Announcement: Justice4Children Internet Radio Show 7/30/10

Forwarded Message from Theresa Edwards:

PLEASE JOIN ME, THERESA EDWARDS ON

FRIDAY 30 JULY 2010 AT 8 PM - 10 PM EST

THE TOLL FREE PHONE NUMBER IS

1-646-716-8675

www.blogtalkradio.com/wakeupcallshow

OUR GUESTS TONIGHT WILL BE SARAH WILCOX OF B&B CARE SERVICES, ALONG WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT HELP FAMILIES WITH FINANCIAL AID TO OBTAIN SERVICES, AND ITEMS TO BENEFIT OUR CHILDREN.

CALL IN TO SEE IF THEY CAN HELP YOU AND YOUR CHILD(REN).

Let's talk and Come Together.

Our Children Need Our Help and Co-operation.

If you have any announcements that you would like to have put out on the air please submit them to me at hedwards08@comcast.net

PA: Man With Autism Left in Hot Car by Caregiver Die

Man With Autism Left in Hot Car by Caregiver Dies

Disabled man spent more than 5-hours in car as temps soared over 150-degrees

By VINCE LATTANZIO

Updated 11:21 AM EDT, Tue, Jul 27, 2010

BUZZ UP!

53retweet

Investigators want to know how a man with autism could be left inside a van for hours in the intense heat just steps from the facility where he lived.

The unidentified 20-year-old man died after spending more than five hours inside a van operated by Woods Services in Middletown Township, Pa. last Saturday, police say.

The man, whose autism left him unable to speak, was in the backseat of the van for a return trip from Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa. with three other residents and two caregivers.

Once back on the grounds of the facility, two of the residents were taken inside by one caregiver, police said.

Authorities say an unidentified man with autism...

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When it was determined the man was missing, staff conducted a search of the buildings and subsequently the vehicle where he was found dead.

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The driver of the van and a coworker were both suspended after the man's death. Investigators are also looking into the possibility of whether criminal charges are warranted in the case.

For the full article, please follow this link: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Autistic-Man-Left-in-Hot-Car-by-Caregiver-Dies-99292304.html

VA: Washington Post Article Highlights Alleged Sexual Predator; Abuse World-wide, Goes Back Decades

Author's Note: The Washington Post has published an article about alleged sexual predator Kevin Ricks. Ricks has allegedly sexually abused boys and documented his exploits in journals, photos, and videos.

Below is an excerpt:

Kevin Ricks' career as teacher, tutor shows pattern of abuse that goes back decades

By Josh White, Blaine Harden and Jennifer Buske

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 25, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402605.html

Kevin Ricks was a gregarious, well-traveled English teacher at Osbourn High School, a Walt Whitman devotee who was so popular that a photo of him in class was chosen to fill the opening page of the yearbook. A writer and photographer himself, Ricks would walk the halls of the Manassas school with a leather-bound journal of his musings tucked in his bag, next to his laptop computer.

What teachers, parents, students and even his wife didn't know was that his journals contained decades of dark secrets, a running handwritten commentary of Ricks's world of obsession, infatuation, pursuit, sexual abuse and international child exploitation.

They didn't know about his library of homemade pornographic videos and explicit photographs capturing his tequila-soaked sex acts with teenage boys he had handpicked. They didn't know about the makeshift shrine boxes containing mementos of the episodes, including sex toys, soiled tissues and hair trimmings.

Even some of the victims didn't know they were victims.

A four-month Washington Post investigation of Ricks's career as a teacher, tutor, foreign exchange host and camp counselor has revealed a pattern of abuse that dates to at least 1978 and has left a trail of victims spanning the globe. But despite the abuse, Ricks moved from one teaching job to the next over nearly 30 years, navigating the nation's public and private school systems undetected, evading traps designed to catch him.

For the full article, please follow this link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402605.html

India: Partha De "Determined to Stop the Menace of Corporal Punishment at Any Cost" with New Complaint System

July 28, 2010

Corporal Punishment

(The Telegraph) Students and parents can soon complain about corporal punishment directly to the state government through SMS and email under a separate set of rules meant to ensure that teachers spare the rod.

“We are determined to stop the menace of corporal punishment at any cost. No teacher will be allowed to inflict physical and mental torture on students,” declared school education minister Partha De following a series of meetings through the day to finalise the draft of the proposed rules.

The rules, including “direct government intervention” based on complaints filed by guardians and students with the authorities, will be binding on all schools affiliated to the state board.

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“There can be no excuse for beating up a student. When a teacher is appointed, he/she needs to make a declaration not to impose any kind of physical or mental torture on students. The new set of rules aims to ensure that under no circumstance can a teacher break that oath,” said De.

To read the full article, please follow the link: http://news.icbse.com/complain-corporal-punishment-email-sms-482#ixzz0v15Sjs00

IL: PBIS in Harvard Park Elementary School

July 28, 2010

By Jennifer Searcy

Founder/Director of Public Policy & Affairs

The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports

Harvard Park Elementary School, which is part of Springfield Public Schools, has made their "Behavior Expectations" brochure and their "PBIS Behavior Matrix" brochure available online.

Included in the Elementary School's PBIS policies are:

Child access to a "Safety Zone." This area allows children a "stress break" for up to 5 minutes, where children may "make positive decisions about their behavior" when they are feeling frustrated, angry, or overwhelmed.

"Gotchas." These certificates awarded to children when they are "caught" engaging in appropriate behaviors.

"Expectation Rotation Centers." This includes a walk-though of the school with demonstrations and modeling of appropriate behaviors in various environments within the school.

"Cool Tools." These skills and behaviors are taught to children, and include listening, showing respect, problem-solving, etc.

Monthly and quarterly celebrations are also held, in addition to teacher selection of "Student of the Week."

The "Behavior Expectations" brochure can be accessed here: http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/downloads/basic/86111/f_10385-149-ae1.pdf

The "Behavior Matrix" brochure can be found here: http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/downloads/basic/86112/f_10385-213-ca7.pdf

TN: Thousands of Memphis Elementary Students Suspended And Expelled

Reported by: Kevin Holmes
Email: kholmes@myeyewitnessnews.com
Last Update: 9:23 am

http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Thousands-of-Memphis-Elementary-Students/sB_MLR55-ka4TJuGOkPWZQ.cspx

MEMPHIS, TN – Just about every school in the country has suspended or expelled a student, but when it comes to Memphis City Schools the number is in the thousands, according to Memphis City School Board Member Kenneth Whalum, and that’s just for elementary school. Last year, nearly 9,000 MCS students (K – 5) were suspended. Close to 500 were expelled.

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According to James Bacchus, MCS’ Executive Director of Student Support, programs are in place to deal with the problem. One is called Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS). Its goal is to help teachers understand and identify inappropriate behavior before it starts. But PBIS has been around for years, which is why Whalum questions if that’s enough.

For the full article, please follow the link: http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Thousands-of-Memphis-Elementary-Students/sB_MLR55-ka4TJuGOkPWZQ.cspx

To see the MCS Code of Conduct, please click here: http://www.mcsk12.net/policy/policy_coc.asp

HI: Board of Ed Exploring Bullying Policies

Hawaii One Of Few States With No Laws Against Harassment, Bullying

Jodi Leong KITV4 News Reporter

POSTED: 10:14 pm HST July 27, 2010
UPDATED: 5:52 am HST July 28, 2010

http://www.kitv.com/news/24418999/detail.html

Honolulu -- Hawaii is one of a few states that has no laws against bullying and harassment in the public schools.

A Board of Education committee Tuesday, started gathering information on the problem and potential solutions from experts.

A Hawaii School Health Survey taken in February, found an alarming 51 percent of high school students surveyed, feel harassment and bullying by other students is a problem in their school.

The survey also found 32 percent have been hurt by messages sent by e-mail or by postings on the Internet.

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Although there is currently no law that protects students from bullying or harassment, the BOE committee is gathering input from experts and may eventually craft a proposal that would make the practice illegal in Hawaii’s public schools.

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Experts urged BOE members to support a plan that includes mental health intervention for both bullies and their victims. “When a child has been assaulted in the Hawaii state school system, what kind of intervention is done on behalf of the victims? There is nothing,” said clinical and forensic psychologist Reneau Kennedy.

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The BOE plans further discussions on bullying and harassment in public schools over the next few months.

NE: Dept of Ed Develops Restraint and Seclusion Document

JULY 28, 2010

http://preventionperspectives.com/nebraska-doe-develops-document-on-restraint-and-seclusion/

The Nebraska Department of Education developed a technical assistance document, Developing School Policies & Procedures for Physical Restraint and Seclusion in Nebraska Schools.

The document was created to provide schools information and guidance to create or revise policies regarding use of restraint and seclusion, based on national policy directions and research.

It contains sections on developing policies and procedures on restraint and seclusion, components of policies and procedures, and examples of policies.

View the Developing School Policy & Procedures for Physical Restraint and Seclusion in Nebraska Schools technical assistance document.

NC: Abuse Claims at School for Deaf

July 17, 2010

THE NEWS & OBSERVER, RALEIGH, N.C. | LYNN BONNER | Sat, Jul 17, 8:41 AM

http://dailyme.com/story/2010071700001905/abuse-claims-nc-school-deaf.html

July 17--The director of the N.C. School for the Deaf in Morganton has been suspended after reports that staff members slapped a student, shoved another and held one girl face-down on the floor with a force that left bruises.

Raleigh-based Disability Rights N.C., an independent advocacy group that persuaded state officials to investigate, also said that girls at the residential school reported that a dorm director made a habit of dropping in when they were scheduled for showers and watched them on a security camera while they were in their pajamas.

On Friday, the state Department of Health and Human Services suspended the director of the school, Janet McDaniel, as it responded to allegations that she failed to act on the reports of physical abuse and let months go by before she did anything about the dorm director.

For the full article, please click the following link: http://dailyme.com/story/2010071700001905/abuse-claims-nc-school-deaf.html

VIDEO: The Jonathan Carey Story: The Killing of an Innocent Boy with Autism

Please view this moving tribute to the life and tragic death of Jonathan Carrey, who died at the age of 13 on February 15, 2007 after O.D. Heck Elementary staff physically restrained him in a van.

In 2004, Jonathan was abused in a private school for children with autism in Statsburg, New York. Staff secluded him in his bedroom for extensive periods of time, causing him to miss 8 days of school in one month – the room had been stripped of everything the child held dear: his toys, his books, even his pictures; the windows were covered so he could see nothing of the outside world, just the walls of his room.

He was repeatedly physically restrained by staff and suffered extensive bruising; bruising which went unreported by school staff, as required by law. Because he was mostly non-verbal, he could not tell his parents what happened…

Jonathan’s meals were also withheld for “behavior modification” for several weeks. When his parents questioned their son’s visible weight loss, the school told them their visitation was suspended for 4 weeks to allow for “intensive programming.” Jonathan’s parents immediately removed him from the school and reported allegations of abuse to the appropriate authorities.

Following the investigation, all records were immediately sealed and withheld from Jonathan’s parents.

His parents next placed Jonathan in a facility closer to his family’s home – but Jonathan was abused again and again, until finally, he died.

On May 5, 2007, Jonathan’s Law was passed in New York state to give parents and guardians access to their child’s records; no longer can records of abuse be sealed. His parents have also been instrumental in getting 6 more laws passed, including banning the withholding of food/meals for the disabled and changing the Standards of Abuse (Social Services Law 412), which was responsible for covering up incidences of abuse.

To learn more, please see http://jonathancareyfoundation.org., http://caica.org, and http://floridafamiliesagainstrestraint.blogspot.

NH: Four Charged in Tatooing 14 Yr Old Special Needs Child Against His Will

May 22, 2010

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/22/charged-tattooing-year-old/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+foxnews/us+(Text+-+US)

CONCORD, N.H. -- Four people have been charged with tattooing a 14-year-old special needs student on his backside, against his will, Concord police said.

The boy, whose name was not released, told police the four told him he wouldn't be picked on at Concord High School if he submitted to it. An image, with two obscene words was tattooed on him May 10, police said.

The victim was targeted because he's intellectually challenged, prosecutor Scott Murray said.

"You put yourself in this kid's position, your heart has to go out to him," said Sgt. John Thomas, who said the boy has been picked on so much that he would do anything to stop it. "It's gotten so bad that you have to subject your body to being scarred for life, just to be accepted by your peers."

Blake VanNest, 18, is charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a minor, tattooing without a license, indecent exposure and criminal threatening. Donald Wyman, 20, is charged with criminal liability for the conduct of another and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a minor.

Two others -- Ryan Fisk, 19 and Travis Johnston, 18, -- are also charged.

For more on this story, please follow the link: http://tinyurl.com/28a24ex

NJ: Restraints used by NJ educators to curb unruly behavior under scrutiny

Excerpt from APP.com:

It's been called "the dirty little secret'' of special education.

New Jersey gives public and private schools a virtual free pass to forcibly restrain unruly children with disabilities.

School employees can use "bear hugs,'' "basket holds'' and "take downs'' … which sound more like wrestling moves than anything you'd expect to see in school … and keep children confined in "time-out'' rooms until they calm down.

Last year, congressional investigators uncovered hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and at least 20 deaths related to the use of restraints and seclusion in U.S. schools since 1990.

State law also allows school employees to use extreme measures to control severely autistic children who habitually injure themselves by banging their heads, biting their hands or other compulsive behaviors. The techniques include spraying water or noxious chemicals in kids' faces, snapping their wrists with rubber bands or putting hot sauce on their tongues, disability rights advocates say.

Educators and crisis-intervention experts say restraining holds and other forceful methods are sometimes necessary, as a last resort, to protect children and others from harm. Moreover, they reflect the serious behavior problems schools have to contend with today, especially in special education.

For more information, please click on the following link: http://www.app.com/article/20100505/SPECIAL20/100504060/1024/POLITICS/Restraints-used-by-NJ-educators-to-curb-unruly-behavior-under-scrutiny

Announcement: National Autism Association Urges FL Governor's Refusal of Flawed Restraint/Seclusion Bill

Excerpt from National Autism Association:

Gutted bill strips away ability to prevent abusive treatments of children in Florida classrooms

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Autism Association (NAA) today is asking parents and advocates for children to contact Florida governor Charlie Crist, urging that he not sign legislation that has been stripped of its original intent to protect children from harmful restraint and seclusion practices in Florida schools. This alarming trend is on the rise nationwide.

A May, 2009 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) brought to light incidents of abusive classroom treatments of our nation's schoolchildren that have resulted in serious injury and death. Often the children subjected to these practices have diagnoses of autism or related disorders. The GAO report revealed deaths from "mechanical compression to the chest," or "smothering." One schoolchild died from restraint following a seizure, another died from hanging himself in a seclusion room. Other cases included a four-year-old girl who was tied to a chair and abused, five children who were duct-taped to their desks, and a ten-year-old boy who was put in a seclusion room "75 times over a 6-month period for hours at a time for offenses such as whistling, slouching and hand-waving."

The original Florida bill, SB 2118: Use of Seclusion and Restraint on Students with Disabilities, was written with significant parental input that no longer existed in the version passed by the Florida state Senate last Thursday. According to Port St. Lucieparent Anna Moore, whose son Isaiah was brutally restrained while at school in 2007, "This version of the bill is a disgrace. I don't see the protections from the dangerous and even deadly restraint and seclusion practices that are being used on our most vulnerable children. If anything, I am worried it will do more harm than good for children subjected to these inhumane treatments."

Among the concerns of Mrs. Moore and other parents are that the bill:

• Allows schools to wait 3 school days before mailing the incident report to parents. If a child was restrained on Friday, it is likely a parent would not receive an incident report until the following Friday or Monday thereafter.
• Does not afford parents any rights if they disagree with a practice used or believe a child was abused.
• Allows school districts to self-monitor restraint/seclusion events with no independent oversight. Data does not go to federal Department of Education and does not include information about prior complaints from parents regarding district's failure to provide proper supports/services according to IDEA.
• Does not require public reporting of data.
• Allows school districts to decide their own policies on data collection, incident reporting, and monitoring with no independent oversight.
• Does not adequately define or address the use of seclusion/solitary confinement which has resulted in severe abuse in numerous cases.
• Fails to provide prohibition against the use of aversive interventions that compromise health and safety.
• Fails to require that Applied Behavior Analysis or other Positive Behavior Interventions that are evidence-based be used to prevent behaviors or training for such interventions.
• Fails to designate penalties for violations.

For more information, please click on the following link: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-autism-association-urges-florida-governors-refusal-of-flawed-restraint--seclusion-bill-92874484.html

MA: Report filed against Judge Rotenberg Center; Electric Shock Therapy Allegedly Violates Geneva Convention

"I prayed to God someone would help these kids..."

Excerpt from The Raw Story:

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0504/rights-group-files-urgent-appeal-alleging-torture-school-disabled/

May 4, 2010

By Diana Sweet

Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) has filed a report and urgent appeal with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture alleging that the Judge Rotenberg Center for the disabled, located in Massachusetts, violates the UN Convention against Torture.

The rights group submitted their report this week, titled "Torture not Treatment: Electric Shock and Long-Term Restraint in the United States on Children and Adults with Disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center," after an in-depth investigation revealed use of restraint boards, isolation, food deprivation and electric shocks in efforts to control the behaviors of its disabled and emotionally troubled students.

Findings in the MDRI report include the center's practice of subjecting children to electric shocks on the legs, arms, soles of feet and torso -- in many cases for years -- as well as some for more than a decade. Electronic shocks are administered by remote-controlled packs attached to a child's back called a Graduated Electronic Decelerators (GEI).

The disabilities group notes that stun guns typically deliver three to four milliamps per shock. GEI packs, meanwhile, shock students with 45 milliamps -- more than ten times the amperage of a typical stun gun.

A former employee of the center told an investigator, "When you start working there, they show you this video which says the shock is 'like a bee sting' and that it does not really hurt the kids. One kid, you could smell the flesh burning, he had so many shocks. These kids are under constant fear, 24/7. They sleep with them on, eat with them on. It made me sick and I could not sleep. I prayed to God someone would help these kids."

For the full article, please click the following link: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0504/rights-group-files-urgent-appeal-alleging-torture-school-disabled/

IN: Lawsuit - 8 yr old Boy with Autism Tied to Chair

Excerpt from TheIndyChannel.com:

IPS Policy, Indiana Law Allows Children To Be Restrained

POSTED: 4:08 pm EDT April 29, 2010

UPDATED: 6:08 pm EDT April 29, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS -- The mother of an 8-year-old boy with autism is suing Indianapolis Public Schools after she said her son was tied to a chair by a teacher's aide.

Jennifer Robbins said she went to William Penn ElementarySchool on Jan. 14 for a conference and found her son, Hudson, belted to a chair in the corner of his classroom, 6News' Joanna Massee reported.

"It was wrapped around and tied twice in a double knot," said Robbins, who described the mostly non-verbal boy as looking disheveled and as if he had been crying.

She said her son's teacher and two teacher's aides were in the classroom at the time, and that the school's principal, Rhonda Akers, apologized for the incident.

For more information, please click on the following link: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23310041/detail.html