Autistic boy, 10, handcuffed by police during anxiety attack

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Okay, what are the police supposed to do when an autistic student is violent towards students and staff for any reason?

They didn't say anything about him being arrested so I assume he was handcuffed only and I agree it was to restrain him and what sickens me is parents think just because their kid is autistic or have other disabilities, it's okay for them to be violent and be a harm to others. That's the impression they are giving me when they get upset when their kid gets restrained or handcuffed. What do they expect? Let their kid run around hurting others because they're autistic?

"The police did not act out of line, they acted in the only way they could."

Yes, but in this case, the police acting the "only way they could" has lead to physical harm and traumatization. Ever try to wrestle your wrists out of police cuffs? A ten year old boy would cut himself to the bone.

Handcuffs are hardly the way to restrain a boy having a meltdown. This is an example of a protocol procedure taken to the extreme, and no one benefits. The police go away thinking they've done something right, without learning more about how to handle future cases like this, and the child goes away terrified of police. And an autistic child terrified of cops could become an autistic teen and adult terrified of cops, who's social anxiety could stir unnecessary suspicion, say, at a traffic stop. You have a meltdown as an adult with no way to explain yourself, you'll be tasered and steelbound.

It's another prime example of too many cops not knowing what they're doing and why. The law being "the law" is one thing, but because police have the ability to restrain, hurt, and/or unload bullets into anyone they judge at the time, cops need to be more empathetic.
It's not right that any average person be allowed on the police force, and cops need to be trained not only in these cases, but given the freedom to let people off when the situation cools.

The problem with police is they are trained to deal with criminals and violent people and not trained to look out for which one of them is autistic or which one of them has mental retardation or Tourettes or ADD, etc. so when anyone acts like a criminal they act out on the action they were trained to do. They don't even consider those possibilities the person might have a mental condition or might even be terrified of cops. Instead they treat everyone like criminals when they act like one.
Yeah there are some out there who do abuse their authority because they go too far.

If the person had on a bracelet or whatever telling they have autism or other conditions, then the police would see it and not mistake their behavior as criminal behavior. Some people also carry a card with them to show to the police in case they encounter them or some wear bracelets, sometimes parents might inform the officers their child has autism or mental retardation or other problems.

But in this case, I am sure they knew the kid was autistic because it was at a school and I am sure they were informed of his condition so they wouldn't think he was some kid being violent (which he was) and needed to be taken in. Like I say, they aren't trained to deal with special needs so they aren't going to know any other way of handling it. They are going to handle it the way they were trained to handle it when anyone is violent.

While I think it's great that cops have training to handle violence, improperly detaining a child can lead to injury and death. People have died in the prone position, and cops are never punished for their mistakes.

I'm not after punishment, though. I seek knowledge, and you're right about the bracelet or card thing. Also, since it was a school, the police either shouldn't have come over, or should have sent over (heaven forbid?) officers who are also experienced with children like these. Be it too much for our society to employ officers who have family and children and know how to treat them gently, yet with firm discipline? Or are we just giving guns to the grunts and praying it all works out in the courtroom?

Incidences like this are an outrage, and if we can't punish the officers, I do hope they LEARN. FAST. Frankly, they need to go home and try to screw their wives while questioning whether or not this ten year old boy really made it out okay, and the next time it comes up for discussion, they need to raise their hands and speak on what went wrong.

That's called, you know, serving your community, bringing fairness and justice, etc. Not just smacking on the metal because he's being a bad boy.

I never had a meltdown or violent panic attack at school but I knew a boy who would go into violent rages and when he did, we were instructed to go outside until he calmed down on his own. Focus was put on getting everyone else out of the way instead of making the situation worse which is what should have been done in this case.

In the town I live in, the cops have WAY too much time on their hands... they look for stuff to harrass people for

great idea. when we have meltdowns, we usually calm down after a little while. and getting away from people would really help that. i tend to get away from people when i have a meltdown. so does my boyfriend. it's one of the best solutions to meltdowns. handcuffing anyone while they are having a meltdown, especially a kid, is a bad idea and would probably make things worse

Okay, I've been reading about two of these cases today, and in both cases people are saying that the parents of the kids are to blame for these sorts of incidents for even trying to mainstream their kids. I'm not saying that I know for a fact that the parents are faultless - for all I know, they could have been doing nothing to try to curtail their children's meltdowns at home. I'm also fine with people's decisions to send their kids to special needs only environment or to homeschool them. However, I think that there are very unfortunate implications for saying that a parent is stupid, or negligent, or otherwise wrong, to try to send their child to a mainstream school.

Given how, at least in some school districts, "special education" can mean putting severely mentally ret*d children in the same classroom as kids with less severe learning disorders, and sometimes even relegating children with behavior problems rather than disabilities there as well, special education might not be able to serve your child that well depending on where you live. If the special education offered in one's area is not safe, or is not allowing the children enrolled in such a program to reach their full potential, or is just plain inadequate, as might well be the case in this story, can you really condemn the parents for trying something else? I believe federal law provides that disabled children, including those with developmental disabilities, are entitled to an education equal to that of non-disabled children. I should think that not only does this mean that reform is in order for those special education classrooms that are no more than dumping grounds for the "weird" kids, but also that if a disabled child is placed in a mainstream classroom, teachers and school administrators should be willing and able to afford them the same rights, protection and assistance that they would a non-disabled child. This would include not calling the police in to roughly handle said child in a crisis before trying every other alternative, such as calling the child's parents or contacting someone in the school who is experienced in dealing with special needs children.

BokeKaeru is right. Special education classrooms in my district are a dumping ground for any kid who would present a "distraction" to the regular classrooms. One girl who was in a self-contained room this year has CP but no intellectual/mental disability and could certainly hold her own academically in the regular classrooms. Gray could grow up and live independently with supports. She could even go to college, which might give her a shot at finding meaningful work and a way to make a living, but she will never get there from a self-contained classroom and a curriculum written for students with mental retardation. This boy's parents may somehow be at fault, but parents in general make an understandable choice to mainstream their kids because it is often the only hope of real education and eventual independence for their kids.

This goes to show how ignorant people are,
not only about autism, but about "disorders" in general.

I'll just go right out and say it, I think in her quest to give her child a 'normal' childhood, not have him singled out by being put in a special needs class, the mother made a simple mistake a small one, one that eventually and rapidly spiralled into a situation.

The Mistake:
Denying/Ignoring the severity of her sons autism/his position on the spectrum.

I had a minorly violent episode /once/ in my late teens (well the scout master was pointing a steak knife at me, i freaked not being able to read his intent), and im sure the stories are all different, but the further you are along the spectrum the more likely you should be to be in a better enviroment schoolwise, i doubt the police in question had training to recognise a "flashback" or "episode" nor knowledge of how to deal with this meltdown, add them together and you have a boy who had a massive panic attack in public, became violent.. possibly due to the input of the classmates/teachers (ever tried calming down while kids are screaming and a teachers shouting?), which left the police ONE alternative, restraint.

Letss see, Pencils/pens.. theres at least fifteen stabbing implements close at hand, small chairs (probably with metal legs, and YES a ten year old in a rage could certainly throw one across the room), plastic ruler thats snapped, makeshift blade.. metal ruler believe me you never want to be hit with one of those, hardback books roughly paperback legenth (suprisingly heavy)...
the assumption that age, disability or public persona means someone is NOT dangerous in a situation.. accounts for at least half of officer deaths, 2 ten year old boys we're convicted of a lesser sentence in a rape trial not long ago where i live.. the victim was an 8 yr old girl.

Short answer, Extremely, if your a human you are Extremely dangerous. (who's top of the food chain for the last few million years? yup not the lions.. not the elephants.. not the monkeys.. US.)

That the boy is traumatised is beyond sad because i dont think its something he'll get over, ever, and it could have been stopped, but i dont think its a direct result of police action, i suspect (not much info about is there) its the end result of a list of errors, mother placing child inappropriately (but understandably), new teacher (anxiety was due to a staff change yes?) not knowing how to handle it (get everyone ELSE out/safe) and then sadly, the police being called to a disturbance (who wants to bet the kids and teacher where still inside the classroom all freaked out with the boy when the police came in?).

Was the school informed that the boy was autistic? He may have just panicked and no one knew why (and seizures he had too, the rest of the class would be freaking out and noisy) or what might have caused it.

And now I have 2 memories running in my mind, one from primary school and one from high school, in which I got violent with others. One was in a classroom and only towards one person, the other to 3 people, lining up outside the classroom.

I wasn't diagnosed until after I had finished high school. I was in mainstream school settings.

The first time I was in 6th grade. Where I was playing with my friends happened to be on the line where the class lined up to go inside. So, when the bell went, I was first in line. Another girl shoved me from behind to get me out of the way to take my place.

I pushed her back out of the way to take the spot I originally had back. She got angry and one of the boys decided to pick me up and get me out of the line to 'teach me a lesson'. He ended up sitting on a bench after I punched him in the face, the rest of the class stayed away from me, and the principal was called.

I headbutted the principal when he grabbed both my wrists and pulled me right up into the air. He took me into a room and told me to sit there and cool down for a while.

I stayed in there for awhile before getting bored, got the window open and climbed out and went to class on my own.

I got 1 day's suspention for it. None of us were harmed in any lasting way, and I got punished for it though not as severely as I thought I would.

Second time in high school, there were a few people in my Ancient History class (one of my favourites) mucking around and hitting a balloon towards each other. I can't stand balloons because of their habit of popping and the noise hurts, and the texture of them just...grates on my nerves. I can't even touch one that isn't blown up.

I told the teacher this, as she was going into the classroom, and she said that she'll get them to take the balloon outside once I was seated. I was nervous about entering the room just with the balloon in there, but I did, and I sat at my desk and the teacher did as she said she would.

One of the boys grabbed the balloon, and thought it would be funny to pop it right as he was walking by me. I froze and was hurt by the noise for a few moments. When he was walking back, he was laughing, and I grabbed him by his shirt, dragged him down a bit and pummelled his back so hard he was badly bruised afterwards (I found that out later).

I wasn't punished, and neither was he. I hurt him, rather badly I think, and the teacher did absolutely nothing about it...

And yes, I did go on about me there a bit, didn't I?

Point being, sometimes no one knows about what will set off a violent outburst, and while a bit of force might be needed, excessive force is not. The cops shouldn't have handcuffed the boy, but if the school knew about his autism, they probaly wouldn't have called them in the first place, because they should have a programme in place to deal with that type of behaviour. In my primary school, it wasn't get the other students away from me, it was get me away from the other students. The prinicpal learnt that that can hurt, but he didn't hurt me by grabbing me like that (he wasn't rough in the way he did it) and it didn't traumatise me. Handcuffing me would have definitely been traumatising.