Nephew injured at school

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2005
Nephew injured at school
6
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 10:47pm

My nephew (13) who I have posted just recently "Christmas trouble what to do"
went back to school today and somehow ended up being injured by a school
police officer. For those of you who don't know he has aspergers, autism,
and who knows what else. Well apparently they were doing something that
he liked and the teacher tried to "re-route" him into the new assignment.
I guess there was a strugle and he denied and somehow he threatened to
kill himself. An officer then threw him down on the floor quite hard,
smashed his nose and knocked his front teeth loose, handcuffed him.
He may have to have oral surgery.

A doctor called my sister and asked her what meds he was on and
she didn't even find out where he was... I am still unsure how
and where she found him. He now has yet more charges filed against
him for assaulting the police officer. Previous charges were filed
and he was supposed to return to court this month... the judge wanted
to deam him non -competent. Now my sister is talking to a lawyer.

Lately I have seen articles in the news about handcuffing students
at school...anyone have any ideas.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 01-04-2006 - 12:35am
Gosh, this is way out of my experience level. It seems to me that your nephew might need to be in a residential home or hospital that deals specifically with his problems. Didn't you tell us before that he had sent your sister to the hospital after beating her? He seems to be getting extremely dangerous, although I disagree with the police officer throwing him to the ground with such force that he basically knocked a tooth loose. Couldn't he have handled him another way? I don't know, as I said, I wouldn't know what to do. Hopefully some other posters might have good ideas.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 01-04-2006 - 12:51am

I don't know about handcuffing at schools, or even how much force is considered acceptable by school police. I imagine that the each situation is a little different but it sounds excessive that he was thrown down face first, hard enough to loosen his teeth.

Is you nephew mainstreamed in regular classes in a regular junior high or middle school? Aren't his teachers and the school administration aware of his conditions and volatile personality?

I don't know how his mom should proceed in this case but when/if he returns to school maybe she should have him wear a medical ID bracelet that lists his conditions and medications, and arrange a meeting with teachers, administrators, school nurse, campus security, etc to make sure that they are all aware of his condition and develop plans to deal with him so something like this doesn't happen again.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2005
Wed, 01-04-2006 - 1:38am

Yes, the officer lossened several front teeth, and from what I hear his nose was
smashed.. apparently there was a degree of force...my nephew is very small
for his age..he is very thin and gainly....very underweight....surely the officer didn't have to use such force.

maybe she should have him wear a medical ID bracelet that lists his conditions and medications, and arrange a meeting with teachers, administrators, school nurse, campus security, etc to make sure that they are all aware of his condition

He is mainstreamed in regular classes along with all the other kids.
YES the teachers and all the administration are aware of his condition.
They have been in numerous meetings and they seem to not be following his
IEP. The school board and the counselors, physciatrist even atteneded.

Call me crazy, but it seems that they are delibertly doing things to
set him off. They even had him sent to a residentual facility, in which
he came back better for a few weeks, then he was actually worse.

This is the same school that my son went to in his JR HIGH years. With the
proper people on his side and the careful selections of teachers, (aides)
he improved dramatically. Only this year they are dealing with a new
principal and aides that aren't trained for these problems...like my
sister has it written in the IEP, no one is to give him sweets as this
is a factor in his behavior, but the aide awards him with large candy bars...etc.

BTW - he has attacked teachers, principals, police, my sister, other kids.
many times causing broken glasses, etc.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-18-2005
Wed, 01-04-2006 - 7:41am

Your sister needs to get some legal support immediately!!! School are supposed to know how to handle children with disabilities, but often get caught off-guard and use school security rather than school psychologist or behaviorist (I'm a behavioral psychologist, so I've seen this often happen). Here's a resource specifically about kids with Aspergers and the law

http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/legal.html

Your sister should contact a Special Education Advocate and/or attorney to see what she and her son can do to get the situation fixed - not only the immediate situation of harm to your nephew, but also the larger issue of why the school got to this point in handling him.

HTH

please feel free to email me through my ivillage account.

Sue

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-05-1998
Wed, 01-04-2006 - 8:53am

I agree with Sue and would also suggest that you get in touch with Pete Wright at Wright's Law (www.wrightslaw.com). He is a special ed lawyer and if he can't represent your nephew, I'm sure he knows someone who can. You might want to surf around on his site to see what info you can find on use of force against kids with autism/AS.

My 13 year old DS has Asperger's. He rarely gets violent anymore (as a child, he regularly attacked teachers and peers), but I would be out of my mind if a school security guard did to him what your nephew went through.

Let us know what happens.

Elizabeth

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2005
Wed, 01-04-2006 - 9:11am
I am so sorry for your nephew I have never heard of handcuffing kids at school, but i'm a little sheltered here in rural Ohio. I don't have any words of wisdom for you, just my compassion for your family.