 
Support Wrong Planet Awareness!
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
jrknothead
News Junkie
Joined: Aug 04, 2007
Age: 42
Posts: 1110
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida USA
|
 Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:14 am Post subject: Autistic Kids Allegedly Cuffed, Told to Fight |
 |
|
Autistic Kids Allegedly Cuffed, Told to Fight
| Quote: | A disability rights group in North Carolina is investigating claims that several autistic students at a Raleigh middle school were restrained with handcuffs and encouraged to wrestle one another, according to legal documents obtained by ABCNews.com.
Lawsuit: Students were restrained with handcuffs and encouraged to wrestle.Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against the Wake County Board of Education and Robert Sturey, the senior director of special education services.
The group says both have refused to hand over the names of the families who have children in the class at Carroll Middle School in Raleigh, N.C., where the alleged abuse occurred.
DRNC is also suing for the right to enter the classroom in question and monitor student-teacher interactions during school hours -- a request that it says has been rebuffed by school officials.
According to the complaint, one parent of a child attending the school reported that her son had allegedly been handcuffed around his ankles to prevent him from kicking during a temper tantrum, said John Rittelmeyer, a lawyer who represents the DRNC, and another parent claimed his son had bruised arms from teachers grabbing him.
One parent said the school had a "WWF room" -- a reference to the former World Wrestling Federation -- in which students were encouraged to wrestle with one another, according to the claim.
"Specifically, these allegations include claims that the wrestling was done with the classroom teacher's knowledge and that the classroom teaching assistants were directly involved in wrestling with the students," the complaint states.
Betsy Johnson, whose son Stone was 12 when he attended Carroll Middle School, told ABC News that she believes her son was so traumatized by what he saw teachers do to his classmates that his autism became more pronounced.
"My son came home one day and told me about a child being wrestled to the floor by a teacher," said Johnson, who has since moved out of Wake County and enrolled her son in a different public school. "That really scared my son because the child was squirming and couldn't communicate verbally."
Ann Majestic, the lawyer representing the Wake County public school system, declined to comment on the specific allegations.
"I can't speak about individual student situations," said Majestic, adding that no school employees have been suspended since the alleged incidents were first reported in late August.
The investigation is being hindered, according to the complaint, by the school board's refusal to provide the DRNC with the names of the parents of children who were in the classroom where the alleged incidents occurred.
"We want the names and contact information for all the children in the class," said Rittelmeyer. "We would like to obtain releases so we can view the educational records for all the children in the class." He said about eight children are in the special needs class.
According to a spokesman from the Wake County public school system, there are 1,481 students with autism in the school district; 13 of which attend Carroll.
The county school board is refusing to give the student information to DRNC, citing portions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that it says prevents it from releasing student and personnel information.
"[DRNC] is operating under a statute that gives them some investigation authority and we're acting under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which protects student records," said Majestic.
DRNC's Rittelmeyer said that in addition to the names of the students, the agency also wants access to the classroom during school hours so that the students and staff can be questioned, but this request was also denied by the school.
But Majestic said that the school will allow DRNC to speak with the teachers and visit the classrooms -- but only after school hours, a stipulation Rittelmeyer says would be "totally useless."
"They never said to us that they didn't think [going into the facility during non-school hours] was insufficient, they just filed their lawsuit," said Majestic.
Rittelmeyer believes that part of the reason the school board will not give the requested information is because DRNC is a fairly new agency -- it was instituted by the federal government 15 months ago under a law that exempts such agencies when it comes to privacy laws.
Majestic said that the schools simply want to be certain that they are in compliance with the law.
The likelihood of embarrassment should the alleged abuse be proved, said Rittelmeyer, is another reason he believes the school board is not cooperating.
"I'm not sure they're hiding something -- I think we probably know most of the events that are going on in that classroom -- but to confirm them would be an embarrassment to the school system," said Rittelmeyer.
As for Johnson, she says she has no doubt that the stories Stone told her about his class at Carroll are true.
"I hope this lawsuit makes this stop," said Johnson. "We are hurting children first of all and a lot of them can't even advocate for themselves or sometimes even speak for themselves."
|
_________________
Never let your schooling interfere with your education. - Samuel Clemens |
|
| Back to top |
|
Silver_Meteor
Asperger Accountant
Joined: Jul 11, 2007
Posts: 1144
Location: North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
Is this supposed to be some kind of new "therapy"?  It's amazing that some of these yahoos with degrees have zilch common sense and sensitivity.
_________________
Not by revolution but through evolution are all things accomplished in permanency.
Certified Bookkeeper:AIPB
QB ProAdvisor
Diagnosed with Autism/Childhood Schizophrenia early 60s. Today, I would have Asperger Syndrome |
|
| Back to top |
|
Ravenclawgurl
Deinonychus
Joined: Jun 20, 2007
Age: 18
Posts: 334
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| wtf !!!!!!!!!!! |
|
| Back to top |
|
Sslaxx
Raven
Joined: Jul 07, 2007
Age: 31
Posts: 111
Location: Malvern, Worcs, UK
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject: WTF? |
|
|
Ummmm, if I were a parent of a kid going to a place that treats its pupils like that, I'd be extremely angry about it! I hope something is done - sackings sound good!
_________________
Stuart "Sslaxx" Moore. |
|
| Back to top |
|
ValMikeSmith
Velociraptor
Joined: May 19, 2008
Posts: 488
Location: Stranger in a strange land
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Wrestling was just another sport in PE (gym) like dodgeball and kickball in my school,
but I did not participate in it. I also recall one MR kid that was good at it.
My younger brother had a coach that demanded he participate so our parents
had to tell the coach NO especially because he got a minor injury from it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
tweety_fan
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 03, 2007
Posts: 1506
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 6:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| eek. that is just awful. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Hbomb89
Blue Jay
Joined: Sep 18, 2008
Age: 19
Posts: 85
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
| wow |
|
| Back to top |
|
philosopherBoi
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 07, 2008
Age: 20
Posts: 1019
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Sadly this does not surprise me we got some nutters in NC, last year a teacher went and duck tapped my little cousin to her chair because she asked to go to the bathroom. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Everchanging
Deinonychus
Joined: Nov 03, 2007
Posts: 308
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
Had this happened more than 8 years ago I would have been shocked. Now very few things happen in the US that shock me, I've grown blasé towards that level of barbarity and unaccountability.
_________________
"How come when it's us, it's an abortion, and when it's a chicken, it's an omelette?"
- George Carlin |
|
| Back to top |
|
Macbeth
Thane of Bar and Cellar
Joined: May 28, 2007
Posts: 1523
Location: UK Doncaster
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
Lateral response here.. is it really that surprising that American students are notorious for school massacres, or that violent crime is so prevalent, and that many students leave school with a bizarre xenophobic mindset? They are observing en masse the officially sponsored abuse of their class-mates who happen to be different. There is no way in hell that a British school could get away with this form of abuse for so long, or escape government and public censure so easily.
Is this then a flaw in the way American schools are run? Is it a flaw in the recruitment method for teachers? Is it institutionalised abuse which is considered normal operating procedure?
Sounds like you need a serious reform of ALL schools in the US, with a mind towards a more uniform method of schooling that does not produce such nastiness from either staff or children.
_________________
"Mindset of an aristocrat, budget of a tramp" ZGM
"I dont have to know I'm your first if I already know I'm the best" ZGM
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Tim_Tex
WP's Resident Simpsons and South Park Aficionado
Joined: Jul 03, 2004
Age: 28
Posts: 22319
Location: San Marcos, Texas
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
That is one of the most deplorable things I have ever read about.
_________________
When you need something, that's a responsibility, that only an adult...of my maturity...Bunnies!!!
~Meatwad, Aqua Teen Hunger Force |
|
| Back to top |
|
Douglas_MacNeill
Velociraptor
Joined: May 11, 2007
Age: 44
Posts: 436
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Eeew? Blecch? Yuck? All of the above?  |
|
| Back to top |
|
silentbob15
Toucan
Joined: Mar 16, 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 273
Location: Bowness, Alberta
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sounds like what they would do at the Glenrose School Hospital in Edmonton, only they
would make you fight in a boxing match, now thats a great sport for someone like me.
WTF is going on in these peoples minds, their supposed to be teachers, not torturers. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Delirium
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 25, 2007
Age: 18
Posts: 647
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
What. The. f**k.
I hope those people are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That is f***ing sick.
_________________
"Bodies are for hookers and fat people!" |
|
| Back to top |
|
richie
Ye Olde Bookwyrme
Joined: Jan 10, 2007
Age: 50
Posts: 12016
Location: Lake Whoop-Dee-Doo, Pennsylvania
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
