PA: Franklin Learning Center accused of incorrectly restraining students

NOTE: This is why abuse is allowed to continue.

Good old Disability Rights Network (DRN), formerly Protection & Advocacy (you know the agency that's supposed to protect people from abuse?) are at its finest again. DRN of PA staff, and not just any staff, but Sallie Lynaugh! WITNESSED restraints used illegally, inappropriately, and ABUSIVELY in a school for disabled children. And Sallie should know, she helped us craft CHAPTER 14 LEGISLATION to protect kids from restraints. Legislation I helped draft, legislation I testified for before the House of Representative Education sub-committee to get it passed, despite the law's flaws and DRN's blatant refusal to help me and another mom when OUR KIDS were restrained, legislation DRN TESTIFIED FOR. I guess for them it was all a PR stunt.

Here's why I'm so upset: DRN has the ability to bring CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUITS against schools who discriminate and abuse disabled children. But what does this DRN do? Refer it back to PA Department of Education (DPE) for "investigation."

What's that? DPE ALREADY investigated and found the center "clean?" But they'll investigate again, just to be sure?? And for what? So the school can better create a paper trail (you know, include restraints in the IEP) so that it's NOT illegal (but maybe still abusive)?

Oh, and it's not this school's fault they abused those kids. Naaaww, it's the fault of the DISTRICTS who sent those kids there in the first place, because the DISTRICTS should've told the parents about the "continuum of placement/service options available to them." You know, before everyone agreed to have those kids sent to a school that would abuse them.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

What happens to those kids in the meantime, while they're waiting around for, I don't know, someone to actually STOP THEIR ABUSE?

I'm ashamed to say I know Sallie personally, and I'm ashamed of the PA DRN, but unfortunately, I'm not one bit surprised.

Good thing I'm finally almost over my bronchitis. 

Be on the look out for an Action Alert.

Posted: 03/27/2009 02:00:00 AM EDT

By ROB LUFF

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_12007428?source=most_viewed

An upcoming inspection of Franklin Learning Center will investigate accusations
by an advocacy group that some teachers are strapping students to chairs when
they misbehave, among other concerns.

Pennsylvania Department of Education agreed to run a second investigation of the center, a specialized school for children with severe special needs, after receiving a list of complaints from the Disability Rights Network.

The network, a non-profit Philadelphia-based advocacy group sanctioned by the federal government, conducted a surprise inspection of the school in November after receiving "numerous" complaints from students' parents.

PDE's first inspection came up mostly clean. It asked administrators to refine the language in students' individualized education plans (IEPs) to better address health equipment.

Sallie Lynagh, the children's team leader for DRN, said she observed children
being strapped to chairs. Restraints are allowed for correcting posture that
would harm the child's health, or if the child poses a danger to other students.

When she asked teachers why some students were restrained, they told her it was
for discipline purposes and to stop children from wandering away from class.
Pennsylvania law forbids restraints being used for those purposes, she said.

The network also alleged that students' local school districts should provide better special education services so that children do not have to be in a separate school to their peers.

DRN requested PDE conduct a more thorough inspection of the school after it reviewed student records with parental permission. PDE will make its inspection during the first two weeks of April.

"Parents are concerned that we are trying to close Franklin Learning Center or limit their options," said Ilene Shane, chief executive officer of DRN. "I think it's actually the opposite."

The learning center needs to give parents more information on the other education options their children should have at their default schools. The complaint is intended against the special education departments of all five participating school districts, she said.

Mike Thew, executive director of Lincoln Intermediate unit, the organization that runs the center, said he is not worried about the upcoming inspection.

The school is an "open book," letting parents come in at any time to see how teachers run the classroom, he said. Parents have the option to change their child's IEP at any time.

TN: Autistic boy's arrest at school fuels debate on discipline for disabled

NOTE: Another child with autism has been arrested, and why? Well, it all started with the boy's asthma attack. Staff then attempted to force him to continue running, despite an attack so severe he had to use his inhaler, and in protest, the boy ran out of the school building. Then staff forcefully brought him back into the building and continued to restrain him even after the danger had passed, and then they called the police when the child bit and scratched two employees as he tried to break free from the continued restraint. Anyone who knows anything about autism knows that physical restraints only exacerbate the problem and trigger a "flight or fight response," and there are alternatives that are just effective, if not more so, that don't involve physical violence against a child. This whole situation could have been prevented had the gym teacher elicited one iota of common sense and permitted the child to "sit out" the remainder of gym class, as an "asthma attack" is a medical emergency, and one that required him to use his physician-prescribed inhaler. He was in no physical condition to continue running IMMEDIATELY AFTER an asthma attack. So not only are they clueless about autism, but they're clueless about asthma as well...Is it any wonder this is the same district this same Mom butted heads with after her son was locked in a "seclusion box?"

By Christina E. Sanchez • THE TENNESSEAN • March 29, 2009

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090329/NEWS04/903290370&s=d&page=3

PORTLAND — Cindy Gaspard knew something was different about her son, Dylan, when he was 6 months old.

As an infant, he would line up toys in a row and throw a fit if the order was disrupted. He didn't like to be held. He couldn't speak until he was 3.

Dylan was diagnosed at age 7 with autism, a brain disorder that affects communication and social interaction. For Gaspard, the finding explained years of communication problems and outbursts, and helped her learn how to deal with many of his behaviors and to fight for services for her son.

She is fighting for him again.

Dylan, a sixth-grader enrolled in a special-needs program in Sumner County schools, was recently handcuffed, arrested and put in juvenile detention after an outburst in school. He was charged with two counts of assault for biting and scratching teachers.

"I disagree with court or jail as a placement for a mentally challenged child, when what he clearly needs is psychiatric treatment," Gaspard said of her 12-year-old son. "For Dylan, sitting in jail meant nothing to him. Treatment and assistance at a hospital will help him attain the skills he needs."

The case reflects an ongoing debate in Tennessee: How should school officials handle and defuse behavioral outbursts of developmentally disabled students at school?

Federal law prevents school officials from discussing students' cases, said district spokesman Jeremy Johnson.

But he said school district policy is that police will be called for children under certain circumstances, including when the child leaves school grounds, when the child's behavior cannot be controlled by teachers, and when a crime is committed.

"When a child is admitted to the therapeutic intervention program, parents are notified that we could have to call police," Johnson said.

Dylan, who has been in the hospital for a psychological evaluation since the episode on March 9, is not the first child with developmental disabilities to be arrested.

"Statewide, we have had several cases of children with disabilities being arrested and being taken to Juvenile Court for behaviors in school," said Sherry Wilds, staff attorney for the Tennessee Disability Law and Advocacy Center. "It's the answer a lot of systems have."

Seclusion Boxes Gone

Gaspard spoke out for her son in 2007 about seclusion boxes — small, dark rooms made of plywood where special-needs children were put to control behavior in Sumner County schools. She found out Dylan was put in one and helped bring their existence to public attention. The district has since removed the boxes.

A state law went into effect in January that is designed to prevent students from being subjected to unreasonable, unsafe or unwarranted discipline by prohibiting methods that include sitting on students as a restraint or putting them in a locked room. The Tennessee Board of Education will hold a public hearing April 30 on the rules for the restraint and isolation statute. April is also Autism Awareness Month.

Gaspard said Dylan had just been enrolled in the program at R.T. Fisher Alternative School in Gallatin a week before his arrest. He was placed there to better serve his educational needs.

But new situations and changes to routine can trigger his explosions, and school officials were aware of that because it is in his education plan. Methods that work best for him are taking him out of the situation or turning his attention to another activity, his mother said.

Boy Had Asthma Attack

Gaspard said after her son was arrested she learned that Dylan was in the gym running laps, and he had an asthma attack. He was allowed to stop to use his inhaler. When the teacher tried to get him to start running again, Dylan got frustrated and ran out of the school, saying he was going to "get hit by a car."

She said teachers were able to get him back in the building, but when they were restraining him, he acted out further.

Police said Dylan bit one teacher and kicked and scratched two others.

"If the child is so out of control that the teachers can no longer handle him, we are going to have to respond," said Lt. Kate Novitsky, spokeswoman for the Gallatin Police Department. "If the child is biting, scratching and kicking, the child is going to have to be taken into custody."

Gaspard said restraining Dylan can backfire because, like many children with autism, he doesn't want to be touched. He banged his head against the table and had a bruise on his head the size of a golf ball.

Dylan was handcuffed, put in the police car and taken to juvenile detention. Police were not told he had autism.

Johnson, the Sumner County schools spokesman, said the district is not allowed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to release that information to police, "even in an emergency."

Wilds, the Tennessee Disability Law and Advocacy Center attorney, disputes that contention, saying laws don't typically apply in an emergency.

"If you are getting ready to throw a child in the back of a car and take them away, you would want to know please handle this child carefully, they can't communicate that well," she said.

Arrest Stuns Advocates

Wilds said public and private lawyers are not always trained to handle these cases to fight for the child in courts. A behavioral analysis should be done on many of these children before police or court become involved.

"That way you can have a behavior intervention program in place when something happens," she said.

Holly Lu Conant Rees, chairman of the Disability Coalition on Education, said she has a lot of questions about the episode, including what plans were in place to help Dylan before the situation escalated. She does not believe arresting him was the answer.

"I believe it's unconscionable to arrest a 12-year-old child for behaviors that were clearly manifestations of the child's disability," said Conant Rees, who advocates for children of disabilities.

As for Gaspard, she is trying to figure out what the next step for Dylan will be and how to help him.

"Dylan is a very loving, funny child, and people are drawn to him and his big smile," Gaspard said. "He is the light of my life, and it's hard when you feel you are always butting heads with someone to get your child help."

Australia: Child care workers guilty of assault for threatening boy, 4

Staff reporters
March 31, 2009 09:55am
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25268091-662,00.html

TWO child care workers who told a four-year-old boy they'd "chop off his willy" pleaded guilty to assault and received suspended jail sentences.

The mother and daughter childcare workers held a knife to a four-year-old boy and threatening to cut off his penis, PerthNow reports.

The pair admitted making the threats to "shock'' the boy so he'd stop exposing himself at the Perth daycare centre where they worked, Armadale Magistrates Court was told.

Sandra Kaye Ingraham, 60, and her daughter Kelly Sandra Ingraham, 28, of Kelmscott, were both accused of having held a kitchen knife to the four-year-old and threatening to "chop'' or "cut'' off his penis on three different occasions.

Outside the court, the boy's grandmother told reporters that since the assaults, the boy had tried to harm himself a number of times and she'd been forced to hide her kitchen knives.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Robert Clements told the court both of the accused had held a large kitchen knife 30cm away as they threatened the boy.

"I'll chop your willy off'', "I'll chop it off'' and "I'll cut it off'' were among the threats made to the four-year-old, Sgt Clements said.

The incidents occurred between January and April last year.

The boy's grandmother said she now "put all my knives up on the top shelf so he can't touch them anymore''.

"I've got a couple of butter knives in the drawer which now and again he might try and take one of them and put it on his arm a little bit, but all my other big knives are all gone.

"It hasn't happened for maybe five, six, seven weeks but with the court today I think he sensed something was going on and he's gone into the drawer and taken a butter knife out and tried to cut himself.''

Magistrate Brian Glustein told the pair they had assaulted a child whose welfare had been placed in their hands.

"Each assault was constituted by responsible ladies holding a knife to the boy,'' Mr Glustein said.
The assaults were serious despite the pair's lawyers describing them as "mid-range'' in severity, Mr Glustein said.

In sentencing, he said prison terms were a last resort and he took the fact the pair had no prior convictions, their guilty pleas and the fact they were unlikely to offend similarly again, into consideration.

"It is my view that regarding the seriousness the only appropriate sentences are terms of imprisonment.''

The women, between them, were initially charged with four counts of aggravated assault but the charges were amended when they changed their pleas from not guilty on the eve of a trial.

The mother pleaded guilty two counts of unlawful assault while her daughter pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful assault.

The magistrate sentenced both women to nine months on each of the charges, wholly suspended for 15 months, with Sandra Ingraham's sentences to be served concurrently.

The pair covered their faces as they walked from court.

TN: Maury Co. May Stop School Spanking

Schools Director Has Strongly Discouraged Spanking
POSTED: 10:31 am CDT March 30, 2009
http://www.wsmv.com/news/19045231/detail.html

COLUMBIA, Tenn. -- School officials in Columbia are considering eliminating paddling to avoid possible lawsuits alleging abuse.

The Maury County school board gave initial approval this month to eliminating the policy, which states that corporal punishment should only be used as a last resort. However, parents are allowed to opt out.

Schools Director Eddie Hickman said he has strongly discouraged the practice and he doesn't want the school system or the faculty to face a possible lawsuit if the punishment is used incorrectly.

Corporal punishment incidents in the county have plummeted in recent years, from 77 incidents in the 2004-2005 academic year to only three reported this past year.

TN: Teacher Disclosed Misconduct Investigation

Hamilton County: Metro Didn't Call About Teacher
Reported by Sara Dorsey
POSTED: 4:19 pm CDT March 30, 2009
UPDATED: 5:03 pm CDT March 30, 2009
http://www.wsmv.com/news/19048211/detail.html

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Did the Metro school system miss some serious clues when it hired a teacher already under indictment for sex crimes?

Donelson Middle School teacher Ronald E. Boykin was arrested Friday, accused of abusing two local boys. But he got that job with Metro with an outstanding warrant for sex crimes in Chattanooga.

With just a couple of phone calls, Channel 4 uncovered a lot of clues that the school system background check apparently could not.

One of those clues is the teacher's application with Metro. He wrote on his application that he had been under investigation for misconduct in the past.

Other clues come from what his old school system has to say. But they said no one from Metro ever called them.

Boykin's past started to unravel when Metro police pulled him over a week ago and discovered 2006 warrants for his arrest in Chattanooga on rape and sexual battery by an authority figure charges.

"He went through all the background checks," said Olivia Brown, Metro schools. "There was no indication on any of the checks that were done that there was anything in his background."

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said he worked for two years at Donelson Middle because Boykin was charged in Hamilton County but never arrested. Warrants and arrest history are different.

"Unfortunately, the database that holds the arrest warrant information is in a separate law enforcement-sensitive database that is not searched for a civilian employer," said Kristin Helm of TBI.

One call to Hamilton County schools by Channel 4 netted Boykin's suspension letter that mentioned misconduct and Boykin's own resignation letter that said he stepped down because the investigation was taking too long.

Both are public records.

On his Metro schools application, Boykin alerted the school that he left amid allegations of misconduct. A Hamilton County schools spokesperson said no one from Metro Nashville schools ever called to inquire about Boykin.

"What I cannot tell you is how that information was then followed up on by the school district, because we don't have that information yet, but that is something that we are definitely trying to find out," Brown said.

The TBI said its background checks worked as intended, since Boykin lacked a true criminal history.

"The process would be that they would have been called. Now, whether or not they were called, they say they weren't, that is what we are trying to determine now," Brown said.

Boykin is on unpaid leave.

His one-year teaching permit expired last August. A spokesperson with the Department of Education said Boykin applied for an alternative teaching license in October but has not completed the requirements to receive it.

AZ: 10th grader in Arizona slurred by state senator

NOTE: A special needs teenager sent an email to her state senator to question why the senator had decided to cut the budget for education. Take a look at the Senators' response, as reported by Knoeful of the blog Daily Kos.com, whereby the "good senator" tells this poor girl that the state's education funding is being wasted on her education. Is there any wonder why there's such a problem with education today?

by Knoeful
Fri Mar 13, 2009 at 06:43:02 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/13/20377/7376/567/708284

Is this how you'd want your legislator communicating with your teenager? In an email response to a sophomore high school student Arizona State Senator Linda Gray wrote:

Ana, I have grave concerns on your ability to pass the AIMS language test. Why didn't you take to time to write an email with the proper punctuation? By your poorly written email, your example tells me that all the money we have spent on your education shows a lack of learning
on your part. My son and daughter went through the Glendale UHSD and had a public school education. My daughter is a 6th grade teacher and she would be embarrassed if a student in her classroom sent such an email. You should be ashamed of displaying such ignorance in writing
to a public servant. Perhaps you watch too much TV or don't know how to speak proper English.

The last line I sure is a reference to the student's hispanic last name. The student, encouraged by her teachers, had merely asked the senator in an email about the budget process for education and why cuts were being made.

Knoeful's diary :: ::
I can't believe how angry this email made me. I felt this needed to be passed on to a broader audience to hopefully have a "teachable moment" for Senator Linda Gray.

Budget cuts in Arizona are imploding all public schools. Every district is slashing budgets, cutting teachers (some as deep as 15 years of experience), and imposing mind-boggling fiscal measures (pay-to-play arts/athletics/activities, eliminating buses and services, shutting off power before and after school, etc.) To teach students about social justice and responsible citizenship, students were encouraged to compose letters to their representative legislators to inquire about the budget for next year and the decision-making process lawmakers use when making these decisions. Read what one student received as a persona response. Below is the entire text of Linda Gray's e-mail to a sophomore high school student.

Dear Ana,
1.why cut our budgets? All budgets were cut. K-12 education was cut the least 3.2% and only 1.9% of all monies that come to the school district. Education is 42% of the general fund budget, so we cut very little from education and a lot more from the other 58% of the budget.

2.how come you don't cut any money from your budget? I have not had a pay raise in 10 years so you could say I have had my budget cut every year. Three years ago the legislature gave education a 6% increase and 2% increase for the last 10 years. We keep trying to help. You
could ask the Glendale Union High School District why they only spend 59.5% of the money they receive into the classroom and 40.5 to administrative costs. The national average is 61.2 into the classroom.

Ana, I have grave concerns on your ability to pass the AIMS language test. Why didn't you take to time to write an email with the proper punctuation? By your poorly written email, your example tells me that all the money we have spent on your education shows a lack of learning on your part. My son and daughter went through the Glendale UHSD and had a public school education. My daughter is a 6th grade teacher and she would be embarrassed if a student in her classroom sent such an email. You should be ashamed of displaying such ignorance in writing to a public servant. Perhaps you watch too much TV or don't know how to speak proper English.

Senator Linda Gray
1700 W Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
602-926-3376

This is a person who considers herself a crusader for education and one of the legislature's experts in education policy. Maybe this how those "GOP Values" listed on her webpage help make the senator so sensitive to a 10th graders simple attempt to learn how the budget process works. If you live and vote in Rep. Gray's district, I urge you to contact her office and inform her of how to speak to citizens - especially young adolescents - in an appropriate manner.

AZ: State Senator Linda Gray Uses Poor Writing in Slamming High School Student for Poor Writing

By Ray Stern
Thursday, Mar. 19 2009 @ 11:41AM
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2009/03/state_senator_linda_gray_uses.php

State Senator Linda Gray slams a high school student for poor writing and displaying "ignorance" in a biting letter that was first published in the Daily Kos today.

The worst part: Gray's own letter contains poor grammar and typos. What a friggin' hypocrite -- and she claims the student's the one who should be embarrassed.

We just got off the phone with Gray's secretary. She tells us that Gray, a Republican from District 10, can't take our call. We ask the secretary if this sentence of Gray's sounds grammatically correct:

K-12 education was cut the least 3.2% and only 1.9% of all monies that come to the school district.

"I can't answer that," the woman tells us.

A few minutes later, Gray calls us from the House floor, saying in a hushed tone on her cell phone that she can't talk right now. She says she'll send us the complete e-mail exchange, and we sure look forward to that. But that doesn't explain what you're about to read.

Scroll down to read Gray's remarkable screed, which was sent in answer to the questions of a 10th 9th grader:

Dear Ana,

1.why cut our budgets? All budgets were cut. K-12 education was cut the least 3.2% and only 1.9% of all monies that come to the school district. Education is 42% of the general fund budget, so we cut very little from education and a lot more from the other 58% of the budget.

2.how come you don't cut any money from your budget? I have not had a pay raise in 10 years so you could say I have had my budget cut every year. Three years ago the legislature gave education a 6% increase and 2% increase for the last 10 years. We keep trying to help. You could ask the Glendale Union High School District why they only spend 59.5% of the money they receive into the classroom and 40.5 to administrative costs. The national average is 61.2 into the classroom.

Ana, I have grave concerns on your ability to pass the AIMS language test. Why didn't you take to time to write an email with the proper punctuation? By your poorly written email, your example tells me that all the money we have spent on your education shows a lack of learning on your part. My son and daughter went through the Glendale UHSD and had a public school education. My daughter is a 6th grade teacher and she would be embarrassed if a student in her classroom sent such an email. You should be ashamed of displaying such ignorance in writing to a public servant. Perhaps you watch too much TV or don't know how to speak proper English.

Senator Linda Gray

1700 W Washington

Phoenix, AZ 85007

602-926-3376


Did you catch Gray's screw-ups? Here's what we found:

"...cut the least 3.2% and only 1.9%..."

"... grave concerns on your ability..." (Should be "about" your ability).

"...your example tells me that all the money we have spent on your education shows a lack of learning..." (The money spent shows a lack of learning?)

"...gave education a 6% increase and 2% increase..." (Where's the second "a?")

And our personal favorite:

"Why didn't you take to time to write an email with the proper punctuation?"

We don't know why "Ana" didn't take the time to clean up her letter to Gray.

As for why Gray's letter was so crappily written -- well, by Gray's own mindset, it must be because she squandered the public funds spent on her education.



UPDATE: Gray apologizes for letter -- the student has special needs.

NC: Open Letter to NC's Department of Public Instruction

NOTE:  A parent contacted us to let us know that a district intended to hold an IEP meeting without her or her husband. The parents had already sent in a written request to reschedule the meeting, but the request was tersely denied. By federal and state laws, an IEP meeting cannot be held without the parents, unless the district cannot convince the parents to attend. In this case, the parents are definitely willing to attend, and signaled that fact by asking for the meeting to be rescheduled so that they could attend.

We wanted to bring this situation to the attention of North Carolina's Deparment of Public Instruction, the states' education agency to ask if legally the district could hold the meeting without the parents under the given circumstances and to see if they'd be willing to share what recourse the parents might have should the meeting be held without the parents. 

Below is a copy of the letter we sent to them. We'll keep you informed if they respond. 

March 28, 2009

Dear Ms. Neale, Smith, and Pruitt:

 

We are writing to you today to seek your advice and clarification about whether a school district may hold an IEP meeting without a parent under the following circumstances:

 

Staff from a N.C. school district emailed and mailed an invitation to attend an IEP meeting to an eligible child’s parents. The parents have participated in the child’s prior IEP meetings. The parents have also previously notified the district that they want to participate in future IEP meetings, but they are unable to attend the above-referenced IEP meeting on the scheduled meeting date. The parents notified the district in advance in writing via email and fax that they would not be able to attend the meeting on the scheduled date and requested (in writing) that the meeting be rescheduled for another date/time. In response, the Director of Special Education for the district sent the parents an email to inform them that the IEP meeting would proceed as scheduled.

 

We are very concerned about the information that has been disseminated to the parents by district staff, and of the district’s notification of intent to hold an IEP meeting without the parents as:

Under 34 CFR 300.345 Parent Participation of the federal IDEA regulations:

(a) Public agency responsibility--general. Each public agency shall take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including--

(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place.

 

(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend, the public agency shall use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls.

(d) Conducting an IEP meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parents that they should attend. In this case the public agency must have a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as--
(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;
(2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received; and
(3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent's home or place of employment and the results of those visits.

34 CFR 300.501 Opportunity to examine records; parent participation in meetings.

(a) General. The parents of a child with a disability must be afforded, in accordance with the procedures of §§ 300.562-300.569, an opportunity to—

 

(2) Participate in meetings with respect to--

(i) The identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child; and
(ii)The provision of FAPE to the child.

(b) Parent participation in meetings. (1) Each public agency shall provide notice consistent with § 300.345(a)(1) and (b)(1) to ensure that parents of children with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in meetings described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

 

 Under North Carolina Statutes:

NC 1503-4.2 IEP team (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf, pg 90 of pdf)

(a) General. The LEA must ensure that the IEP Team for each child with a disability includes--

(1) The parent(s) of the child; 

NC 1503-4.3 Parent participation (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf, pg 91 of pdf)

(a) Public agency responsibility--general. Each LEA must take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP Team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including--

(1) Notifying the parent(s) of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an

opportunity to attend; and

(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place.

(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend an IEP Team meeting, the public agency must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls, consistent with NC 1503-5.4 (related to alternative means of meeting participation).

(d) Conducting an IEP meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parent(s) that they should attend. In this case, the LEA must keep a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as-

(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;

(2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parent(s) and any responses received; and

(3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s home or place of employment, if appropriate,

and the results of those visits.

 

According to the Department of Education’s website at http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html#team (See 7. IEP Team Members), “[b]y law, certain individuals must be involved in writing a child's Individualized Education Program” and that “Parents are key members of the IEP team. They know their child very well and can talk about their child's strengths and needs as well as their ideas for enhancing their child's education. They can offer insight into how their child learns, what his or her interests are, and other aspects of the child that only a parent can know. They can listen to what the other team members think their child needs to work on at school and share their suggestions. They can also report on whether the skills the child is learning at school are being used at home.”

 

To summarize the salient points:

 

1.      The district sent a written request to the parents requesting parental participation at an IEP meeting.

2.      The parents notified the district in advance in writing that the date/time of said IEP meeting was not convenient, and therefore, not mutually agreed upon.

3.      The parents asked the district in advance and in writing to reschedule the meeting for a date/time that is mutually agreed upon so that the parents can participate in the IEP process.

4.      The district denied the parents’ written request to reschedule the IEP meeting, did not offer or explain what alternative means of participation may be available to the parents, and have indicated in writing that the IEP meeting will occur as scheduled, with our without the child’s parents.

5. The above-referenced federal and state laws seem to indicate that the district may not hold an IEP meeting without the parents, unless the district has not been able to convince the parents they need to participate in the IEP process, and that those attempts by the district to encourage parental participation must documented.

6. The parents have provided written documentation to the district to indicate their willingness to attend IEP meetings, but cannot attend a specific IEP meeting at the scheduled date/time (but could participate in an IEP meeting if the district would be willing to reschedule the next meeting.) Therefore, parents have provided sufficient written notice to the district that the district has convinced the parents of their need to participate in their child's IEP. 

7. The district should not be able to hold the IEP meeting without the parents and should reschedule the meeting for an agreed-upon date/time.

 

Despite the importance the Department of Education places on parental participation and the fact that parents have indicated they do want to participate in the IEP process for their child, district staff is refusing parents’ request to reschedule an IEP meeting.

 

In light of this information, can the district legally hold the child’s IEP meeting on a date/time that is not mutually agreed-upon, without the parents? If the district cannot legally hold the IEP meeting, but chooses to do so anyway, what recourse do the parents have?

 

We’d appreciate any recommendations, opinions, and/or advice you could share and look forward to your response. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us at tcfpbis@gmail.com.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Jennifer Searcy

Founder/Director of Public Policy & Affairs

The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports

NC: Can a District Hold an IEP Meeting Without the Child's Parents?

By Jennifer Searcy
Founder/Director of Public Policy and Affairs
The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports
Published on: March 27, 2009

Some NC parents recently contacted us to notify us that their school district notified them in writing that the district intended to hold an IEP meeting "as previously scheduled," with or without the parents - even after the parents notified the district in advance in writing that the date/time wasn't convenient and asked if the district could please reschedule the meeting.

The parents wanted to know, can the district legally do this?

The easy answer should be a resounding "NO! They can't" in this case, but...well, we've seen stranger things happen (and even stranger decisions from state Departments of Education/Public Instruction).

So, let’s take a look at the facts:

The parents claim that:

1. The district sent a written request to the parents requesting parental participation at an IEP meeting.
2. The parents notified the district in advance and in writing that the date/time of said IEP meeting was not convenient, and therefore, not mutually agreed upon.
3. The parents asked the district in advance and in writing to reschedule the meeting for a date/time that is mutually agreed upon so that the parents can participate in the IEP process.
4. The district denied the parents’ request to reschedule the IEP meeting, did not offer or explain what alternative means of participation may be available to the parents, and have indicated in writing that the IEP meeting will occur as scheduled, with our without the child’s parents.

Now, according to the Department of Education’s website at (http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html#team), “[b]y law, certain individuals must be involved in writing a child's Individualized Education Program” and that

“…Parents are key members of the IEP team. They know their child very well and can talk about their child's strengths and needs as well as their ideas for enhancing their child's education. They can offer insight into how their child learns, what his or her interests are, and other aspects of the child that only a parent can know. They can listen to what the other team members think their child needs to work on at school and share their suggestions. They can also report on whether the skills the child is learning at school are being used at home.”

But what laws support the parents’ (and our) contention that the district’s intent to deliberately and willfully exclude the parents may be, well, less than “legal”?

34 CFR 300.345 of IDEA outlines Parent Participation in depth, and the full text can be found here: http://cfr.vlex.com/vid/300-parent-participation-19761947

The portions relevant to the above-referenced scenario are as follows:

(a) Public agency responsibility--general. Each public agency shall take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including--

(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place. (Fact: the parents notified the district in advance & in writing that this meeting is NOT mutually agreed upon and have asked for the meeting to be rescheduled. We have a copy of the email.)

(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend, the public agency shall use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls. (Fact: The letter from district staff did NOT include a statement about what alternative means of participation may be available to the parents so that they may be able to participate in the meeting as scheduled. We have a copy of this email.)

(d) Conducting an IEP meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parents that they should attend. (FACT: Parents have notified the district in advance & in writing that they cannot attend the meeting on the date/time as scheduled and requested that the meeting be rescheduled. Therefore, the parents have not expressed to the district a unwillingness to attend an IEP meeting, and in fact, have participated in other IEP meetings with said district. We have emails and other documents attesting to these facts, and have even personally attended an IEP meeting with one of the parents. Parents want to be included in these meetings; it's the district who doesn't want them there because the parents disagree with many things included in the district's draft IEP and it would be so much easier to simply "go around" the parents and their wishes than deal with them directly)

In this case the public agency must have a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as--
(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;
(2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received (FACT: The district has acknowledged receipt of the parents' request to reschedule this IEP meeting. Parents have indicated in writing of their desire to participate in said meeting. We have copies...); and
(3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent's home or place of employment and the results of those visits.

Also 34 CFR 300.501 Opportunity to examine records; parent participation in meetings.
(a) General. The parents of a child with a disability must be afforded, in accordance with the procedures of §§ 300.562-300.569, an opportunity to—
(2) Participate in meetings with respect to--(i) The identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child; and
(ii)The provision of FAPE to the child.
(b) Parent participation in meetings.
(1) Each public agency shall provide notice consistent with § 300.345(a)(1) and (b)(1) to ensure that parents of children with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in meetings described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

North Carolina’s statutes echo the federal regulations. The full NC statute can be found here: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf

Further, NC 1503-4.2 identifies members of the IEP team here: (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf, pg 90 of pdf)
(a) General. The LEA must ensure that the IEP Team for each child with a disability includes--
(1) The parent(s) of the child; (NOTE: Parents are listed as the NUMBER ONE participants. Think that means anything?)

NC 1503-4.3 identifies Parent participation here: (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/ec/policy/policies/2007policies.pdf, pg 91 of pdf)
(a) Public agency responsibility--general. Each LEA must take steps to ensure that one or both of the parents of a child with a disability are present at each IEP Team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to participate, including--
(1) Notifying the parent(s) of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend; and
(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place. (NOTE: And here's that pesky clause again about the meeting needs to occur at a mutually agreed upon time and place. Remember, parents can't make the next meeting on the "as scheduled date." Here's an idea: Reschedule the meeting!)
(c) Other methods to ensure parent participation. If neither parent can attend an IEP Team meeting, the public agency must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including individual or conference telephone calls, consistent with NC 1503-5.4 (related to alternative means of meeting participation). (NOTE: There's this clause again too. Keep in mind the written notice - via email - the district provided to the parents did not include an explanation of what other means the district may be willing to offer - if the parents could be available on this date, which they can't, so this point is rather moot but... - so that the parents might participate in this meeting on the scheduled date.)
(d) Conducting an IEP meeting without a parent in attendance. A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the public agency is unable to convince the parent(s) that they should attend. (NOTE: In this case, it is the parents who have repeatedly indicated their willingness to attend IEP meetings, in writing no less, but for some reason the district appears to remain unconvinced, and as such, appears to believe that future IEP meetings don't need to include any parents).
In this case, the LEA must keep a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place, such as-
(1) Detailed records of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;
(2) Copies of correspondence sent to the parent(s) and any responses received (Email/fax sent indicating parental willingness to participate in IEP meeting, but please reschedule, CHECK!); and
(3) Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s home or place of employment, if appropriate, and the results of those visits.

So, it would appear that if the district does proceed with the IEP meeting “as scheduled” without the parents in attendance, the district would be doing so in flagrant disregard of the law.

But...these are crazy times we live in.

However, it's our opinion that the district is "misinforming parents"of their parental rights, is informing parents in writing of the district's intention to flout federal and state laws, and we’re sticking to it, but will the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, with whom we’ve contacted for their opinion, side with us, or side with the district? Only time will tell….

As we've said, stranger things have happened.

We’ll keep you informed…

GA: No arrest for principal who delayed reporting child abuse case

By MEGAN MATTEUCCI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/clayton/stories/2009/03/25/clayton_principal_warrant.html

A Clayton County principal did not violate the law when he waited 11 days to report a child sex abuse allegation to police, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Magistrate Judge Bobby Simmons decided not to issue a warrant for Kendrick Middle School Principal Steve Hughes for failure to report child abuse.

On Jan. 9, a 14-year-old girl reported that teacher and basketball coach Antonio Mahone summoned her to his classroom to give her some candy. He then hugged her and squeezed her buttocks, she told police.

Hughes and his assistant principal called the student’s mother and launched an investigation that same day, said Hughes’ attorney, Steve Frey.

On Jan. 15, Hughes turned a report into the assistant superintendent that said the district’s lawyer should be notified, but he could not substantiate that the incident occurred.

Hughes called police on Jan. 20 after learning another teacher had seen the girl visibly upset after her encounter with Mahone.

“My client contacted his supervisors, took instructions and did as they told him to do,” Frey said. “He investigated this matter thoroughly and contacted the police when he had enough information to indicate a crime may have occurred.”

Georgia law says school officials must call police within 24 hours when there is “reasonable cause to believe” a child has been abused.

Police and Clayton Solicitor General Tasha Mosley argue that Hughes should have called 911 immediately after the student complained and allowed trained detectives — not school staff — to investigate the incident.

“The teachers have a dog in the fight and of course they are going to look out for each other,” Mosley said. “You need to remove the appearance of impropriety.”

Mosley also argued that two administrators told Hughes to call police and he ignored them.

Frey said the principal did not have enough information to call officers. “He’s guilty of insubordination, not guilty of a crime,” he said.

The judge’s ruling, which came after more than four hours of testimony Wednesday, means that officers cannot obtain a warrant for Hughes’ arrest. However, Mosley said she may still try to have the case moved to another court.

Mosley said she also will work with legislators to push for the law to be amended to say the crime should be reported immediately and investigated by police, not school officials.

“Every parent should be very scared that their child could make an outcry of abuse and it will be left to be investigated by teachers,” she said.

School spokesman John Lyles declined to comment on Hughes’ job status, why it took so long to call police or the district’s policy for handling abuse reports, saying it was a personnel matter.

The judge’s ruling had no effect on Mahone, who still faces sexual battery charges. On Monday, the board voted not to terminate Mahone, but to move him to another school. He remains on administrative leave with pay, Lyles said.

Hughes has served as principal at Kendrick for six months and worked as an educator for 27 years.

Action Alert:Open Letter to Tennessee Parents/Advocates from PTAVE

An Open Letter to Tennesseans about Abuse of Schoolchildren

From Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education

It has come to our attention that the Memphis Academy for Health Sciences, a charter school in Memphis, Tennessee, has a discipline policy involving a public buttocks-beating ritual. The event occurs weekly. Viewers include children enrolled at the school. The ostensible purpose of this activity is to discourage student misbehavior. The effects on children, however, according to the overwhelming preponderance of research-based evidence, are exactly the opposite. An authoritative resource on this subject can be found on the Web site of the Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire. See: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/.

We believe that corporal punishment at MAHS is a just-under-the-radar form of lewd entertainment of the kind one encounters in venues targeting adult-only audiences. Hitting children on the buttocks with a board has nothing to do with education or improving children’s behavior, and not one teacher training program in Tennessee instructs future teachers in the correct method for doing it. In addition to the psychological damage it causes, the risk of serious physical injury is high. Typical injuries to schoolchildren resulting from school corporal punishment can be viewed on this Web page: www.nospank.net/violatn.htm (WARNING: Some viewers find these images profoundly disturbing. Do not upon this page if children are present.)

We wish to remind Tennesseans who are concerned about the quality of education in their state that the habit of child beating closely correlates with high rates of school drop-out, poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence and crime. We believe the schools should be setting a better standard.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir., Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE); P.O. Box 1033, Alamo, CA 94507; Tel: 925-831-1661; On the Web at www.nospank.net

CT: Teacher made boy eat from garbage

67-year-old Conn. teacher arrested on a charge of risk of injury to a minor

updated 8:58 a.m. ET, Wed., March. 18, 2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29753118/

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A kindergarten teacher in a Bridgeport school has been arrested for allegedly forcing a 5-year-old boy to eat his lunch from a garbage can.

Sixty-seven-year-old Anne O'Donnell of Fairfield, a teacher at Park City Magnet School, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of risk of injury to a minor.

School officials say the charge stems from an incident last week when the boy apparently tossed out his lunch of chicken nuggets and a banana from the school cafeteria.

The teacher is accused of retrieving the items from the garbage can and forcing the boy to eat them in front of her.

O'Donnell has been released on a promise to appear in court.

LA: Teacher fired after investigation of abuse claims

Posted: March 17, 2009 11:44 PM EDT
Updated: March 18, 2009 07:59 AM EDT
By Keitha Nelson
http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=10025638

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A Baton Rouge teacher has been fired after a mother says he grabbed her son around the neck, sending him to the hospital.

The alleged attack happened last Wednesday at Glen Oaks Middle School. Anthony Percy's mother says the school's principal saved her son. In an incident report, Dr. Michael Eskridge said he saw a teacher with his hand around Anthony Percy's neck.

The teacher, Jeffrey Greenwald, reportedly had the 13-year-old pressed against the doorway of a classroom. "He just choked me," Percy said. "Then, when the principal came, he said, 'You can't do that to a child.' And then he said, 'Oh, I'm sorry.'"

Sheleith Givens says her son's name was not on a list to get into the classroom where Greenwald stood checking names. It's not clear exactly what led to the alleged choking. Givens says she simply can't believe it. "'Cause, when I let my children out in the morning to go to school, I'm expecting they're in care, like they're in care with me."

Percy's neck is currently tilted to the right because, according to doctor reports, his neck was strained and muscle fibers were stretched out of place. "My other teachers would never do that to me. He's the only one," said Percy.

Givens says she's grateful Eskridge stepped in and helped her son, but even though Greenwald has been fired, she believes more needs to be done. "I'm not satisfied with him just getting laid off," she said. "It's easy. He'll find another job. My concern is will he ever try to do this to another child."

Annie Morrison, the school's spokesperson with Advance Baton Rouge, says an investigation was conducted immediately after the incident. She says Greenwald was put on leave and after the investigation was complete, he was fired.

TN: Child Bruised From Teacher's Paddling

/17/2009 Reported By Jonathan Martin

LAFAYETTE, Tenn. -- A kindergarten teacher in Macon County has been suspended for a week after her bosses said she paddled a girl so hard it left bruises.

Video: Teacher Suspended After Child Bruised

Micky Biggers said he has never had a problem with his 5-year-old daughter, Courtney, being spanked at school if she is acting up, but feels what happened to her was far beyond corporal punishment.

"There were bruises on her butt. What did they do to her?" asked Biggers.

Courtney is in kindergarten at Fairlane Elementary in Lafayette. School officials said last Thursday the child was misbehaving and making barking noises in the cafeteria.

The child's teacher, Teresa Gregory, paddled her, but minutes later another teacher reportedly overheard Courtney tell her classmate the first spanking didn't even hurt.

Gregory then paddled her again, this time so hard that bruises were left on the girl's bottom.
Her father took cell phone photos to prove the child’s injuries.

"Common sense would tell you if somebody says it doesn’t hurt, you don’t continue to whoop them until it does," said Biggers.

Macon County Director of Schools Darrel Law admits the teacher used poor judgment and may have acted out of anger. He said the girl should not have been paddled a second time.

"The bruises initiated because of the second paddling, and she didn't have any intention to bruise a child at all," said Law.

Gregory has been suspended for five days without pay, but Biggers said that is a slap on the wrist.

He said his daughter is now afraid to go to school.

"If I was to abuse my child, or someone else was to abuse my child, they would be behind bars. They would be picked up for abuse or assault," said Biggers.

Gregory apologized to the girl's parents and Courtney has been removed from her class.

Lafayette police are investigating the case. The district attorney will decide whether the teacher faces any criminal charges.

The Macon County school board plans to meet next month to review the district's policies on corporal punishment.

IN: Parents of special-ed child file federal lawsuit against HSE

By Tania E. Lopez
Posted: March 17, 2009
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090317/LOCAL0102/903170311/1015/LOCAL01

The parents of a former Hamilton Southeastern special education student -- who they claim was denied access to additional kindergarten sessions as doctors recommended --have taken their fight to federal court.

On Feb. 11, the Indiana Board of Special Education Appeals upheld the decision of an independent hearing officer who ruled Hamilton Southeastern Schools and the Hamilton-Boone-Madison Special Services Cooperative did not have to provide 6-year-old Michael Berns with two half-day sessions of kindergarten a day, as three doctors recommended.

His parents, Amy and Damian Berns, filed the complaint March 12 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. According to court documents, the family requested the special services after a heavy cabinet fell on Michael's head when he was at his grandparents' house in October 2007. He was identified as a student in need of special education the following April.

Armed with the doctors' recommendations, the Bernses asked for Michael to attend a morning kindergarten session and a duplicate afternoon session to reaffirm the lessons and help offset memory loss caused by the traumatic brain injury.

The district did not agree with the doctors, court documents show.

Instead, Fishers-based HSE developed an individualized education plan for Michael and would not enroll him in both sessions of kindergarten.

The Bernses requested mediation; the district declined.

The family then went through an unsuccessful case conference followed by the state's due process hearing, where the hearing officer sided with the school, despite the officer finding procedural errors committed by the school and the Carmel-based cooperative.

In federal filing, the Bernses charge Michael as a child with a disability was denied his right to a "free and appropriate public education" as guaranteed by the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and they are seeking reimbursement for the private education they got Michael after the district denied their requests.

HSE will have about 20 days to respond to the filing, said family attorney Mitchell Pote.

But the school district's position has not changed, said spokeswoman Marianna Richards in an e-mail. Richards said a quick review of the complaint seemed to indicate that the issues are similar to those raised in the previous hearing.

She said the Indiana Board of Special Education Appeals' decision to uphold the ruling confirms that the program offered by Hamilton Southeastern provided an appropriate, customized instructional plan for Michael.

Since the case began, Michael and his family have moved from Noblesville to Marion County's Franklin Township, where he now attends South Creek Elementary School.

TX: 'Fight club' probed at home for disabled

March 10, 2009

Seven employees suspended at state-run school in Texas; charges expected
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29618496/?GT1=43001

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Seven employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled have been suspended for allegedly staging a "fight club" among residents.

Corpus Christi Police Captain Tim Wilson says the fight clubs were uncovered when someone gave an off-duty police officer a cell phone containing videos of fights at the Corpus Christi State School.

Wilson says the videos show mentally disabled adult clients punching, shoving, and striking each other while the employees watch.

Wilson calls the abuse "appalling." He says police expect to file charges against several employees by the end of the week.

The school opened in 1970 and is home to about 360 people, according to the Web site of the state Department of Aging and Disability Services.

MA: Eighth-grade teacher denies enticing minor

Updated: 03/07/2009 08:14:15 AM EST
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/northeastnews/ci_11860259

Saturday, March 07

An eighth-grade teacher who allegedly fled Massachusetts with a 15-year-old male student during school vacation has pleaded not guilty to a charge of enticing a minor.

Lisa Lavoie was arraigned Friday in Holyoke District Court. Judge Kenneth Cote set her bail at $25,000 and ordered Lavoie to stay with her mother. Her attorney, David Hoose, said he expected she would be released Friday.

The 24-year-old Lavoie — who's been fired from her job at a Holyoke elementary school — was brought back under police escort Thursday.

Lavoie and the teen were reported missing Feb. 16 and were found a week later in West Virginia. Lavoie was arrested and the boy was returned to his family in Massachusetts.

The ABCs of Social Skill Development

The ABCs of Social Skill Development
Encouraging children with autism spectrum disorder to socialize.

by Jennifer and Laurie Jacobs, MA, CCC-SLP

http://parentguidenews.com/Catalog/view_227

PARENTGUIDE News April 2007

When a child has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), you know how hard he or she
has to work to achieve academic success in school. But is this child given a
chance to practice social skills, which are also affected by ASD?

Children with ASD sometimes have a great deal of difficulty understanding social
behaviors and interactions, and these skills are usually not taught directly in
school. On the playground and other places at school, there are large amounts of
unstructured time that leave them to sink or swim in a complex social
environment.
They often have trouble:

.opening and closing a conversation.
.initiating peer interaction and joining play.
.decoding facial expressions and body language.
.observing and imitating appropriate social behavior in specific situations.
.predicting and understanding the emotions and reactions of others.

Children with ASD don't automatically acquire social skills that come to others
naturally through repeated exposure in social situations. Instead, they need to
be taught explicitly and given the opportunity to practice, practice, practice.

The first step is to identify the child's unique social skills deficit. Some
children may find it impossible to interact with peers one-on-one; others may
have difficulty in an informal group setting. A professional speech pathologist
or psychologist is critical in determining the child's specific difficulties.

Once the specific problems are determined, a customized program featuring
observation, modeling, rehearsal and reinforcement are the most effective
methods for them to learn and sustain long-term social skills.

Make Play Time Count
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to make the most of child-friendly play
time activities that allow children to teach and practice social skills. Here
are some easy, "low-tech" suggestions.

1. Scrapbooking, today's craze for young and old, is a fun activity through
which you can teach children about emotions. You can help a child with ASD
recognize the feelings and thoughts of others by creating an emotional
scrapbook, featuring magazine pictures and photographs that show people
participating in social situations while expressing their feelings. Talk with
the child about how the people in the pictures are feeling based on their facial
expressions and body language.

2. Fun books and board games, such as Do Watch Listen Say (Quill) and Boardmaker
(Mayer-Johnson), provide social skill development activities in workbook format
that are disguised as play. They encourage the development of skills essential
to social functioning, including reciprocity, imitation and conversation.

3. Charades is a fun game for young children. Have your child with ASD engage in
role-playing that involves acting out social interactions that he or she would
typically encounter in an unstructured school situation. For example, ask the
child to respond to a peer who has invited him to play kickball during recess.
Through this "game," the child can learn the proper social interaction.

4. Read-aloud stories, particularly those that are written in the first person
perspective of a child, can show how someone thinks and acts in different social
situations. For example, if the child has trouble on the swing set, a social
story might explore this situation in detail, introducing the concepts of taking
turns and asking a classmate to play. Difficult situations are expressed, and
the child can learn the correct way to act. For example, if the child in the
story says "It's hard to wait my turn when I want to ride on the swing now," you
can practice appropriate responses and actions with your child.

Electronics are Educational, Too
There are also "high-tech" methods for practicing social situations that
encourage skill development, improve skill performance and reduce ineffective
behaviors by allowing the child to learn through personal experiences. Because
they provide opportunities to pause and discuss information, to replay scenarios
for greater recall and understanding, and to repeat exercises as many times as
necessary, high-tech methods are typically very effective. Specific exercises
include:

1. Voice-recording systems can help children with ASD to identify topic
maintenance, intonation and perseveration. When children are allowed to listen
to themselves speak, it is easier for them to understand and respond to the
specific difficulties they may have in communicating with peers.

2. Television programs and videos that feature dramatic emotions and social
scenarios can be effective in showing appropriate behavior for the child with
ASD. If a caregiver, educator or practitioner takes the time to discuss the
characters' actions and reactions with the child, age-appropriate television
shows and videos can be a cost-effective and risk-free method for analyzing
social interactions.

3. Social training software programs are appealing to children who love playing
on the computer. Games that depict social scenarios and ask children with ASD to
determine what should be said or done next are highly motivating. Available
social training software includes the CD-ROM series from Social Skill Builder,
which teaches children the rules of social communication. In particular, School
Rules! Volumes 1 and 2, like their other programs, use interactive video
sequences to imitate scenarios where children commonly interact with peers in an
unstructured school environment. Programs like School Rules! allow children to
practice everything from the right amount of social behaviors in the locker room
to appropriate lunchtime interaction in a safe, non-threatening environment.

Without the social skills they need, children with ASD may dread unstructured
play periods. But, that is only the beginning of what could be a downward spiral
to anxiety and depression. If they carry their deficits into adulthood, they may
spend their lives feeling lonely and rejected.

There is great hope for these children with the various methods and tools now
available to teach social skill development. By working together to determine
what is the best strategy for each child, parents, educators and professionals
will see that children with ASD can achieve social as well as academic success.

Jennifer Jacobs, MS, CCC-SLP, is co-founder of Social Skill Builder, a company
launched in 1999 to provide computer-based tools for teaching social skills to
children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Jacobs, along with her
sister and co-founder Laurie, MA, CCC-SLP, developed the software line when she
recognized a deficit in quality products for children and adolescents with
social competence issues.

Action Alert: Calling all Florida Parents!

Please contact Rep Adam Fetterman with your stories and tell him what is going on in Florida's public schools!

Anna Moore, advocate and mother of a young boy who was abused in a public school, spoke with one of his representatives & he was shocked when she shared her story with him. She's told him there are so many more families in Florida with similar experiences, but he needs to hear those stories from you!

He is willing to Co-Sponsor a bill to stop Restraint & Seclusion in public schools!

Please email him & tell him your stories so he understands how bad it is in Florida. He wants to help!

Rep. Adam M. Fetterman
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4457&SessionId=61

NY: Parents in New York are trying to get their autistic child the educational

NOTE: We can all relate to how an appropriate placement keeps our kids safe and how the wrong placement is a recipe for total disaster. Unfortunately, NY has yet to get rid of Paul Kelly, who has found in district's favor in 80% of the cases that's been brought before him...

Parents in New York are trying to get their autistic child the educational services they say they're legally entitled to. The power of one state official is increasingly being called into question.

One out of 150 children is autistic. So what happens when professionals say that your child needs a certain level of care and the school district doesn't want to provide it? One case raises wider issues about the role of a state official who has singular power over appeals.

Five-year-old Sophia Kealey can now repeat words and phrases, and her instructors at the Manhattan Children's Center say she's improved dramatically
in the six months she's attended the private school for autistic children who
receive one-to-one instruction, one staff to every student.

"She needs one-to-one, or she'd be lost," principal Abigail Szoszun-Weiss said.
"Plain and simple. Plain and simple."

Sophia's parents had to fight to get her into the school because in spite of the report by an independent, world-renowned doctor that Sophia tested at a 2-year-old learning level and needed one-on-one services, the New York City Board of Education wanted to place her in a Queens public school trailer, where the ratio is six students to one instructor.

"I went to see the school, saw that it would just be impossible for her to function in a meaningful way and learn in a meaningful way, mother Patty Kealey said. "I was petrified for her future."

Only one public school in New York City provides one-on-one instruction for
autistic children. And it's in such demand that Sophia had no hope of getting
in. The private Manhattan Children's Center did have an opening, but there's no
way her parents could afford the $97,000 a year tuition. Her father, Tim, is a
wine distributor, and Patty is unemployed.

"Some people might think this school is a luxury," Patty said. "This isn't a luxury. That's not what this is about. It isn't a fancy-schmancy private school. This is a school that is giving her what she needs."

"It's very frustrating when parents see that other kids are getting what they need, that their child needs and they can't get," the family's attorney, Gary Mayerson, said. "It's like being frozen out of the medicine cabinet when you know that there is medicine in there that your kid needs."

The Kealey's attorney sued. There was a three-day trial at the city's Board of
Education headquarters in Brooklyn before an impartial hearing officer.

"He said that you failed to offer a free and appropriate public education,"
Mayerson said. "The parent's program is appropriate, and I find that the city of
New York should pay for that program."

"The fact is, we won our case," Patty said. "We're not looking for a bailout, we're just looking for what's fair and what's just and what's right for our child."

The city appealed to something called the Office of State Review in Albany. One
man, Paul Kelly, has the sole authority to rule in favor of districts or
parents, and increasingly parents are complaining he is denying their children
the educational services they are legally entitled to.

Kelly: "I'm going to have to refer you to the press office."
Eyewitness News Reporter Sarah Wallace: " Well, do you have anything to say?"
Kelly: "I'm going to have to refer you to the press office, Sarah."
Wallace: "That's all you can say?"
Kelly: "Yes."

We approached Kelly after his employer, the State Board of Education, refused to
make him available for an interview, after he recently ruled against the Kealey
family.

"When I found out that he had done it, it was almost like getting the diagnosis
all over again," Tim said. "To be in the mindset that we've won, that we can
move on with our lives, and then have somebody just throw it all away, it's
absolutely devastating."

Wallace: "Do you stand by your decisions?"
Kelly: "Yes, I do. I stand by my decision."

Kelly ruled in favor of local school districts in 80 percent of the cases in 2006-2007, according to an analysis by an independent hearing officer. The Kealeys are now preparing to appeal to federal court. The school is agreeing to defer Sophia's tuition for now.

"The idea that she might just get lost in the system as a throwaway because she has special needs and because those cost money, it's unconscionable," Tim Kealey said.

"Don't stop fighting, don't stop fighting for your child," Patty said. "Because if this doesn't get taken care of and caught early on, you're looking at a real problem when they get older."

A spokesman for the state Board of Education said that appeal rulings are always
decided by applying the law to the facts presented and that any suggestion
otherwise is wholly without merit. --- WEB PRODUCED BY: Daniela Royes