Posted on 09/23/2007 7:43:27 PM PDT by Graybeard58
A six-year-old autistic boy has been charged criminally after an incident inside his school where he allegedly assaulted a teacher's aide.
It's a story you saw first on 9News.
The incident happened earlier this month at Taylor Elementary School in Brooksville, Ky., located in Bracken County.
He is in kindergarten at Taylor Elementary, but 9News was told that due to his autism and other conditions, his mental capacity is the equivalent to a child half his age.
But despite that condition and his age, it still hasn't stopped a school employee there from holding him accountable: criminally.
Whether it's playing outside with his parents, or coloring SpongeBob Squarepants pictures, Nathan Darnell isn't much different than other kids his age.
But two things that do make him different from many other six-year-olds is his autism – and his criminal rap sheet.
"We are not denying that he did what they are saying, but we are denying he is culpable," said Tony Darnell, Nathan's father.
It was just last week when Nathan's teacher's aide, Glenda Schiltz, filed a juvenile fourth degree misdemeanor assault charge against him.
"What human being with a heart would do that to a six-year old?, asked Cathy Darnell, Nathan's mother. "Seriously, who would do that? I know I wouldn't."
According to the affidavit which 9News obtained, Schiltz alleges that on September 5, Nathan grabbed her by the shirt, pulled her backwards and began punching and kicking her.
"He admits to shoving her down, but he says he didn't pull her backwards," said Tony Darnell.
"She is no small person, she can defend herself," said Cathy Darnell.
So what does the school have to say about the matter?
Superintendent of Bracken County Schools Tony Johnson would not appear on camera but did say in a statement, "I believe we followed proper procedures and I have full faith in my staff".
Despite being autistic, Nathan is integrated with all kindergartners at Taylor Elementary.
His parents believe Schiltz and other teachers there are ill-prepared to handle special needs students.
His mother openly questions Schiltz's credentials.
"[She believes] you need to take him behind the woodshed and teach him something," Cathy Darnell, said. "That is her mentality, beat it out of him."
"Most of the time it [Nathan's behavior] is whining and screaming. I am sure that is hard on teachers and stuff, but we find a way to deal with it," said Tony Darnell.
On Wednesday the family went to the county courthouse, where an inquiry was held and it was decided the criminal case against Nathan will indeed move forward.
It's likely then that Schiltz will have to be there.
But until they get a chance to tell her personally, Nathan's family, in the meantime, does have something they want to say to her.
"She is a cold-hearted woman, that she has made every teacher look bad," said Cathy Darnell.
Repeated attempts to contact Glenda Schiltz were unsuccessful.
9News also was in communication with several school board members and none wanted to comment on the matter.
This is all heading to a proceeding scheduled for next week in which six-year-old Nathan will appear in juvenile court as a defendant.
“t has to be workable for everyone....not just one...not just two...but everyone that will be involved.
And there are viable solutions. Egos of the adults have to stay out of the way.”
Sorry i have to disagree. It has to work for a majority, but no one thing will ever work for everybody.
Again, my experience has been that it works for most of the kids. I don’t have my son in an inclusion class because it didn’t work for him after about the 2nd grade, and I felt it was just wasting everyones time, plus taking up a spot in the regular class that someone else could use, but he did mainstream into a language class, to learn to spell....he’s very good at this now and communicates via a word program.
the language skills are now being taught in his life skills class.
“I’m gonna Go play with my kids for a bit...”
Yes...a bit.
It’s 7:45pm and a school night....glad you could spare a little time with them.
The only reason I point this out is the fact that you propose to be so devoted to your “special needs” child, but yet you spent the ENTIRE day yesterday on this thread, and today except for now....after 7:45 pm. I think you can be called a hypocrite.
Let yourself get kicked and punched with little way to defend yourself without risking a lawsuit. You might change your mind.
“And there are viable solutions. Egos of the adults have to stay out of the way.”
I do agree with this part. I don’t think it’s ego so much as denial on the part of SOME parents. They want their children to be “normal” and somehow hope inclusion can do that. All the special parents know about the bargaining phase. that’s where you argue with your child’s doctor to get him to say your child isn’t FILL IN THE BLANK but it doesn’t matter what you call it, it is what it is. I could stop calling my son autistic and say he has pink polka dot dyspepsia, I’ve still got the same kid with the same issues tomorrow.
I find it ironic that the parents consider this teacher’s aid a cold hearted woman.
It’s not a matter of not being able to handle a six year old. It’s a matter of being limited in your response due to the risk of being sued or charged with a criminal offense yourself.
The way I look at it, if an adult is attacked, they have every right to use the legal system and file charges. The parents should face the reality that their child is a high risk child who has high liability. Everyone assumes it’s just the schools liability. But the fact is, when parents send kids like these to a public school, they should also assume some of the liability.
ok I take it back...yes the majority....but even though I can appreciate your perspective on this ...and a few others, I also can appreciate those that are against it.
Because it has become a include at all costs phenom.
And that sure does not take the majority into account.
And even if I remove the majority from the equation, it can be more destructive and stressful for the child that we are aiming to help.
Good for you for having your childs interest at heart and removing him when you saw it wasnt working. I have seen parents that will stay in denial because they cannot admit just that ...it isnt working.
All I am saying is that the decision for inclusion should never be taken lightly and all the ducks should be in a row first.
“It’s not a matter of not being able to handle a six year old. It’s a matter of being limited in your response due to the risk of being sued or charged with a criminal offense yourself.”
Well you’re not allowed to tee off the kid, but if the kid is acting out you can restrain him. When my son was younger he was restrained on a couple of different occasions. This usually meant pinning his arms to his sides and sitting down while holding him. One of the kids in his class had the teacher lay her body over his, and they would also sometimes restrain a child with a blanket, with each adult taking one side and pinning the kid to the floor with it.
The point is educators are allowed to restrain out of control behavior.
“All I am saying is that the decision for inclusion should never be taken lightly and all the ducks should be in a row first.”
I’m with you on this. The issue I’ve had for a lot of the “experts” on this thread, is that they have no real idea how it works. No educator will knowingly put a kid in dangerous situation, sometimes the kid may seem like he’s ready and then just kind of flip out. All the people I’ve dealt with in this odyssey mostly take a “he seems ready, let’s try it and see if it works” attitude, then we’ll go from there. That’s why we do ARD meetings 4 times a year, to make adjustments.
I agree. I ask myself, what if I'm walking down the street minding my own business when I am suddenly attacked by a small child? I certainly cannot respond in kind, never mind the law suits, I don't want to hurt a child. I can try to restrain him but even then I risk hurting him. My other option would be to flee, that's not acceptable either.
That being said, if I was this child's father I believe that I would insist that he be tried as an adult with a jury trial, just to expose how utterly insane it is to charge a little child with a crime.
When I posted this article, I didn't expect the emotional response that it has received. My only thought was that at least everyone would agree that charging a 6 year old with a serious crime is ridiculous.
youve been lucky ..it doesnt always work that way and thats why I think we are seeing so many against the idea.
The child won’t be prosecuted. Teachers are still citizens, if they are attacked, they still have the same rights you do. Of course, they do so at some risk to their careers. But to say that someone should lose their license is cruel. It sounds like the adult understands her rights as a citizen and is willing to go against a politically correct school system and file charges. I am sure she will be on the adminstrators shit list, don’t you worry about that. They won’t prosecute, but at least the lady made a statement that she doesn’t want to put up with being physcially attacked. The parents should assume some responsiblity for their child’s violent behavior. Why is it that everyone but the parents must assume liability?
“youve been lucky ..it doesnt always work that way and thats why I think we are seeing so many against the idea.”
I’d say I’ve been typical. Most of the parents of these kids on this thread have said the same things I’ve said. The many against the idea, for the most part, seem pretty ill informed as to how it actually works. I’ve seen plenty of their posts that start out with “I had a friend of my cousin”. I’m just telling you what I’ve observed in the 10 years since my son was diagnosed. There are millions of special kids, so of course you can find some examples where nothing worked, but those are the exceptions and to present them as the norm is incorrect and dishonest. There was a poster here earlier that was all for caging them up, he knows about as much about this as I know about jet engines, which by my own admission is not very much....well I know jet engines are loud. Should i be giving advice to Air Force ya think.
Oh, that is the "Intelligent statement" of the day. Well done.
Probably because this is a follow up article aimed at a local readership/viewership.
The original article about the incedient was probably a lot more fact based and to the point.
Just sayin'.
I am having a rough time with a sixth-grade autistic kid in one of my classes. He constantly claims other kids are attacking him etc., and it is ridiculous. He should not be in class, but thanks to the federal government least restrictive environment regulations, I have to deal with it and my entire class is disrupted.
I have enough difficulty just getting my classes to be quiet and listen to me, virtually impossible. This makes it worse. He is a great kid, and I care for him a lot.
But, sometimes....you can’t mainstream special needs kids.
Really the principal is the only person who can get involved physically unless you absolutely have to intervene, and all the teacher can do is get between the people.
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