with this at 7), anxiety, depression, mild mental retardation....those are the ones I can remember. I am not inclined to go for any further opinions as there are so many out there and all the variety does is just muddle things up worse. Rate things are going I am going to have to quit my decently paying job so that I can stay at home with this kid and home school him just so he learns how to read and write above a first grade level. Thing is I hate living on welfare checks and rally felt crappy about myself when I was home with the kids after losing my last job. My boss really likes me and is going out of his way to hold onto me, which is nice but if he won't fire me I can't collect welfare...lol...and I would really need that income to pay rent. Well, and then some, as my rent here is higher than I would have coming in if I was not working. Personally, if I have to quit so I can educate him I think the school should pay me to do so....though I would be taking a pay cut from what a starting teacher makes. Anyhow, ain't life grand? NOT!! I am seriously considering programs for him that I previously did not cinsider because that is where the really bad behavior problems go and he learns to behave worse that way, which really frghtens me. He hangs at a group home for young adults with autism and he is learning to pace and to rock from them, though not convincingly enough evidently to get him placed back onto the spectrum....His need for routine aside, his behaviors (making eye contact, lack of stimming activity across all settings ability to maintain conversation and make jokes, etc) all point to communication disorder but not asd. Whatever. Even the neuro said that he thinks he leans more toward antisocial than asd at this point, he was not sure about the asd before (though sure enough to bill under that code for two years). Well, not sure about that asd but also not inclined to seek out the real issue here doc. Thanks a lot buddy. We go to see the shrink in 8 days. I plan to raise the bi=polar qquestion once more and see if I get further this time. I don't care about labels, Just get me some flipping drugs that work and help him out here!!! Maria My son besides UCLA's "High Functioning Autism Label" has been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and I've got to tell you, he meets all the criteria for this one. I've read so much on it since last year and find it just amazing that it was identified by Hans Asperger so long ago and only until recently in the late '90s has made the official list of "disabilities". Check it out! muhlygal, have you considered looking into Social Security Disability (SSI) Supplmental Security Income you can get that if ou qualify financially and if you have a child with a disability. You maybe be able to get this to help with your money situation. It can be a long process but it is well worth it. muhlygal, Do you think that his placement in school is the most least restrictive enviornment for him. I don't know about his placement because there really has been no discussion on that. I know that things have been really bad for you with all you have had to deal with this school and his behavior. But I really feel like they are jerking you and him around. First of all, they can not suspend him for more than 10 days a school year. If they have succeeded those 10 days, then every day he missed past that they have to provide services for him wherever he is. If they make him stay at home, they have to provide services at home for whatever days they dont' allow him in school. Check on this and ask about it if it has been more than 10 days of suspension. Now, with the dx's of ODD and Conduct Disorder, your son needs a huge positive behavior intervention plan. Either there isn't one or it isn't appropriate and needs to be re-done or it isn't being utilized. Being suspended this much is not appropriate. Having those 2 dx's clearly present that his behaviors are a direct result of those labels. From what I know about ODD and Conduct Disorder alone, from some students but also from a behavior management master's level class last semester, a mainstream placement is not the least restrictive enviornment. Having those two dx's alone and being expect to function in the capacity of a typical student is clearly what is causing all these issues. What are some of the other placements you might could think about to get him in so that he is being served correctly and where someone understands conduct disorder. That is a very serious thing and he really needs protection from discrimination due to behaviors (like hitting teachers) where he is going to be negatively punished. You deserve to be able to keep your job and he deserves to be able to come to school and be successful. Do you still have a lawyer from the last incident. Or an advocate. If so, I would bring these things up to them and see what they think. I am by no means the guru on ODD or conduct disorder. I just know they are dx's that should not be taken lightly and deserves a lot of attention. At the same time, there may be things that I do not know about his education because it has never been discussed here. So if I am stepping out of line, I apologize. Just rambling my thoughts after reading your last post. Jake was on SSI and then I went back to work and viola!! He does not qualify. In fact they even went so far as to ask for the last two payments back, one of which came before I even got a paycheck. His spendown for medicaid card is over 2 grand a month, so that is truthfully useless. I pin my hopes on the level one waiver which I had been given but then there was this label change and some diagreement with one psychologist over diagnosis and that is iffy now. He got SSI so fast that some folks I know were shocked, but I submitted a ton of evidence that he was not able to cope with life which still holds evidently. I have a lawyer (she is not a happy camper at present and furious). The school has been designing a behavior plan since October, and still I have not gotten one. I asked two years ago for a behavior plan (in writing) and see we have made so much progress there. I never attend a meeting without an advocate so that someone in the know can explain to me what they are talking about (now she comes out of habit, I know what everything means by this time, lol). The Arc comes, I think MRDD comes too. His counselor comes. I go his Grandma goes and it is just a huge group. Their lawyer, my lawyer...lol....We talk and nothing gets done entirely, they do just enough, as my lawyer pointed out, to make it appear that they are trying and well, look it just simply does not work he is beyond their ability and hopeless. He is currently in a resource room in a class of one--him. His aide and the intervention specialist is there (though the aide was missing again yesterday, go figure). Up intil then he was successful included in his first year on a level system with ED supports in place and that resource room available to him. He did so well he was allowed to attend his home school and that is where things went wrong. The principal quite frakly was a witch and hates special ed kids (and not just mine from what I have heard from many sources within the district), she undid everything that the year before we accompliashed. We spent two months trying unsucessfully to get him back to where he was before she messed him up. But then again, he was supposed to have a bahavior plan and it was never done. They dropped the ball and also my kid. And they wonder why I am antagonistic toward them. I would not vote yes on a school levy to save my life now.
How in the heck does your son get suspended when he is in a class with no other students? Only a teacher and an aide. And the aide wasn't even there. So what is this teacher doing to your son? My gosh! I am soooo happy to hear you have a lawyer who goes everytime. I guess then that you have it all under control, for lack of a better way of saying it. I hope that your lawyer gets agressive and get this behavior stuff to where school can be positive again for him and you don't feel as if you have to quit work because the school. Wishing you the best of luck, and as always, keep us posted! The teacher was trying to get him to stop climbing on the computer desk, which is something he seems to be doing to see what theyw ill do. He is testing and they failed it. Actually, they just set a price for his freedom. It used to be if he ran away from the room he got to go home and be suspended...or he had to shove another student, or whatever. Now if he hits the teacher he gets his payoff. Of course getting on the roof and throwing objects at the principal nets a londer vacation but that is neither here nor there. They set the price and I am sure he will be sure to meet it again and again. Thank God for the lawyer, she is keeping them from getting my full wrath which would not be pretty. Nothing will save them however if they do not get me some work for him to do while he is on leave this time. One hour of home instruction is such BS. Maria Just returned from IEP in Bakersfield where my son is being held in Group Home. My God, the had so many specialist through that "Opportunity School" program attending to my son at the county seat, than we've ever received. They had RSP, OT, Speach Specialist, Psychologist, head of School. He was tested in depth and had so many needs finally identified and so many resources offered I was flabbergasted. If our kids were getting all their needs met, they would be doing so good. Now, I view our schools as totally negligent in the care of children with disabilities and not taking initiative to provide the care needed to be successful. My son has a writing problem, no sweat, we'll provide him with a laptop! He needs to learn social cues, no kidding. He has a speach impediment that the was not diagnosed here. So, they want to keep him in a "neutral environment" why, not because we're bad parents. The resources are there, not the emotional support of parents but, that doesn't matter according to the Regional Center, all he needs is the school setting. He's in a resource room of six and they each have a cublicle, reminds me of the office! So, Mulygal, we are going with our guns loaded to court on 10 Jan and I hope you make a lot more demands. I wanted my son to be in the least restricted environment this year because he wanted to be treated like a big boy. He put up with so much at that school with his disability, I can't believe how much effort it took him to pull off the good grades he did get. The school denied him everything he was entitled to. Small school setting, aides during free time, between classes and lunch. No one was there to protect him from all those kids, from all different walks of life, from teasing and harrassing him; the noise the caos. So he takes a knife to school to protect himself, to make them leave him alone and he fully cooperates with school personnel and sheriff and instead of getting help, he gets thrown into juvenile hall, a group home and no counselor to help him through it. Be Careful what you ask for and be sure all your ducks are in place. So the school is denying services, here sign your name to that effect, make them accountable. This has been such a horror story that everything is being taken out on my son and family because of the schools negligence. Please be careful and hay, if you have to stay home and home school it's better than having to go through what we have been. MB Merry flipping Christmas huh?? So did they look at the IEP and how it set him for failure? Has anyone looked at the school yet and said hey you all screwed up and screwed this kid up?? Zero tolerance, although understandable why in theory, in practice it is not a good thing. I am sick of IEP meetings that go nowhere and sick of a lot of things about this whole thing with schools. I am glad that my son is getting more of his needs addressed, but what about next year or the one after that? I am assuming you and your son have legal reprenstation?? If not it will be worth your while to find the best one possible. IF there is any publicity someone might take it just for that factor. Then let them loose on it. There should be something like the Ohio Legal Rights that can provide consultaive services to an attorney so that the attorney will be versed in special ed law.... I am so sorry that your family is dealing with this at this time of year...anytime is bad but at the holidays is worse. Shoot, you might try to call your representative and tell tham to look over the facts of the case and ask them when enough is enough. Can't hurt, never know it might get someone interested. What is the schools policy on bulling and did you and your son document instances and report them in writing with any frequency?? If so was it addressed in his IEP and if not why not?? Lots of questions. Not many answers.... You are in my thoughts... maria Put my own site under education issues, "worst nightmare", thanks for being there for me and I can't believe you've managed through all this with your son. My fight is with the Regional Center now, that was supposed to be "helping the family", instead of their own agenda. Still in group home. Keep on top of them girl, the school's have lawyers and you need yours to be pushing for all the resources you can get. I'm finding out there are more resources at their disposal than they let on and don't want to talk about because of the money. If they had done their job, my son would probably have finished school by now, he was so gifted but, having a disability sure puts a wrench in the motor. Thanks for posting this article. I had a knot in my stomach as I read it. god, it makes me wonder what if that happens when my little boy gets older, i hope every one who sees this article in the news or otherwise trys to inform themselves about autism, for the sake of all our childeren, I could not believe what I was reading. That makes me scared of what might happen as my kids get older. They all have developmental disabilities. This could happen to one of mine.Yes, especially in the wake of Columbine, most schools have no tolerance policies on violence. That is why it is ESPECIALLY important to get a good "management" section written into your child's IEP. The SCHOOL was remiss in this situation. A child like this needs an official behavior intervention plan that is based on a reliable Functional Behavioral Assessment. These are ALL the school's responsibility. But it is the responsibility of the parent to make SURE the school get its feet held to the flame by putting all of this in the ONLY legal document your child has -- his IEP.My big question is what is next for this boy in the artical? Where can he go to school now that this has happened? He still needs to go to school. Does he have the ability to learn that this is not excepted behavior. He may not have realized at the time the action he took was going to get this much neg. attention. http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=304262&Category=11 &fromSearch=yes Here is a news report about this. I also read something written by this family's current spec. ed. advocate. She says that the mom told her one thing and then told the judge, the police, the school, etc. other things. It's not clear at all what the truth is. Mom seems to be a piece of work. However, it's certainly true that this SD was way out of line. If there are updates I see, I will post them. Okay I think the school was totally out of line in it's decisions and should be sued for what they did. It is hard to believe that they would take a child with a know disability to jail for assault and the principal didn't help the situation but made it worse. Couldn't read the follow up article because it is not on the website anymore but how sad. I think that my screename should be muhlygal. I am Jake's mom. I only today found out that this post was here on this forum. I feel need to address somethings. First, I tried to get PBSP in place and the school refused to have the consult in for it, they list him as mental retarded not PDD, despite multiple diagnosis of such. I have fought for two years with the school to do an FBA, finally hiring an outside consultant to do one, and then they think they should do oe. A little after the fact. The two FBAs were similar and both came up with good suggested plans, and neither was accepted by the school. The principal kept saying he was just choosing bad behavior and needed punished. Oh yeah,, and that he needed to schedule his stress breaks....lol. I think that the mentor heard from that principla that it was bad parenting, lack of discipline at home and oh yeah, that his parents are divorced that is the reasons why he is the way he is. Not that he has a language disorder, not that he has no social skills and certainly not that a word, because the school did not diagnose that (even though it is all there in his MFE) My sped advocate works for the school district, and is not an advocate, but a mentor. It is my understanding that the school is not allowing any of their employees to talk about the whole thing. I was never given a suspension notice, never given an incident report or even told much about what happened. I picked up bits and peices here and there, some from my son some from what little the school was telling me and peiced it together. And, the school has told me several things that are totally opposite. So I am unsure of the whole deal. What I have figured out for certain is that things went awry in ways that I cannot imagine. Oddly enough I am not interested in suing the schools, but only in finding a way to get the support in place that he needs to be successful in the classroom. Of course they think I will so they give me a littel help on figuring out what transpired, then backtrack if I ask a question that they think will be used against them later. I just want to know what to do to help get this child back on track!! If I did not care I would not have made sure to get every shred of documentation to the school that I could. The interesting thing is that after trying for a yeear to figure something out for after schooland daycare my son now has a respite provider working with him and MRDD found the funds to cover it. Also, ORLS has stepped in to help adress what I have been trying to get the school to do--address him as a student with PDD (or at least communication issues) and to get that FBA and PBSP done and in place! It took a set of handcoffs and a cruiser, but there youhave it, a silver lining. Another silver lining, increased awareness!! There are many challenges to having a child with these problems...daycare, afterchool care, school issues, insurance issues (mine doe sn't cover PDD). I worry that every child with PDD will be looked at as a time bomb, which they ar not. I worry about the other children with issues that prevent them from proper and acceptable ways to communicate their fears and needs. I worry about the other parents who are embroiled inthe same or similar disputes withthe schools they are in. I should have fought last year harder, but was new on my job and did not want to lose it by taking the time off. I worry what will happen what is best thing to do with my son for school now that the school says that this placement is no longer an option. I thnk mnay also worry the same things judging fromt he responses I have seen here and elsewhere. All I can hope is that things work out for the best and that schools take note and try a little harder to work on PBS for those who need it most. To be honest, I am sick of the school meetings and sick of wrap around care meetings, sick of meetings for ISP's at counselors and at cluster boards. I am tired of fighting for things all the way around. I am also very tired of the endless counseling appointments and doctor appointments as well. I wish I could aford OT outside cause the school won't do it and I had to stop when I started working and lost the medical card and realized my insurance would not cover it. He needed that and it helped him. And know what? My 6 year old is a sweetheart but I am seeing in him serious distractibility issues and am afraid of what is going to happen with him now, as I fear I may have to assess whether or not he also has ADD and learning disabilities. Darn it anyhow. Sorry this is long. I do blame the school for failing to provide a good FBA befre things got so bad and for failing to get a PBSP in place. But this is more than just the school, this is also a systemic failure, bacuse I have been very much vocal about the needs for proper coverage for medical, school issues and also the need for daycare while I work that can mange him. I have gotten nowhere until now. I find that a sad sad thing.
I am assuming that Jake is the boy in the article, it never gave his name and I never heard it anywhere else. If so, then you are his mom? WOW, I don't even know how to begin but by saying welcome to the board. You will find many parents here and supportors that will give you good advice and will also help with your feelings. How is your son? My son is fine. He seems oblivious in some ways to the uproar that is going on around him. He is happy to be out of school and be with the repite provider that he now has. My life however is a nightmare of meetings and meltdowns (his and mine, lol). I am fearful and worried and now medicated, yippee! His father did not come to court, altho he promised he would be there. And the kid was so let down it was not even funny. It started as fidgeting and moved into oppositioanal and defiant behaviors, ending with him running and then kicking a magistarte who stopped him in the hall. New charges. Another trip in cuffs to juvie. Another day off work sobbing and begging God to make something else wrong with my son as I do not understand this stuff. <sigh> Anyhow, I mostly peekign in, I don't usually cruise things too much, but was curious when the lawyer said she got hits when she googled me, lol...that was odd, I am usually a wallflower.
I certainly hope your son gets the help, support and protections that he needs and deserves. YOur case illustrates the vital importance of the schools classifying kids properly. The classification is a protections since it is illegal to punish a child for behavior that is an outgrowth of his disability. Obviously, this makes registering the EXACT disability imperative. Looks like you tried your best but the school screwed up. Hopefully, this will all come out in the end and your child will get what he NEEDS, not just some lipservice from the school. BUT...and this is a big one folks, when our children grow up, disability or not, the courts WILL and CAN punish them. Take for instance two cases in Ohio involving autistic adults (one a teen actually). Both stabbed someone. The teen stabbed his mom nearly fatally. He did time in DH and is now in a group home. The other was an adult who either shot or stabbed his brother in Massillon, he was sentenced if I recall correctly and will do jail time because he showed no remorse (DUH!!) The brother he killed was drinking with him (DUH, that was dumb!). I still contend that somehow he must make some connection somewhere and somehow before he gets to be older and the courts look less at the disability and more at the crime. I just don't know how to do it. How very concerning and sad.I don't know the answer with your son, but I do know that you and all of us must FIND an answer before our children turn 18. After that, it is often too late to commit them to institutions for their own safety if it comes to that. SOmetimes all the love, discipline and schooling in the world will not control violence. Clearly, a disabled person who is so violent that he stabs someone MUST be locked up in some fashion. Hopefully, that will be in a good institution that will try to HELP him, but that doesn't always happen after age 18. When our adolescents' behaviors CAN'T be controlled by medication or other interventions, we parents are faced with the heart-wrenching decision about where to send them so that they and others can be safe. If we don't make that decision while we are still, legally, in control, the COURTS will end up making that decision for us later on. My son is 15 and is, so far, under control. If he does get to the point of harming himself or others, my husband and I will definitely consider residential care. The LAST thing I want to see is my son incarcerated, as much as I also don't want to see him in residential care. But, if those are the only choices, residential care wins, hands down. I don't mean to be rude, and I CERTAINLY sympathise with the parent and child on this one, but how the heck does a nine year old child get onto the roof of a school when he is supposedly being supervised by adult teachers!??! (Sorry if this has been asked before, as I skimmed most replies.) And they pressed charges for an act he committed only because their neglegence allowed him on the roof in the first place? And a magistrate pressed charges against an autistic nine year old who kicked him? What's next, carting preschoolers off to juvie for biting other children in daycare? Unreal...Muhlygal, I am really sorry that this is happening to you and your family. The majority of the blame in this one does not lie with your son, IMO. If my son ended up on the roof of his school, I could care less if all he did up there was a song and dance and then came right down safe and sound, I would sue their pants into oblivion and back again. DO NOT let them walk away from this incident believing that they did nothing wrong. What if your son had fallen? All children your son's age should be appropriately supervised at school such that they do not engage in behaviours that endanger themselves or others. A child having access to and getting onto the roof is THE SCHOOL'S FAULT. excellent point greendreams  Ummm.... I have opted to not be public or even private with my plans concerning the schools, as now I simply trust no one...lol. I have Ohio Legal RIght Services (special ed advocates through the state , which include lawyers) and I have spoken to an attorney recommended to me by colleagues about the criminal charges etc. HOwever, he is not technically a criminal lawyer, more of a litigation lawyer, if that is any indication of what is in my head. Whatever I do I must weight out the pros and the cons. Suing schools does not generally win money for anyone, maybe services. It could create a better road for the next child, but att he expense of my family and my finances (whch suck already). Honestly it is in the back of my mind, but I hate the fighting thing and have many fronts on which to fight now, because my ex now has blatantly screamed to the whole world that it is all my fault that Jake is in this mess, neglecting as usual to see where his failure to be consistant and actaully be there when he tells his kid he will be there is harminfg his son. Actually his broken promises set Jake up for the terms emotionally disturbed to be applied to him faster than the developmental delay and hence less services for the speech and social skills deficits. Anyhow, I appreciate the comments. I don't necessarily suggest that you go after money for the sake of getting money. It is an issue of getting the school's attention and making sure that they realise they cannot get away with turning their backs long enough for a 9 year old autistic boy to climb onto the roof. I would start the process, and agree to drop pursuit of litigation if they agree to launch an investigation as to how such an "oversight" was made, and to revise their current policy on proper and timely assessment and integration of functional strategies for special needs/behavioural needs. Everything I have read about your son's unfortunate situation sounds to me like the school board dropped the ball on both accounts, and is shuffling off as much of the blame as possible. I live close to Canton, In tuscarawas the police called my son retarded. He cryed for so long. Autism can't talk . The police were mean and unkind that day to my child. I will never forget them and their lack of not trying. God bless you. in what world does a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder get charged for crimes he doesn't even know he committed,yet the school's own teacher isn't charged with child endangering? if i leave my son in a car while going into a store by himself and a cop sees it i can be arrested but this same teacher regardless if her lackey aka aide is out for an emergency isn't even questioned. wtf, am i in america or iran? my son is autistic, and if this was my child all hell would break loose. i am not talking all big and bad i mean legally this school system is out of it's damn mind.i am not saying that it's ok that the child did it but come on doesn't he have enough to try and figure out with an absent father a poor mother working and trying to do the right thing for her child and educate him then a few hard asses in a legal system trying to make him an example. i am truely sorry for this and in a perfect world we wouldn't have these problems. every child would be perfectly so called "normal" and autism and the spectrum would not exist. the child did not choose this rational thought is a luxury we all take for granted I am so sorry you are going through this. I live in Strongsville, we are a hop skip and a jump from you. It makes me sick too just thinking that he was on the 2nd floor and there are windows that open and he had any kind of opportunity to get out on the roof. Seriously, that should be the main reason of concern, as someone mentioned, if he fell off and hadn't thrown a brick, it would be a completely different story here. Your parenting wouldn't be questioned at all, but the teacher's and the aide's. In school, you are not responsible for what they do. How can you? That is what THEY are there for! Good lord, I am sick about this. My son is 4 and in our system's pre-school. I just never even thought about the possibility of our children having access to an open window and climbing out! They are putting our children in clear danger! Plus, my son has bitten his teacher's before, its part of his communication issues that he struggles with. It is a typical reaction. IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY! Have you looked into the Hattie Larlham organization? They have a school there and provide many services, its in Mantua, but maybe doable for you? My boss donates to this organization and I was just checking out this website today. http://www.hattielarlham.org/ It doesn't state autism specifically, but developmental disabilities. I would give them a call, but again, I'm not sure how far away you are from them, all of that side of town seems to be "close" to me. Sending you hugs and thinking about you. Hey all....I got this from Wrightslaw. A freind of mine inthe Greater Akron Chapter of the ASA sent it to me and I found it to be perfect!! Please do yourself a favor and keep a copy of this for future just in cases.... As far as the litle boy in the story, I wanted to post an update (As his mommy guess I am the best source). He will be returning to school one on one with the intervention teacher for two hours a day on NOv. 8. The IS will be teaching social skills and emotional regualtation (what I have requested for two years). He will continue home instruction also for the academics. A behavior plan to address his weak areas and draw on his strengths is being created by an outside source....someone I highly trust and if you are in Ohio she is excellent!! (Chris Filler with Whole Child Therapy in Stow. She has walked this road with her own child). I am extremely happy with the things which are being done to help get him back into school and yes, the same school (trying hard not to reinforce running behavior). The school personeel will be getting training (again, one of my suggestions from before) and his behavior plan will address plans for when his aide is out, when he has a sub and when there is a crisis. There will be amny options they will have to use before they will be able to phone 911 for a behavior issue. They broke that one last time, but in all fairness they did not call the police they called fire and the police were sent also as is routine per dispatch for these situations. Whatever and however, it happened and it has not been really a bad thing. Charges are still informal. The court has said that if we need to revisit his fathers visit schedule we will. And I think seriously that even though I don't like to do it, I am going to take up that offer as some of the problem is his fathers lack of cinsistancy invisists as well as the detail that father has been screaming and swearing at me in front of the kids again which is simply needing to stop permanently. I cannot deal with his abuse (which woul dbe why we are not married). It upsets my son and sets him up for bad behavior days so this is now a serious problem. So I guess this is another positive as before I was having trouble getting it in front of a judge (money and the like). The court is helping to make certain that school issues are resolved, another very big plus. There are two schools opeing soon in my area for kids on the specctrum. I am looking at them. Hattie Larlam takes severe kids, which Jake is PDD and even at present that even gets challenged at times because he is getting less obvious as he learns more coping skills (albeit negative ones at times). He appears more oppositional defiant until you start looking at the communication and fine motor deficits and watch him in a group of kids....then you see more PDD. As I keep getting told, he is a blurry kid, really does not meet strict diagnostic definitions in any one disorder. He is my Russia...an enigma wrapped in a puzzle. As to that second story window...it now has a barred grate over it so that kids cannot access that roof. My son would have jumped, but not fallen. He was not even close to the edge of the roof from what I have been told.
At any rate, there is an update. And go read that link, it is a good one. For any of you don't know wrightslaw is full of great information on special education law.
the school fights it but they in the end had to hirer 4 extra teachers in school system for my son, one just in case he ran. also a bus aid and he would be picked up in front of the house . total of 5 new jobs opened for him. call you senator. i did , they yelled at school system here and told them they have only days to get this action done. Autism kids have rights. My son and me have a plan now. All his A's he brings home He get to cash them in for stuff. It seems to be working for me . He wants rentals and small stuff and I get his to stay safe. |
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