Parents Consider Legal Action After Autistic Girl, 8, Arrested at School

Parents Consider Legal Action After Autistic Girl, 8, Arrested at School

abcnews.go.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

wow

just

wow

I am having a really hard time believing this.

Believing that a school would call the police for a child who had become "violent" after being restrained by teachers.

Believing that 2 police officers would then handcuff (with enough force to leave bruises) an 8 year old child weighing 54 pounds - a child who the school knew had aspergers.

I'm just thankfull they didn't tase her at the same time - after all, she must have posed quite a risk. (sarc)

It's this kind of incident that makes people lose faith in police and in the criminal justice system.

Whatever happened to calling the parents, or the police using a little common sense.

If this was my little girl, I would sue their collective asses.

abcnews.go.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Budski, I don't believe it is fair to blame the police and correctional system for this mess.

I would think that you see it was a misstep by the school, who should have informed the parents first and foremost.

What are the responding officers to do? 911 is dialed, and they are told there is a disturbance at a grade school, so of course they hurry their butts over there to make sure there is no blood. Then when arriving they are presented with a child that has apparently assualted some teachers. Are they suppose to laugh and say "Oh its only an 8 year old" "Learn to fight"? Of course not, they are in business of arresting people, and when they are called on the scene of a disturbance and there is an supposed assault reported they will most often arrest someone.

Then the prosecutor sees this is a silly thing, and all charges are dropped. So how can you say that the degradation of our court are also to blame for this mishap?

I do agree that this child should not have been cuffed and arrested, but who really deserves the blame here?

[edit on 1/14/2009 by sputniksteve] Grrr typos

[edit on 1/14/2009 by sputniksteve]

reply to post by sputniksteve

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I have to disagree. The police should have used more discretion. I personally would not allow them to arrest my child and cuff/stuff them. that alone is a traumatic experience for any child,let alone one with autism.

The staff detained her with enough force to cause injury. Are these the most usless people in the world. How many adults did it take to restrain 1 child. If I would of done this to my own child I would be deemed unfit and they would take my child and put them into child services and really eff their life up.

It's a double standard and the laws are hypocritical. The same laws have different meanings when applied to certain people. You would have to kill me before I allowed these scum traumatize my child/ They should all pay physically for what they done.

SCUM, plain and simple is what they are. All involved




[edit on 14/1/2009 by Revealation]

reply to post by Revealation

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I can tell you are really into objectivity too. So since the school staff was so abusive the girl should wait with them until you can arrive and decide whether or not you want to allow the police to arrest your daughter. Ok. Let us all know how that works for you.

My daughter is 9 years old. She has autism. If this happened to her, there would be hell to pay at that school too. I hope they sue, and get a serious reward. That principal, and teacher, and/or assistant need canned, they absolutely should have never let this escalate this far. This is a 3rd grader, with special needs, not a teenage thug. While I think the police could have handled this better, I agree with the above, once 911 is dialed, they have an obligation to investigate. Its just that this should never have escalated this far. Just my 2 cents.

Camain

reply to post by camain

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So the Principle, and teachers involved should be sued for everything they own, because they were not professionals at restraining children. That must be the answer. If you read the article you would see that the child was pinching, spitting, kicking at the adults involved. I fail to see how financially ruining these people will help anything. How about some training on how to deal with Autistic kids? That sounds like a much better idea to me.

And if you read the article you would know that this all happened because the child refused to listen to directions and decided taht she would go to the party anyway, even though she was told to sit in a room for not following a simple direction. Does no one here think that maybe, just maybe part of this blame should be put on the child, that in all fairness did attack the adults, no matter how big or little the size/weight difference?

Or if you are a child with a disability that functions well enough to go to a normal school, are you exempt from being responsible for your actions? At what point does the child have to take responsibility for their actions and what point are they free from responsibility?

This whole situation is not a mistake by anyone....it is a plain and simple travesty of the use of the justice system, and of course "teachers" that are so used to dealing with cookie cutter children of yups and dinks, that they have no grasp of how to truly TEACH !!!

Yes, this angers me because I too have a young adult child with Aspergers that was continuesly treated as if she were some kind of "idiot", until I got smart, pulled her out of the system at age 10 and home schooled her until she was 17.

She "hated" school, not the learning part...just the people that would not listen....and sadly, I am continuing to "fight for her" even now at age 20. She is very intelligent, and when treated in a way she can understand one of the most loving and helpful people you will ever meet....but at the same time, do not confuse, anger, or lie to her, she knows these things, and if you do....you will find out the other side that these kids have. If it isn't tears and running away, it will be standing up for themselves, physically, if they have to.

Society needs to realize and understand, not everyone is the same, and deal with it appropriately...

I hope the parents remove their girls from the corruption they law requires them to be subject to and sues the pants off everyone involved....if that is what it takes to set a precedent...then let it be done.

~Holly

Not only sue the department, but name the officers and school officials individually and take everything they have or will ever have... Put them out on the street..

I totally agree with you being a grandparent of a child with Aspergers syndrome as well!

Here's my opinion. First off, if the story is real, since ABC is the only 'news agency' doing the reporting on this (after doing a quick Google search), what part of 8 yrs old didn't they understand?? !! WE'RE TALKING 8 yrs old here! COME on!! Yes, they call 911, for an 8 yr old INSTEAD of calling the parent...FIRST! So, correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I see it went down...

1). Child wants to leave for being held like a prisoner and being singled out for wearing 'unwanted' clothing, at a Christmas party. (I wounder if any other children were wearing similar clothing.)

2). Teacher tires to restrain her, pupil attempts to push through. (maybe she had to go to the bathroom?, that's not mentioned)

3). Pupil still tries to push through (being all of a heavy 54lbs).

4). Teacher(s) just can NOT hold back the 54lb gorilla of a 8th grader any more and then it's "OMG.. quick call 911!" calls either another teacher or directly calls 911. LMAO! Wow. I'd be really embarrassed not being able to 'restrain' an 8 yr old.

5). Police show up, and well, do their 'duty'. THEN school calls parent.

So far, CNN nor Faux are reporting this story, maybe it's a exclusive ABC segment?? hmmm... still a little smoke there IMO. My only other thought would be...is this entire story staged?

Listen spudnik, First of all the the parent arrived while the girl was getting toted off. I wouldn't ask him not to arrest her because they would have no choice after I shattered one of their jaws then dealt with the other. Obviously we can't stop something that is not done in our presence but the teachers would be beaten right after the cop.

Objectivity. Seems like you are hypocrite because you are objecting(in your posts to everyone) that these people shouldn't be held responsible. Then who should be. I'm sure (positive) that it could have went much smoother and more professional if these people were proffessionals.

This is why matters need to be taken into one's own hands. It's because of people like you who have this attitude that theirs no justice. As far as I'm concerned, Anyone who does wrong has the right to a brutal beating. Instead we have all these punk sissies who are the first ones to cause trouble then when confronted puss out and call the punk ass police.

I bet they mishandled the situation and called the police to cover their asses in accusing the little girl. That's what my crystal ball tels me anyway.Everyone always gets what's coming sooner or later. Call it destiny,karma or what you will but believe me, we will all get ours.Can't wait.

reply to post by budski

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actually yes this does happen. Happened to a friend of mine. Single mother, her father(the only male figure he daughter knew) passed away. The young girl of 6 started having trouble at school.

One day she wouldn't come in from the playground and hid under the slide. the school called the cops.

nice,huh.

They are not always equipped to handle situations. It depends on the area. When I told this story to some DC public school teachers, they started laughing, they deal with this three times a day.

not all schools know what to do with special needs children.

But they should. And the parent has every right to sue.

Definately need to be held responsible for their actions. They're adult and know )or are supposed to know) better.

If you read the article you would see that the child was pinching, spitting, kicking at the adults involved.

She did the right thing. I guess you're gonna tel me she started. had nothing to do with adults putting their hands (physically) on a child? Don't they teach us we don't have the right to touch anyone? or does this only apply to some people under certain circumstances?

I fail to see how financially ruining these people will help anything.

They will think twice before commtting these actions against a helpless child again.Maybe crriminals shouldn't get arrested and pay for their crimes too.

How about some training on how to deal with Autistic kids? That sounds like a much better idea to me.

Good idea, but i'm sure they were aware of her condition before this which means they are negligent in not being trained already. if they weren't prepared to handle a child under these circumstances, it should have been known ahead of time.

And if you read the article you would know that this all happened because the child refused to listen to directions and decided taht she would go to the party anyway, even though she was told to sit in a room for not following a simple direction.

Exactly. This escalated because of the incompetence of the staff.Because the girl refused to listen to some direction, this makes her a criminal? Lock her in solitary confinement and disclude her from what everyone else is enjoying?That's a real mature decision. As a matter of fact, if tey let this little girl go to the party, I guarantee this event would have never occured and her big crime of not following directions may have EASILY been corrected in the proper manner. people are so quick to judge crimes and imprison people.

Does no one here think that maybe, just maybe part of this blame should be put on the child, that in all fairness did attack the adults, no matter how big or little the size/weight difference?

I honestly can't believe what you're saying.

At what point does the child have to take responsibility for their actions and what point are they free from responsibility?

Exactly. Didi you see what you wrote? At what point does a CHILD have to take responsibility? They're CHILDREN and that's why we take care of them. They aren't capable or have the experience or knowledge to be responsible yet.

WOW.

Is that objective enough for you?

It sounds like you're the only one who disagrees and is being naively objective to this. Is this because you have committed similar acts or are just blind and irrational?

[edit on 14/1/2009 by Revealation]

[edit on 14/1/2009 by Revealation]

reply to post by Revealation

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Actually I think I am the only one that is considering this with a cool head, for you seem to think that violence is the only way to solve problems. Thats ok though if you want to berate me because you don't know how to discuss something rationally. I will take no offense, and consider myself lucky you are not physically abusing me instead of verbally.

Nowhere did I say I agreed with anything that happened to the girl. I said it was the failure of the school for not calling the parent immediately. I think it is an absolute travesty that this happened, and If I was any of the adults involved I would be ashamed of myself. I do have a 10 year old daughter, and if this was her I would be very angry also. I don't fault the police for doing their job, even if it is only for the benefit of getting the girl as far away from the faculty as possible.

However I don't believe that suing everyone involved would solve any ones problems. I think proper training and education is what is in order here, and if I was the child's parent I would demand it, all the while taking my other child out of the school immediately.

Please don't get me twisted here, I am not naive, blind, or irrational. If anyone is acting irrational, it certainly is not me. But I do believe that my child has to take responsibility for what she does, even when she was 8 years old. Because of this value she will be a young woman soon who has a good head and realizes there are consequences to her not following directions.

You have made a whole lot of assumptions in your argument, most of which are pretty unfounded considering we only have 3 pages of story to look at and no other sources.

I would like to continue to discuss this, but I would appreciate it if you would be a little more civil towards me and others that might have a different opinion then yourself.

Insane ruthless world we live in...

I have a good friend with Asperger's who, as a high school student, was expelled for arguments with his teachers. I guess I didn't think it could start as early as 8, but I did know that people with this type of Autism do have many problems with dealing with authority.

reply to post by sputniksteve

I understand that you may think because you write/speak in a manipulative manner in spinning a topic a certain way that this constitutes level headed civility. It doesn't. I may not have a high school education but I am well aware of the meaning of words spoken and have enough common sense to know that education(although needed) is also used on a daily basis for the manipulation of people and circumstances on a daily basis.

I know everything isn't and shouldn't be handled with violence but unfortunately the physically weak (governing powers down to single individuals) use this and the word morality as the basis of their arguments when, by their actions alone it proves one thing to me. They do not practice what they preach and take advantage of the fact that a majority of us are civil.Well unfortunately that's why our country is in the current state of affairs. Because too many people have been brainwashed into "CIVILITY" and allow what is happening to occur. This world and surviving wasn't built on civility. Survival is a violent event against all elements.

Now back to topic. I never said you agreed,but your words all point the finger at blaming the girl for her actions.Fact is it was a simple solution which was dealt with improperly. they could have simply explained to the little girl that if she listened they would let her attend. Why torment the young girls soul. She already has issues which make her life difficult and "ANYONE" with common sense would know this wouldn't go over too well.

Also, Why train these people. They already have educations but unfortunately not a bit of common sense. I'm not trained in this field and know for a fact that I wouldn't have run in to this situation. Either you know how to handle and deal with kids or you don't.Like I stated before. Everyone is so quick to be judge and jury with prosecutions. people in authority are living a dillusional fantasy and are on a power trip and believe they have the right to control someones life.Unfortunately we are born free and can do what we wish.Maybe some people aren't puppets who want to conform to societies mold. The people who break the mold are the leaders and ones who built the world. Everyone else is just a robot.

One more point. You are the one who threw the little sarcastic poke at me about objectivity which is why I responded the way I did.Now you claim your lucky I'm not physically abusing you. From the way you're responding You seem like one of those people I stated before. First to run their mouths and when it gets them in trouble, are making accusations and calling for help.Regardless your argument alone is against the girl and in favor of everyone who commited the acts. If you think not, go back and read your posts.

I won't respond to you anymore because it seems like you're upset. I don't want the emotion police beating down my door. If you don't want a debate (which is the educated manipulative word for argument) Then you could have simply ignored my comment.

[edit on 15/1/2009 by Revealation]

(EDIT to ADD)......


Is this hypocrisy I detect. From the quotes from your own post(I listed below in case you forgot) you seem to have used this as the basis of your own argumentive assumptions.








[edit on 15/1/2009 by Revealation]

I think the question is why not a cow costume? So what it's a xmass party if she wants to be a cow let her be a cow geesh.

Prime example of one individual's perception and need for all other individuals to conform ends up like this.

The teachers restraining the kid get no "restraint training" therefor it would result in a state law suit (if it is not a private school) for not properly training their employees to restrain an out of control kid. That is how it will end up if not they have a shotty lawyer.

(Edit: That's assuming they are trying to sue the teachers in a civil law suit but I've seen nothing yet saying one way or the other)

There are several methods of restraint that leave no marks. But keep in mind there is several methods or restraint that not only leave no marks but will also kill you. So marks are a good thing as you know how the child was restrained.

[edit on 15-1-2009 by Darthorious]

reply to post by budski

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if it was my daughter i wouldn't be sending her to a mainstream school!!

a child with aspingers does not behave or react in the way a normal child would, elementary school teachers aren't generally trained to deal with this stuff and to expect them to do a good job every time is a little unreasonable.

apparently, this is not a isolated incident on the part of the child, at what point is it appropriate to call in support that is authorised to restrain a child that is hitting, kicking, pinching and spitting.......again?




[edit on 15/1/09 by pieman]

This is a good assesment and I agree. I personally wouldn't have been sending my child to school if she was suffering from this condition either.I don't like my children being under anyones care and they are fortunately not afflicted with any ailments. people are shady and all it takes is someone haveing a bad day to end in bad results. besides I personally don't trust anybody to be responsible enough for my child as it isn't their own.



You still have to blame the staff. This issue should have been addressed and handled properly by each side if there was behavioral issues due to her condition. They should have made arrangements with the parents to have the girl transferred if they couldn't handle her. After all it is the staff who know whether they are capable or not of dealing with her since they're the ones whose possession she's in daily. I still think it was a total lack of common sense regarding the handling of the issue whether they had training or not.






[edit on 15/1/2009 by Revealation]