Mother Finds Autistic Son In Handcuffs At School

Local 6 Houston TX ^ | 11/12/02 | Staff

[Skooz]

STORY

Mother Finds Autistic Son In Handcuffs At School

School, Mother To Meet Tuesday

Posted: 11:32 a.m. EST November 12, 2002

HOUSTON -- A Houston-area mother who went to pick up her 8-year-old son at school said that she found him handcuffed and lying face down in his classroom in northwest Harris County.

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	Hear More Of What Happened In Class

The incident happened Monday at Haude Elementary School in Spring, Texas.

Lisa Calvin told Houston's KPRC-TV that she is upset after seeing her son, Adam, who is autistic and functions at a 5-year-old level, in handcuffs.

"It felt like some kind of freak show," Calvin said. "I could hear him begging. He was saying, 'please take these off' and he was crying. When I saw him on the floor, he was soaked in sweat."

Calvin said that her son was handcuffed by a Klein Independent School District police officer after having a tantrum.

"I heard the cop tell him, 'Boy, when you calm down, I'll take these off of you.' (It was) what he was saying when I was coming down the hall," Calvin said.

School district officials released a statement saying, "There was a situation at school in which a student was out of control. The situation was of such concern, that there were teachers, teacher assistants, and administrators that were injured due to the behavior. The options for the school district to control a child are limited. Restraint is one of them."

School officials said that Adam was handcuffed for just a brief period -- about two to three minutes -- and that the district does not use corporal punishment on special-education students.

The school suspended Adam for a day.

"(I've) questioned their ability to deal with him and they've told me that they're perfectly capable of handling a child with autism," Calvin said.

Calvin said that what she and her son experienced was fear and inexperience.

"If I go to work and I'm half-an-hour away or I'm on the other side of town, how long will they leave him handcuffed? Will he just stay in handcuffs until I can get there to pick him up? Or will they just go ahead and have them take him to jail?" she asked.

Calvin and school officials are expected to meet Tuesday to discuss whether Adam will return to school.

Copyright 2002 by local6.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[luckystarmom]

The "least restrictive environment" is the federal law.

That law can be abused. Some children should be mainstreamed and some should not.

There are not many options for special ed students. I have a daughter with cerebral palsy. She went to a special ed preschool for a few months and did horrible. She cried every day. She was a twin, and couldn't be with her twin. The special ed preschool also was trying to force her to talk, and she couldn't talk. She threw a tantrum at the school one day, and wouldn't come in from the playground. They left her outside with a janitor.

She never went back to the special ed preschool. We enrolled her in a regular private preschool. She was well-behaved, and we never had any problems. She is now in a public kindegarten doing well.

Sometimes the special ed classrooms are horrible environments for kids.

It should be up to the parents to figure out what is the best environment for their children.

[luckystarmom]

Teachers do have a say. They are part of the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) team. Other members include the parents and other specialist involved in educating the child like speech therapist, occupational therapist, etc.

Most parents cannot afford lawyers, so most parents of special ed kids comply with the school district.

[Skooz]

Yeah. That's it. Unless you disagree. Then it isn't.

[Incorrigible]

Welcome to FR CallMeShane.

I have a 4 year old son who is severely Autistic.  He goes to a special school and I don't think I'd ever want him "mainstreamed".

There's more than a few of us here on FR who sympathize with your situation.

[luckystarmom]

You don't have enough information to determine if the kids should be in a mainstream class.

Maybe the teacher did something that the IEP plan says not to do.

You must be talking about high school. Elementary students cannot grade papers. My kids teachers are there from 7:30am-4pm every day with only 30 minutes of lunch. My husband went to the school this past Sunday to help install some computers, and he said there were lots of teachers at the school working.

Then you have the kindegarten and first grade teachers trying to teach 20 kids how to read and write!!!

[luckystarmom]

I have a gifted child and a "special needs" child. I can boost the education of my gifted child. I am not trained and educated in helping my special ed child.

With extra help, my daughter will be a productive member of society. If left alone, she would be a drain on society her entire life.

[SCalGal]

It really should be up to the parents..... but too many parents don't care or are unrealistic. I know of one CP kid who didn't have math at all in the 6th grade because the teachers thought it would be nice if she was in a reading group. The parents didn't figure it out until June.

My daughter's been mainstreamed for quite a few years now, but her modifications are minimal and she doesn't cause any disruption. It sounds like your daughter is now in the right place for her.

The schools here are trying to mainstream almost all of the kids, even the medically fragile ones. It's not working well, not for those kids, and not for anyone else. That's my problem with it - they are shoving kids into regular classes when they can't cope and have no chance to succeed.

[luckystarmom]

If you homeschool your children, you do not get the extra services that a special ed children need. You do not get speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc.

Most parents are not trained in those fields, and I don't know of many that can pay for those services. Insurance will not cover those services.

Most parents with special ed students not only send their kids to school, but they also pay for some supplemental private therapies.

This mom may work in order to pay for those supplemental servcies. They usually run about $100/hour for the services.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

The problem is not just the teachers it's the system.
Here in Georgia, our county has a few good schools (where the PTA is strong and parents are active) but most are NEA playgrounds. Atlanta city schools are pathetic. GA is 50th in SAT scores and that is a major reason Barnes is no longer Governor. Atlanta spends thousands of dollars on the schools per student for what? There is a systemic problem that is occurring nationwide. We need to get the NEA's agenda out of the schools and show some leadership in the classroom. Children will respect (or fear) teachers who have command of the classroon. Teacher's pay is not where the money is going all the time. In addition, it is not always the pay the keeps good teachers out. I know some very good teachers who have left because of situations directly related to political events within the schools.
BTW, GA is 50th, SC is 49th.

[luckystarmom]

You're correct. I just wish there were more options. I wouldn't even my special schools to help kids with special needs, but those are limited.

My daughters big problem is speech, and there just aren't any "speech" schools around. It's going to be interesting to see how she learns to read.

[Sungirl]

Then you have the kindegarten and first grade teachers trying to teach 20 kids how to read and write!!!

Isn't that what they get paid to do? ANd with all the games and instruments and technology...that has to be easier to do than it was 20 years ago. DO you think other jobs are easier than that??? I have a very stressful job...and I don't get off 4 months out of the year and I work 9 hours a day without being paid for lunch.

My husband went to the school this past Sunday to help install some computers, and he said there were lots of teachers at the school working.

Wasn't it a holiday for most schools on Monday? I doubt teachers work Sundays.

[luckystarmom]

"I wouldn't mind even more" not "I wouldn't mind even my"

I think I need some special ed today (or at least I need to proof read my posts).

[laker_dad]

I have a gifted child and a "special needs" child. I can boost the education of my gifted child. I am not trained and educated in helping my special ed child. With extra help, my daughter will be a productive member of society. If left alone, she would be a drain on society her entire life.

I am not saying the schools should ignore your daughter. I am saying that they should spend just as much time & money helping the gifted to excel. That is how we make advances in important things such as medical research, food production, energy utilization, etc.

[Dionysius]

The premise of "mainlining", like muliculturalism & busing, is a huge failure of social experiment oriented education which is essentially no education at all. This unfortunate child should have been placed under the tutelage of a professional trained to deal with his problem and not thrust into a conventional environment where frustrated efforts to control him are counterproductive and needlessly cruel. I'm sure the sight of their classmate being handcuffed was not the enlightened message intended to be visited on the other children by the touchy-feely system.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Excellent points.

[philman_36]

Yeah. That's it. Unless you disagree. Then it isn't.
I wouldn't really know one way or the other.

[luckystarmom]

It's hard for a teacher to use technology for a kindegartner or 1st grader.

They had games 20 years ago also, and it was difficult back then.

I think it is more difficult now. There are a lot more special ed students in the schools now. There is an extreme rise in autism in our country. Also, there are more babies being born earlier and earlier. Unfortunately, those babies can have problems. Also, there are more kids that are born to parents with drug problems (crack babies). Those kids have problems.

I also think that parents in the past were more involved in teaching their kids. There is one little boy in my daughters' kindegarten class who barely makes the cut off for kindegarten. The teachers have told the parents that he is not ready for kindegarten, but the parents are keeping the child in the class. The mom has said that she is "giving up" on the boy. He barely talks, will not sit still, hits the other children, and he does not qualify for special ed. My daughters' teachers don't have the time to spend with this little boy.

[Sungirl]

Teachers actually only work 9 months a year and only get paid for that 9 months.

Makes sense. If they got paid for the whole year, they wouldn't be able to get paid extra for working summer school..or for learning vacations...etc. That was a nice little deal the unions got for them..not to mention that after 3 years, they can never be fired.

[Sungirl]

hits the other children

This shouldnt' be tolerated...I thought they had 0 tolerance..why wasn't he expelled?

[Sungirl]

On a lighter note

When I stopped the bus to pick up Chris for preschool, I noticed an older woman hugging him as he left the house. "Is that your grandmother?"; I asked. "Yes, "Chris said. "She's come to visit us for Christmas." "How nice," I said. "Where does she live?" "At the airport," Chris replied. "Whenever we want her, we just go out there and get her."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me, and she was always correct. But it was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying , "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When the mother returned from the grocery store, her small son pulled out the box of animal crackers he had begged for, then he spread the animal-shaped crackers all over the kitchen counter. "What are you doing?" his Mom asked. "The box says you can't eat them if the seal is broken," the boy explained. "I'm looking for the seal."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This little grandmother was surprised by her 7 year old grandson one morning. He had made her coffee. She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green army men and she asked him why they were they and he said on TV they say, 'The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup!'"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the supermarket was a man pushing a cart that contained a screaming, bellowing baby. The gentleman kept repeating softly, "Don't get excited, Albert; don't scream, Albert; don't yell, Albert; keep calm, Albert." A woman standing next to him said, "You certainly are to be commended for trying to soothe your son Albert." The man looked at her and said, "Lady, I'm Albert."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A three-year-old boy went with his dad to see a new litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, "There were two boy kittens and two girl kittens." "How did you know that?" his mother asked. "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE ELDERLY: While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"