Ugh - Katy ISD accused of abusing special needs student (Dallas: home, neighborhood)

[nana053]

Katy has had a good reputation for special needs services, but not in this case.

Parents Accuse Katy ISD of Abuse, Cover-Up (http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110721-parents-accuse-katy-isd-of-abuse-cover-up - broken link)

On March 1, Lea says many of her worst fears came true when William came home from school with multiple abrasions, bruises and a knot on his head, but no explanation from his teacher.

Taking no chances, she rushed her son to the emergency room.

"I was devastated, it was devastating," said Lea, her voice cracking with emotion.

Demanding an investigation, the Sullivans withdrew the twins from Exley.

Principal Imelda Medrano promised answers, but took a month and a half to tell William's parents their child's bruises were caused by a chair during a 20-minute struggle with his teacher who was attempting to stop William from biting himself.

[eric3781]

Originally Posted by nana053

Katy has had a good reputation for special needs services, but not in this case.

If I might make a few points:

1.) A few bruises, abrasions and a knot is the least I would expect to happen in a 20 minute struggle involving furniture and a violently autistic child trying to bite themselves.

2.) I don't think undue restraint was used. If the child had somehow bitten themselves and drew blood during the frenzy then the parents would be suing for neglect and this story would've been printed from that angle. "Irresponsible Katy ISD Special Needs Staff Neglects Autistic Student, Allows Child to Bite Themselves Repeatedly".

3.) By the sound of it, looks like those children should have been going to the special private school from day one.

4.) Bad deal with the cover-up. I would've come clean and explained that the least amount of force necessary short of sedation was used to prevent the child from injuring themselves. Katy ISD should be reprimanded for the cover up, not the incident itself. Then again I am not a special needs teacher or parent so what do I know.

[crbcrbrgv]

Call me what you want, but I partially blame Perry. He was TOLD TO HIS FACE we'd wind up with a budget shortfall in education. This whole ordeal coincides exactly almost to the time where Perry told the state he was cutting billions in education.

It is a lot cheaper to sweep things under the rug. When times are tight, things get swept under the rug even more.

Expect more of these stories during the next few years.

[crone]

There are going to be more autistic kids in school. A regular special education teacher should not be expected to handle this. The kid should not be in public school in Texas. The schools should admit the have no clue how to deal with autism.

[testmo]

whos going to pay for community schools for those that are autistic or have special needs? who is going to pay to better fund the couple of schools we have in Texas. who can afford to pay to board their special needs child in a top notch school for special needs (one i am thinking of is in Dallas).

NO ONE

lets be honest - children are priority number 87.

whether that is appropriate or not is the discussion to have

[crone]

Ever since the Klein school district cops tie wrapped a nine year old hands behind his back and threw him face down on the floor to wait for his mother, I have been on my broom about special needs kids. All I'm saying is that special education teachers are not one size fits all. I have been on this board 100 times talking about a special school district that rents available classroom space from neighborhood schools. That enables greater coordination and staffing for groups of kids.
My experience with it was with a blind neighbor. The people of a county voted to create a special school district. She was with 10 miles from home in a classroom with 10 other blind kids. They were in regular classrooms for studies. Their teacher only worked with blind kids. There was another classroom with kids who had different needs, with a highly specialized teacher. The kids were getting far better than ours do in a classroom with 25 kids with 25 separate needs. There were classrooms with different need kids scattered all over the county.
We need to be working smarter. We do not have the resources to keep reinventing the wheel every day. It is unrealistic to expect teachers to know everything.

[researchiskey]

Originally Posted by testmo

whos going to pay for community schools for those that are autistic or have special needs? who is going to pay to better fund the couple of schools we have in Texas. who can afford to pay to board their special needs child in a top notch school for special needs (one i am thinking of is in Dallas).

NO ONE

lets be honest - children are priority number 87.

whether that is appropriate or not is the discussion to have

Pretty much...add them to the other 987857463485 kids that are suffering.