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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[OldBlondBabe]

"Ah, but they must be mainstreamed we are told by Washington, D. C., regardless of whether the education of others is disrupted. "

A neighbor of mine who teaches third grade told me that she had a mentally disabled girl in her class. An adult had to administer to her needs at all times while she was in class. (I don't know who this was or how he or she was paid.) The girl showed little response to what was being taught. My neighbor (a liberal like most teachers here in Michigan) thought that "mainstreaming" was not doing this girl any justice. Her opinion was that the girl probably could learn to dress and feed herself and learn other such tasks but instead was stuck in a class with a curriculum far beyond her capabilities. Very sad.

[PGalt]

bump

[FITZ]

thos parents who insist on mainstreaming don't do their children any favors

It's not all the parents who want them mainstreamed, I know a woman who is the mother of a mentally retarded/handicapped child in a wheelchair who was against mainstreaming, they closed down the special school and put all those kids in the regular public school for some stupid reason. Some parents fought it and even argued that the special school be kept open so parents could choose what was best for their own child. Liberals don't like choices though so the school got shut down.

[Skooz]

That is very sad. The "mainstreamed" kids are the real victims of the PC brigade. But, the results of mainstreaming don't matter as long as the libs can get that fuzzy feeling in their tummy which tells them that they are doing the right thing.

The children (and everyone else) are secondary to the fuzzy feelings.

[HamiltonJay]

Knowing absolutely nothing about this case, other than this article I am not going to speak to this case directly. Personally I am not a fan of mainstreaming children, who are obviously not able to keep up. I think it is detrimental to all involved.

[HamiltonJay]

Actually Mainstreaming is not so much a result of liberal activists as it is 2 other issues. Budgetary, cheaper to mainstream than pay for special ed... and worse, parents who have special needs kids that are in denial, and want to pretend their children are not special.

[wbill]

I'm just a hick from a backwoods town in Maine.....but where I come from, if a cop couldn't handle an 8-year-old having a tantrum, we found a new cop.

[RGSpincich]

Special ed rooms in my district do have the proverbial padded room. They call it a "timeout room", naturally. It's a little 8x8 room within the classroom that can house an out of control kid.

[Illbay]

I'm sorry, but there is likely more to this story than meets the eye. Why was this kid in a mainstream classroom?

My wife, a teacher in Katy ISD, tells me it is not unusual to have autistic kids in a mainstream classroom, but that there are often problems as a result.

The kid was undergoing a "temper tantrum." Autistic children can go "berserk" not realizing the implications of their actions. I note that there were some adults injured.

Lastly, this is a perfect situation for the mother to sue the school district and the school district to settle for millions of taxpayer dollars out of court. The taxpayers of that school district--and ultimately all Texans--will pay the price.

I'd like to know more than just this silly "Hard Copy" style sensationalized report from "News2Houston."

IMO, local television news is the ultimate in hype, sensationalism and distortion of facts in order to increase ratings.

This is November--"sweeps" month. Does anyone here think that the TV news producers won't stoop to sensationalizing a situation like this to drive up ratings?

[Illbay]

Your statement is correct, from what I have seen--my wife has experienced this as well (and she spends probably 40% of her time on one or two students out of 22 in her classroom as a result).

This is the result of "special interest" groups getting "victories" in the courts, and the schools being ordered to maintain such "programs."

IMO, the answer is greater autonomy, educational freedom and above all, freedom from arbitrary judicial oversight of more "privatized" schools.

[mlmr]

You bet he was being mainstreamed. Dangerous, out of control children are mainstreamed and disrupting classrooms everyday. It is a horrible situation foisted upon the middle and working class by people whose children never see the inside of a mainstreamed public school classroom.

[Sweet Hour of Prayer]

Hospitals handcuff patients that get out of control. The teachers, students, doctors and staff have to be protected when a truly autistic child goes on a rampage. I have a friend who literally has to hide her other children in a room while she and her husband restrain their 10 year old autistic daughter. It's a difficult and sad situation for everyone involved. In this case the mother is upset because handcuffs were required to restrain her son. She should be grateful that the state offers free education for children with handicaps (year-round) and that there are so many good hearted people who are willing to work with these children to help them achieve the most they are capable of. Working with special ed. kids is difficult. Keeping them from hurting themselves and others is a daily effort. Why this incident was reported in this news is baffling. I think it's great the school has an officer there who was able to restrain the boy and hopefully the other staff members who tried to help weren't badly injured.

[Illbay]

The only reason these schools want special ed kids is the funding they get.

That's really an inaccurate statement. Schools do get "special ed funding," yes. But the funds are woefully inadequate to handle the volume. Courts, state legislatures and Congress have mandated that "special needs" children MUST be served. But they do NOT mandate or provide the funding required. Federal money is provided, but the shortfall has to be made up by the school districts, and there is never enough.

My theory is that kids now have "special needs" largely because of the breakdown of the family, working parents (esp. working mothers), and a dearth of time that parents have to attend to their own kids. Emotional problems result, and the schools are expected by the parents to take up the slack.

My wife was a single mother at one time, with a kid with "learning disabilities." She hounded the school where she lived, to provide the services her child needed, but finally pulled him out in disgust and put him in a private school that handled LD kids. She realized after awhile that the cost was great, and the school was constantly asking for parent volunteers, and donations of money and goods in kind.

It was a good school, but the cost of the services was laid bare.

Now, she has been teaching for some years, and has to handle these situations herself. She realizes that the public school her child first attended was probably doing the best it could do under the circumstances.

But as a parent, she wasn't really focusing on that (as you might expect). She just knew her child needed services, and she demanded them.

Multiply her times several million, and there you have it.

[Illbay]

The problem is, though, that the overworked and harried parent--likely working outside the home--sees this as a vital resource.

[Illbay]

NO!

[ApesForEvolution]

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.

This 'officer' and the 'educators' responsible should be flogged within a few inches of their lives...

[rejoicing]

I was a public school teacher, and several times I've had "special" children in my classroom. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that NO ONE gets what he/she needs. The special needs child needs more time than I can give, and all the other children are cheated of the time that they deserve because so much of my time is spent in disciplinary/training issues with that special child. It's a lose/lose situation. Actually, that's what public school is, and it's why I homeschool my own children.

[ApesForEvolution]

If an adult can't subdue an 8 year old without using handcuffs or drugs, they aren't much of an adult...