(CNN) Jo Grayson said she was alarmed when her son, Thatcher, came home from his middle school covered in cuts and bruises.
Earlier in the day, Thatcher's teacher texted Grayson to alert her to an incident involving him. But it did nothing to prepare Grayson for what she saw hours later when Thatcher came home and she discovered the marks on his body.
After she obtained surveillance video that explained the marks, she became appalled. The footage shows Thatcher, who is autistic and mostly nonverbal, being dragged down a school hallway by his teacher and the school nurse.
"I just don't understand how someone can do this to a child, let alone to a person with disabilities," Grayson told CNN. "I want the school district to take action and not just install cameras in every room of each school, but also train their staff accordingly so they know how to handle children with disabilities, or rough situations with children like Thatcher."
Thatcher is a sixth-grader at Tates Creek Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky. Because of his condition, he's not able to tell his parents when something is wrong. But the photos Grayson posted to her Facebook account speak volumes.
Scrooksy on October 14th, 2018 at 02:23 UTC »
I teach in a 100% special education school in which most of the students have autism or behavioral / emotional disturbances. Some are nonverbal. This kid of thing happens several times a day at the school. No joke, there is almost always one kid screaming, sprawled out on the floor. Honestly, that’s likely why the district sent them to us in the first place...
The policy there is to remove the other kids or close off that area to foot traffic and simply allow the child to have the tantrum and monitor for safety. If the child poses a safety risk to himself or others, a physical restraint in place is sometimes necessary. We do not move them, we just have specific training to hold a child until he calms down (it requires at least 4 adults). If the child will calm down long enough to walk, we can escort him to a calm down room (no door, just a mat to block the door that must be held by at least two adults). After, we have to fill out an incident report and conduct an IEP meeting with the parent to discuss the incident and what went right / wrong and what can be done to prevent any future meltdowns. We literally have 20+ meetings a week for a school with about 300 kids. Some kids have to have a few meetings a month. That is a LOT since most SPED kids only really require one maybe two meetings a year. Overall, is a pain in the ass, but also a very good policy, covering the physical and mental health of the child. It also helps build trust between students and staff. It’s unreal how only after a few weeks, it becomes the “norm” for everyone.
That said, we are highly trained and know what we are doing. I know when I went to school to become a teacher, the idea of inclusion was pushed on us hardcore, but there are just some kids who need a different type of setting with trained staff who know what they’re doing. If I’ve learned one thing from teaching, equality and fairness are two very different things. We have to realize that attempting to treat all people equally is not always the answer. Sometimes in order to be as fair as possible and give a child the best chance at success, we need to accept that he may not be able to function with “typical” peers.
It really is a failure on the districts part to expect a child with nonverbal autism to function in a “regular” school. I’m sure the teacher knows better as well, but I think the failure to provide proper training (and information on state / federal laws regarding restraints) and expect a teacher to just “deal” with the child is also a failure on the part of the district.
TLDR: Inclusive practices don’t always work. The district failed this child.
Stompanee on October 14th, 2018 at 02:09 UTC »
Recently my friend had surgery to repaid a torn labrum in one shoulder and rotator cuff rip in the other. She’s a special education teacher and had 3rd grader in a hold who threw her against a wall. She’s out of work for 3 months now. These teachers do way more than expected. I’m not condoning what happened at all in this article, just saying this is not a good system these kids or teachers are in.
winter_storm on October 14th, 2018 at 00:51 UTC »
A non verbal, autistic kid should not be forced to deal with regular school setting. They can't.
Also, the employees and other kids in the regular school should not have to deal with a non verbal, autistic kid. They have no training, or ability to do that.
I'm not trying to defend the abusers, here...I'm just saying that our system is broken, if the poor kid was even in that school in the first place, when he clearly needs a specialized program.