Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Kentucky therapy.

I don't have kids, I pretty much satisfy my kiddy jones through Mrs. Field's nieces, and my now older nephew.

But this story out of Kentucky has me wondering what I would do if I were one of the parents of this poor child. (h/t to the folks at Color of Change for turning me on to this story.)

"A 9-year-old autistic boy who misbehaved at school was stuffed into a duffel bag and the drawstring pulled tight, according to his mother, who said she found him wiggling inside as a teacher’s aide stood by.

The mother of fourth-grader Christopher Baker said her son called out to her when she walked up to him in the bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.
“He was treated like trash and thrown in the hallway,” Chris’ mother, Sandra Baker, said Thursday. She did not know how exactly how long he had been in the bag, but probably not more than 20 minutes.

Mercer County schools Interim Superintendent Dennis Davis said confidentiality laws forbid him from commenting.

“The employees of the Mercer County Public Schools are qualified professionals who treat students with respect and dignity while providing a safe and nurturing learning environment,” Davis said in a statement.
State education officials said they were investigating.

Chris is a student at Mercer County Intermediate School in Harrodsburg in central Kentucky. The day had barely begun when his family was called to the school because Chris was acting up. He is enrolled in a program for students with special needs.

Walking toward his classroom, Baker’s mother saw the gym bag. There was a small hole at the top, she said, and she heard a familiar voice.
“Momma, is that you?” Chris said, according to his mother.

A teacher’s aide was there, and Baker demanded that her son be released. At first, the aide struggled to undo the drawstring, but the boy was pulled out of the bag, which had some small balls inside and resembled a green Army duffel bag, Baker said.

“When I got him out of the bag, his poor little eyes were as big as half dollars and he was sweating,” Baker said. “I tried to talk to him and get his side of the reason they put him in there, and he said it was because he wouldn’t do his work.”

Baker said when school officials called the family to pick him up, they were told he was “jumping off the walls.” Days later, at a meeting with school officials, Baker said she was told the boy had smirked at the teacher when he was told to put down a basketball, then threw it across the room.

At a meeting with school district officials, the bag was described as a “therapy bag,” Baker said, though she wasn’t clear exactly what that meant. She said her son would sometimes be asked to roll over a bag filled with balls as a form of therapy, but she didn’t know her son was being placed in the bag. She said school officials told her it was not the first time they had put him in the bag.
So far, almost 700 people have signed a petition on the website change.org. Lydia Brown, an autistic 18-year-old Georgetown University freshman from Boston, said she started it after reading a story about Chris.

“That would not be wrong just for an autistic student. That would be wrong to do to anyone,” Brown said.

Advocates for the autistic were outraged.

Landon Bryce of San Jose, Calif., a former teacher who blogs about issues related to autism, said the school’s treatment of Chris was “careless and disrespectful.”'[Source]

"Therapy Bag"? WTF? I know we are talking about Kentucky here, but at some point certain folks in A-merry-ca will have to join the rest of us in the 21st century.

The real scary part of this story is that school officials seemed to be aware of this practice. If true, some of these folks should pay with their jobs.   





 

62 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:14 AM

    WTF?? What is this world coming to?

    This is a damn shame!! I will sign the petition! The kid could have suffucated or anything.

    The Superintendent and the sorry ass teacher should be fired immediately!

    Kia
    http://www.amazon.com/Down-Low-Baller-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0054DR3YE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325085177&sr=1-1

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:17 AM

    There is a serious breakdown in civil rights in this country. It doesn't matter if you are talking about how TSA almost has a carte blanche in treating travelers. Aside from the cupcake incident which I find interesting that it caught national news attention. What about the mistreatment of a man with bladder cancer who needed to wear a urine bag and the TSA mishandled the bag by piercing it and allowing the urine to soak the man's pants. He missed his flight, sat in his own urine for hours, and yet I'm somehow this is suppose to make me safer. Another story is where a woman with breast cancer was made to take off her prosthetic bra after being groped by the TSA. She didn't feel comfortable with going through the scanner because she don't know the level of radiation particularly she had gone through radiation treatments for the cancer. Although, I do find it interesting that the scanners are through a company in which Michael Chertoff is employed. There was an incident reported over a month ago that 4th grader in Phoenix, Az was arrested for coughing, he was search a week prior for drugs.

    I love when someone tell me that the reason for going through these particular measures for public safety when there is no evidence to support the theory. People love to use scare tactics to control the masses. So we have allow the government to check information from our library cards, internet searches, and even through our smart phones all in the name of providing safety. We allow them to pick our rights bit by bit until people in authority can do anything that they want, that goes for school officials who can send our children to jail for any reason, or take our children out of the home for being too fat (that happened over a month ago as well). My question is will anyone do anything about it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:17 AM

    THIS IS A JOKE....
    DAMN NOW WHITE FOLKS ARE WINNING
    THE BLACK FOLKS LOTTERY...

    ReplyDelete
  4. NSangoma11:32 AM

    ~
    Right-Wing Boston Newspaper Calls GOP Presidential Field a ‘Clown Car’ Then Endorses Bozo
    http://www.pensitoreview.com/2011/12/28/right-wing-boston-newspaper-calls-gop-presidential-field-a-clown-car-then-endorses-bozo/

    http://www.pensitoreview.com/Wordpress/wp-content/themes/mimbo2.2/images/art-romney-as-clown.jpg

    http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?&articleid=1391507
    `

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Right-Wing Boston Newspaper Calls GOP Presidential Field a ‘Clown Car’ Then Endorses Bozo"

    Bozo might have more ideas.

    hennasplace, those stories you cited are just horrible. And yet, all we hear about are the cupcakes. *shaking head*

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:52 PM

    Hey Field, that santa murder you blogged about looks more and more like it was a Muslim honor killing:

    >The murderer, identified as 56-year-old Aziz Yazdanpanah, apparently went to his estranged wife’s apartment dressed in costume and killed six people. Sadly, this included his own children and family members.

    Aziz Yazdanpanah, a Muslim, didn‘t like his daughter’s non-Muslim boyfriend and was exhibiting stalker behavior<

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous1:10 PM

    The Dallas Morning News reported more on the killer:

    "But a more ominous portrait emerged of Yazdanpanah in interviews with some of his daughter’s other classmates.

    “She would come to school crying and telling us her dad was crazy,” said Lacie Reed, 18. “He wouldn’t let her wear certain things. He was always taking her phone away, checking her call history and checking her text messages.”

    Friends said Nona’s father had installed cameras all around the home so he could watch the family’s comings and goings. Others said he nailed her bedroom window shut so she could not sneak out at night and see her boyfriend.

    “She couldn’t date at all until she was a certain age, but when he was going to let her date she couldn’t date anyone outside of their race or religion,” Reed said."

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Aziz Yazdanpanah, a Muslim, didn‘t like his daughter’s non-Muslim boyfriend and was exhibiting stalker behavior<"

    Scary stuff!

    All in the name of religion.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thomas1:35 PM

    A particularly crazy and violent religion.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1:50 PM

    Yes Field:

    People will now take a stand of their civil rights and it will be all due to seizure of a cupcake. Don't you understand that the cupcake is as America as apple pie? There are two reality shows one is a competition and the other one is about two sisters who own a cupcake bakery in DC. Why the cupcake is important. I'm sarcastic, but it goes to how people will focus on something that is easy to understand. A cupcake is easy, asking the question when isn't the cargo hole doesn't undergo tough security and goes almost unchecked not so much. It's like what happened some years ago when some animal rights activists were protesting the Batman movie with the Penguin. First, the protesters didn't realize that the penguins were not real as they were mechanical, and secondly, they also didn't notice the homeless they stepped over to get to the protest. I have to coin the phase from the Onion this is "Our Dumb World." It doesn't help that the MSM don't ask probing questions about anything. The media didn't ask questions about the National Defense Authorization Act - NDAA that would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and imprison people, including U.S. citizens, without charging them or putting them on trial. Which means we could see the return of internment camps. This means indefinite detention of people without any due process and it's because we are fighting the war on terror that may last until the 12th of never, or someone say until danger of terror is no more. Which I don't think is ever going to happen as we can see from the war on drugs worked so well. Unbelievable.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ hennasplace: Yep. And now the Department of Homeland security is tracking your social network postings:


    "The Department of Homeland Security makes fake Twitter and Facebook profiles for the specific purpose of scanning the networks for 'sensitive' words - and tracking people who use them.

    Simply using a word or phrase from the DHS's 'watch' list could mean that spies from the government read your posts, investigate your account, and attempt to identify you from it, acccording to an online privacy group.

    The words which attract attention range from ones seemingly related to diseases or bioweapons such as 'human to animal' and 'outbreak' to other, more obscure words such as 'drill' and 'strain'.

    The DHS also watches for words such as 'illegal immigrant'."


    Illegal immigrant? WTH could that be about? Drill???

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sheriff Joe2:28 PM

    Illegal immigrant? WTH could that be about? Drill???

    They want to make sure there are no Americans stopping the democratic agenda of destroying the US by being against Illegal Immigrants and the associated handouts. Just ask Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "A particularly crazy and violent religion."

    What's more crazy and violent than Conservative Christianity?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Osama4:14 PM

    Islam, you fucking moron.

    Is there anyone as determinedly stupid as uptownsteve?

    ReplyDelete
  15. So Islam colonized and committed genocide across four fucking continents?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Osama5:11 PM

    No, only three (Asia, Africa and Europe) - but only because they weren't very good with sailing. But they were (and are) very good with actual genocide (just ask the Sudanese).

    Your false history of Christian 'genocide' aside, how could anyone (even you) attempt to draw some equivalency between Islam, in the name of which over 18,000 terror attacks have taken place in the past 10 years (aka 'now'), any other religion?

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. So much for the Bell Curve theory.

    You forgot about the North and South American continents as well as Australia where white christians wiped out entire races of people.

    And George Bush's invasion of Iraq, a nation which neither threatened nor invaded us and resulted in the slaughter of over 100,000 Iraqis was what?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Osama,you must admit that Christianity has a history.
    But I get your point;in this day and time I will ride with the Christian over the fanatical Muslim. But all fanatics who are fanatical about their chosen one to worship scare me.

    ReplyDelete
  20. uptownsteve said...

    What's more crazy and violent than Conservative Christianity?

    Black people.

    ReplyDelete
  21. uptownsteve said...
    And George Bush's invasion of Iraq, a nation which neither threatened nor invaded us and resulted in the slaughter of over 100,000 Iraqis was what?

    Iraq never threatened us?

    Slaughter of over 100,000 Iraqis?


    Is you dat stupid?

    ReplyDelete
  22. "But I get your point;in this day and time I will ride with the Christian over the fanatical Muslim"

    Tell that to the Tiller family.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous6:21 PM

    uptownsteve said...
    "But I get your point;in this day and time I will ride with the Christian over the fanatical Muslim"

    Tell that to the Tiller family.


    Steve Islam hates you, well not really, you are just garbage to Islamicists. Right off the bat they have three reasons to kill you on sight or treat you like garbage - you are Black, a little cocksucker and act like a woman. Looking at people like you spew shit I only wish that you could live under Sharia law for a couple weeks and get exactly what you are asking for and deserve.

    Oh and by the way

    "Tell that to the Tiller family"

    No, you tell that to these families and know that when the shit hits the fan I wouldn't want some "American" like you near me:

    Gordon M. Aamoth, Jr., 32, Sandler O'Neill + Partners, World Trade Center.
    • Edelmiro Abad, 54, Brooklyn, N.Y., Fiduciary Trust Company International, World Trade Center.
    • Marie Rose Abad, 49, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., World Trade Center.
    • Andrew Anthony Abate, 37, Melville, N.Y., Cantor Fitzgerald, World Trade Center.
    • Vincent Paul Abate, 40, Brooklyn, N.Y., Cantor Fitzgerald, World Trade Center.
    • Laurence Christopher Abel, 37, New York City, Cantor Fitzgerald, World Trade Center.
    • Alona Abraham, 30, Ashdod, Israel, Passenger, United 175, World Trade Center.

    ................
    http://www.azfamily.com/news/List-of-those-killed-on-911-129584008.html

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous6:24 PM

    It seems that either there are too few or too under qualified teachers to manage special needs children.

    They seem to be acting out of frustration and stress and not in a professional or therapeutic manner.

    How do you handle a situation where a child "smirks and throws a ball across the room" instead of putting it down or handing it over to the teacher? It seems to me that's one out of control classroom to begin with.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous6:28 PM

    uptownsteve said...
    So much for the Bell Curve theory.

    You forgot about the North and South American continents as well as Australia where white christians wiped out entire races of people.

    And George Bush's invasion of Iraq, a nation which neither threatened nor invaded us and resulted in the slaughter of over 100,000 Iraqis was what?


    Uptown Steve, the Obamabot perfect uselful idiot who literally sticks to the talking points he is fed, clearly not understanding a thing behind them. You have the nerve with your intellect to make jokes about the Bell Curve? How embarassing for you.

    ReplyDelete
  26. They used to swat us with a big old paddle when I was an annoying kid. Myself, I've found it better just to talk annoying kids into kicking their own asses.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anon-Goober

    Shall I name the folks who were killed at the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City?

    Or maybe the 100,000 dead Iraqis?

    ReplyDelete
  28. "Looking at people like you spew shit I only wish that you could live under Sharia law for a couple weeks and get exactly what you are asking for and deserve."

    I'm not trying to live in an Islamic nation.

    And from what I see, they wish Westerners would quit trying to come over there as well.

    That's what the terrorism is all about.

    If the West would leave them alone, they'd leave us alone.

    Real simple.

    ReplyDelete
  29. "Iraq never threatened us?"

    How?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Osama6:48 PM

    uptownsteve said...
    So much for the Bell Curve theory.

    You forgot about the North and South American continents as well as Australia where white christians wiped out entire races of people.
    -------------------

    I was referring to the Muslim campaigns in Asia, Africa and Europe.

    It took advanced sailing technology to get to the continents of North and South America and Australia.

    And what "entire races of people" did white Christians wipe out?

    Many native Americans died from Old World diseases, but this would have happened even if the Europeans had come bearing gifts, or the Chinese had come instead, or even if the Mayans had sailed to Spain. Germ theory was not developed until the 1700's. Smallpox would have had its way, regardless of the circumstances of its introduction.

    You are all alone over there on the left side of the bell curve, Steven.

    ReplyDelete
  31. "And what "entire races of people" did white Christians wipe out?


    The population figures for Indigenous peoples of the Americas in the New World prior to the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus by the end of the 20th century the scholarly consensus had shifted to 50+ million, with some arguing much closer to 100 million or more throughout the entire Western Hemisphere.

    Including 25 million in the Aztec Empire and 12 million in the Inca Empire, 7 Million in the Maya Empire, 3 Million IN Canda and Hawaii.

    In what is now Brazil, the indigenous population was near 8 million.

    Using an estimate of approximately 50 million people in 1492 the lowest estimates give a death toll due to Genocide of an astonishing 80% by the end of the 16th century (8 million people in 1650).

    In 1788 Australia was invaded and the Indigenous population dropped from about 1 million to 0.1 million over the next century through disempowerment, dispossession, deprivation, disease and massacre (the last massacres occurring in the 1920s). However in the 20th century, the Aboriginal Genocide largely continued due to egregious deprivation, “captive” labor (paid in flour, tea and sugar) and a racist policy of forced removal of children from their mothers (the so-called Stolen Generations). This shocking, large-scale, genocidal practice was only terminated in the 1970s.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous7:10 PM

    uptownsteve said...
    Anon-Goober

    fuck you dirty racist nigger

    ReplyDelete
  33. SHOCK!!!! The killer santa was muslin. Who knew muslims celebrated Christmas?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Note racist steve has to go back hundreds of years to list examples.

    With muslims, you only have to go back a hour to list examples.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Osama7:41 PM

    Adopting children is what you call genocide?

    Inflated figures of pre-Columbian American populations are just revisionist attempts to exaggerate the population losses of natives. Estimates made closer to the time peak out about 10 to 20 million.

    Again, the losses were due to disease, not death camps.

    In any event there are much more than 100 million native Americans alive today.

    ReplyDelete
  36. "Again, the losses were due to disease, not death camps."

    Oh, that makes it more acceptable.

    LOL!!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Osama8:02 PM

    uptownsteve said...
    "Again, the losses were due to disease, not death camps."

    Oh, that makes it more acceptable.

    LOL!!!
    --------------

    Yes, it does you moron.

    One is purely accidental, the other is intentional.

    Germ theory was not developed until more than 200 years after the initial contact led to the decimation of native populations.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Osama8:15 PM

    The bigger issue is, steve, why do you excuse violence and destruction going on today because of violence and destruction that was committed centuries ago?

    ReplyDelete
  39. ditto fn!

    i have never wanted children

    i have 1 nephew
    and it is bliss...

    i pity all good smart children who now live in a world where they are grossly outnumbered by turbo bred dumb violent inhumane brats...

    and i pray for all of them each day

    and they will be more outnumbered each year

    shame!!!!!!!

    http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/732481441/the-impeading-doom-of-the-nation---the-deliberate-death-of-public-education/

    ReplyDelete
  40. ps:

    i adore teaching children

    but i hate living with them!

    ReplyDelete
  41. About those Iraq death numbers you cite. You know its based on a household survey, not putting fingers on bodies and counting. Most likey you got those numbers from the same group that once claimed 655,000 Iraqis had been killed. Whatever happen to that number?

    ReplyDelete
  42. My Black Snake Make You Moan8:58 PM

    AB, if you ever change yo mind let me know.

    I is been wondering why you spend so much time here.

    I got what you need.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYNA6qUNTE

    ReplyDelete
  43. silly assnon:

    and the bad dumb kids that assnons like you turbo breed are taking their toll on stressed out teachers

    shame!!!

    http://yourblackwoman.blogspot.com/2011/12/teacher-stabs-another-teacher-16-times.html

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous9:30 PM

    "Again, the losses were due to disease, not death camps."

    :) Can anybody say smallpox blankets?

    ReplyDelete
  45. My Black Snake Make You Moan10:22 PM

    Brother field. I notice you didn't give love to Slim Dunkin. Brother Slim was killed over some gum.

    I hope 2012 brings love and respect amongst our people. The violence must end.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Anonymous10:24 PM

    UTS is correct. No matter how many Tales O Witey come from the Wingnut Wurlitzer, all one has to do to accept UTS is to, like, read the source material.
    I really don't see Newtie or the Christianist as 'soruces'. Unless one counts them as horribly, terribly influenced by the eveel gay agenda of getting married.

    If Goober is so inclined, they might wish to review just the European History written in English about the genocide practiced upon the Irish, the Scots, and others located in the European lands more familiar to 'Mericans.

    Before trying to sell the lies of David Barton and other scam artists, you might want to assume that at least some of the posters, like, have actual expertise in the field. And yes, more than Newtie...who seems only concerned with re-creating Old Testament jerkholes.

    Mold

    ReplyDelete
  47. Anonymous10:29 PM

    Oh, and what does MommsDearest hope to get from her settlesment from the School District? A never-needs-to work ever agin payoff?
    Contrary to the fantasy of Gooberites, most SDs depend on out-of-district funds...like the Feds and the State...to keep operating. It is less a cash cow...and far, far more of Welfare for those living in the poorer areas.

    Mold

    ReplyDelete
  48. Anonymous10:42 PM

    Field, do you plan to allow UTS on your blog in 2012? I mean he is the biggest racist on FN and probably in the country. He keeps calling Whites goober which is disrespectful and down right insulting. He is a racist fool and a disgrace to the human race.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Wow, what a sad and terrible story. The people that put that little boy in a bag need to be put in a cell.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anonymous10:56 PM

    This story only proves that we need a national exam for teachers because there are too many of them who are totally incompetent. There are more unqualified teachers than there are good ones. It's time to test teachers and get rid of at least 60% of them.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Desertflower said...
    "Again, the losses were due to disease, not death camps."

    :) Can anybody say smallpox blankets?
    -----------

    That is mostly myth, and at best refers to a single incident.

    There was no "genocide" perpetrated in America.

    ReplyDelete
  52. mold said... "you might want to assume that at least some of the posters, like, have actual expertise in the field."


    That would not include you, obviously. The only thing you have actual experience in is dumpster-diving.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Anonymous11:58 PM

    Anonymous said...
    UTS is correct. No matter how many Tales O Witey come from the Wingnut Wurlitzer, all one has to do to accept UTS is to, like, read the source material.
    I really don't see Newtie or the Christianist as 'soruces'. Unless one counts them as horribly, terribly influenced by the eveel gay agenda of getting married.

    If Goober is so inclined, they might wish to review just the European History written in English about the genocide practiced upon the Irish, the Scots, and others located in the European lands more familiar to 'Mericans.

    Before trying to sell the lies of David Barton and other scam artists, you might want to assume that at least some of the posters, like, have actual expertise in the field. And yes, more than Newtie...who seems only concerned with re-creating Old Testament jerkholes.

    Mold


    UTS is Mold - Mold is UTS they post together and leave together and make just as little sense together. Only someone with literally no brain or capability for logic would think he could fool anyone. Fuck you Steve and fuck your alter ego sock puppet Mold - two names for one big piece of nasty shit.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Anonymous12:01 AM

    Osama said...
    The bigger issue is, steve, why do you excuse violence and destruction going on today because of violence and destruction that was committed centuries ago?


    Mental Retardation - IQ of 65. Cannot understand how complicated things work such as wiping his own ass, counting to two and the world let alone people.

    ReplyDelete
  55. it is painfully obvious this special child needs to be home schooled where he can play with his balls any way he chooses... As for the discussion about genocide it started with Columbus who not only introduced disease (inadvertent) but also used slave labor, torture, starvation, mutilation and numerous other tactics all to quench his lust for gold anyone who says genocide was not perpetrated by white Christians is a liar or an ignorant fool one of these is excusable considering the current state of education in the U.S. the other well we understand troll methodology

    ReplyDelete
  56. JudgeInTheHereAndNow4:21 AM

    finefroghair said...
    it is painfully obvious this special child needs to be home schooled where he can play with his balls any way he chooses... As for the discussion about genocide it started with Columbus who not only introduced disease (inadvertent) but also used slave labor, torture, starvation, mutilation and numerous other tactics all to quench his lust for gold anyone who says genocide was not perpetrated by white Christians is a liar or an ignorant fool one of these is excusable considering the current state of education in the U.S. the other well we understand troll methodology

    Is there one culture who did none of these in history during development? One? Ghanian Asantes? The Acans?

    ReplyDelete
  57. Anonymous4:22 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  58. I think a horse whipping is overdue in Mercer County, KY!

    ReplyDelete
  59. Okay . . . a little set up on this one.

    First, it's horrible what they did. Obviously. We don't pay teachers enough, so we can't screen them or train them enough, because we don't value others, because we don't value ourselves, therefore we'll never be the greatest civilization on Earth again, which is sad. That kid could've died in that bag and thank God he didn't.

    Second, I have a rather severe social anxiety condition related to a brain injury I had when I was a kid. People freakin' horrify me, especially groups of them. Apparently, that's crazy - though, of course, it seems pretty sane from where I sit. Well, the only thing that is actually recommended for the symptoms of my condition is, get this - marijuana. That just sounds like too much fun, doesn't it? That's what large groups of people think, too.

    So, here's the punch line. I'm mental, too, and I don't do my work - but I can't GET a therapy bag!

    I know it's funny, but I swear to God I'm not making up a word.

    ReplyDelete
  60. The bag was a form of restraint. I've seen more elaborate ones, but not in the school system. The one I've seen used would keep the subjects hands and arms bound - much like wrapping a person tightly in a blanket. The head should be out, the shoulders down to the pelvis in the "bag" where the subject could keep their hands to themselves while going through their meltdown.

    Autism in boys is the worse experience. Most get so violent, aggressive, possessive and alpha male behavior that parents look to solutions such as these theraputic bags and other soft restraints as a means to keep their sons safe from hitting others or objects. Society understands - until one of them hit you or your child for no other reason other than an over-stimulus or situation occurs. Then, its time for juvy court and, at times, procedures to lead up to District Court for assault, or even lawsuits! Teachers of contained special needs classes are in the line of fire, as a lot of things are tried to make a productive day in school, but each autistic, aspergers, Downs Syndrome, MR, etc child is different, and there is not enough money to train qualified "shadows" for those needing one-on-one attention.

    These meltdowns are something to behold, unless you are directly in the line of fire. There was a situation in Lenoir County last year where an elementary school autistic boy broke a door window and hit a teacher in the head through the broken window as they tried to hold the door closed so that he could not go after the other students/staff. In NC, they train male janitors and auto mechanics instructors (any male system employee, really) on therapeutic holds in case they get a call that one of the students is "off the chain". A padded room is one thing. Mainstream classroom with other students and staff who don't work at the mental hospital (where they are criminally prosecuted for grabbing grown-azz adults to control them from hurting themselves) is another. One has to have a heart to work many years in a contained special needs class. Thank God for them.

    I'm not sure how the school system here could have handled it better. We do not know if their was an IEP for this child where the system would discuss this form of restraint use for safety of staff, property and other students in that class who may not be able to defend themselves from a mobile autisticly violent child. We do not know if the school system was "testing" a method that was demonstrated during a training session, and this child presented as a test model. Maybe the form of restraint was used on others with positive success. According to "No Child Left Behind" the school system is mandated to provide education for this child. We are not sure if the child displays such aggression at home or in other social situations. Medications? First, one must get the child to a point where they can take a "rescue" med, and that med may take 30-40 minutes to work. The only meds that are "instant results" are injectables. Now, you are talking three or four adults in a rugby squirm holding subject down while one injects. Not the ideal way to give meds, and the school becomes a sitting service for the rest of the day, or the child is on a matt in the corner drooling until the parent comes to pick them up. Not an ideal day, really.

    As far as the voucher system - yes. Please allow parents of special need students to direct their children to schools set up for special needs, rather than a classroom in the back of the school or a separate trailer from the building. Where there are teachers with trained and certified experience that want to be there, where there are shadows for those needing the attention that this child and/or others, and existing in an environment conductive to their education.

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  61. Anonymous1:44 AM

    How come he couldn't just be a crazy person in a santa suit with murderous intent? You all act like no Christian or Jew ever killed family members over family discord. He was a stalker, not because he was a Muslim, but because he was controling ass. There are lots of men in this country just like him who are not Muslim and who slaughter loved ones. Maybe you should watch a few episodes of 48 Hours or some of those other programs that show the great lengths white people go to collect the insurance money of a family member.

    Or maybe you assholes just can't read. That would be, after all, the American way.

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