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I know this child, he was a classmate of my son at his previous school, the Childrens Center for the Visually Impaired. He is completely blind, and the only way he can navigate is with his cane. For those of us that have gone through the transition from CCVI to the area school districts, I can tell all that this district is among the worst in the KC area for providing appropriate services for their disabled students.

The punishment was inappropriate, and a violation of the ADA. The school must provide APPROPRIATE transporation for these children, and after I initiated a lawsuit against them I would demand they provide a bus that transports handicapped children.

As a cost saving measure this school district has tried to mainstream Dakota and while he is a smart, sweet boy who greeted my wheelchair bound son every day when he arrived at class, it’s difficult for him to operate in an environment with “normal” children and unreasonable to expect him to be able to function completely like them.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about this story, and the district is in full retreat mode because they know the driver acted poorly and the district failed to provide him the complete adequate educational experience every child is entitled to.

It’s a shame Dakota and his family have had to endure this.

The article claims that the school gave him the cane. I would have thought a kid who was blind from birth would own a cane that his parents would have bought him.

Any thoughts on why the child didn’t own his own cane, but needed a cane from the school? I think it is important, because if the school gave him the cane, and the kid hurt another kid with that cane, the school could be held responsible for giving him the cane.

IMO Mainstreaming is a huge disservice to the kids. It's cruel and the schools get used as a daycare many times rather than actually teaching the student. Special Education teachers and aides are needed along with a trained staff of therapist. Get it to them all in one place the schooling and the therapy. It works and Oak Ridge , Tennessee once had a school that was among the best in the nation for this purpose. It was a seven county school actually. Read my previous post about that very school I once attended for kids with disabilities.

I credit the school I went to for giving me some adaption skills that after high school I was able to pass my armed forces physical and later after my Navy enlistment was over an Army NG physical. I was able to work until age 36 or so when it finally became too much to deal with and work due to my condition over time getting worse.

Special ED teachers many times can head off issues before they become such. They have more time one on one instruction and discipline if needed and more patience.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about this story

I have no doubt about that. One has to read between the lines in most every story these days.

Thank you for providing insider info. It's always valuable to get personal knowledge rather than inferred.

Wrong kid in the wrong place, sounds like to me.