ABC News Brian Ross Reports On Harsh Restraints Of Children With Special Needs Thursday November 29

As set out in the following ABC News Release:

November 29, 2012

BRIAN ROSS INVESTIGATES:

Moms Fight Back Against Harsh Methods to Restrain Students with Special Needs

Advocates say Thousands Injured and Many Killed after Poorly Trained Educators Using restraint Techniques Unsafely

Report will Air on “World News with Diane Sawyer” and “Nightline”  on Thursday, November 29

Thousands of American school children who suffer with autism or have other behavioral issues have reportedly been injured and dozens have died after poorly trained teachers and school aides tried to subdue them, a major ABC News investigation has found.  It is a troubling trend in the use of unduly harsh methods to restrain students who misbehave. The report from ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross airs Thursday, November 29 on “World News with Diane Sawyer” and “Nightline.”  In addition, it will be featured on ABCNews.com, Yahoo!, ABC News Radio and ABC’s local affiliates.

Ross interviewed a number of people at the center of this shocking investigation, including victims’ mothers, children with compelling and chilling firsthand accounts, Congressman George Miller who is calling for national legislation restricting how and when restraints can be used on school children, and the Head of the School Superintendents Association, who opposes the legislation and says schools need the ability to use a variety of techniques to restrain children who poses a risk of harm to themselves or others.

“World News with Diane Sawyer” airs at 6:30 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.  Michael Corn is the executive producer of the broadcast. Follow Diane Sawyer and the “World News” team online: @DianeSawyer; @ABCWorldNews; facebook.com/DianeSawyer; facebook.com/WorldNews.

ABC News’ “Nightline” is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. Juju Chang is a correspondent. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program, number one in late night, airs weeknights from 11:35 p.m., ET to 12:00 a.m. on the ABC Television Network.  

ABC News Media Relations: David Ford / david.ford@abc.com / 212.456.7243

Autism and Poverty in Indonesia: Autistic Child Kept On a Leash

"I don’t think we are still living in a time when people could be put on a leash for a health or mental problem"

Kronjo village chief Rudi Mahfudin, Indonesia

Autism, particularly severe autism, presents huge challenges for families in Canada and the United States.  In some parts of the world though the situation is much more desperate.  In Poverty forces parents to keep autistic child on a leash The Jakarta Post reports about a 10 year old boy with severe autism behavior challenges whose family, living in poverty in Saga farming village, with no assistance from authorities, has been forced to keep the boy on a leash to prevent him from wandering off and to prevent him from acting aggressively towards others in their village:

“After his third birthday, Agus had tantrums and we often saw him talking to himself. He also frequently left home, sometimes not coming back for days,” he said. Fajar suspected that the tantrums may have had something to do with the death of their father, Haryono,Their mother Haderi, 45, was pregnant with Agus when Haryono passed away. The sudden death of Haryono may have had a deep psychological impact on Haderi. Fajar said his mother went into depression. 

After learning that Agus was suffering from autism, the family could only do little to find appropriate medical treatment for him, given their financial condition. So rather than having to search for Agus whenever he left home, the family decided to put a leash on him. “We have no choice. We are afraid that Agus could hurt others,” Fajar said. 

The family has tried to contact the local administration to seek help, but their calls have fallen on deaf ears, Soon after the death of Haryono, Haderui worked to support the family as a farm labor collecting unhusked rice left over from harvests in Tenjo Ayu, Serang. A local leader said that Agus was not the only one. Neighborhood unit head Tohir said that there are at least five autistic children who had not received aid from the authorities."

The Incomprehensible Death of a 9 Year Old Autistic Boy In Quebec

The Montreal Gazette has reported the following information from the Conorer's report into death of a 9 year old autistic boy, Gabriel Poirier:

"A coroner's report released today revealed suffocation as the probable cause of the death of a nine-year-old autistic boy. ... After being told repeatedly to calm down by a teacher, he was rolled in a weighted blanket. With his arms by his side, he was left on his stomach for over 20 minutes with only his toes exposed. When the teacher went to check on him, he was "listless and blue in the face," the Coroner's report said. "

Arms Restrained
Face covered (only his toes exposed)
Left on his stomach
Left unattended for over 20 minutes

If that information is correct it is difficult for me to see the actions by the teachers involved, who owed a duty of care to that child, to be anything less than gross incompetence and negligence, possibly criminal negligence. I can think of no excuse or justification for their actions.

The death of 9 year old Gabriel Poirier is incomprehensible.

autism

Wisconsin Teachers Improperly Restrained Students With Autism

Teachers in a Racine, Wisconsin school district, the Unified School District, have been improperly restraining autistic school children and other children with cognitive disabilities. The Journal Times Online reports that a young autistic boy had been restrained in a chair with a belt for up to 50 minutes a day, without his mother's knowledge, and without entering information concerning the restraint on his Individual Education Plan. The teacher's involved were using it to "remind him to sit" and lacked adequate training in behavioral interventions for autistic children.

The "educators" involved, the bureaucrats, and the politicians who fail to ensure that educators working with autistic children have adequate autism specific training all deserve a share of responsibility for situations like this. But so too do the "autism acceptance" ideologues who continually, despite decades of evidence of its effectiveness, try to denigrate Applied Behavior Analysis as a proven effective method of helping address problem behavior in autistic children and helping them make real social, communication and intellectual gains. The anti-ABA crowd provide cover to bureaucrats and politicians who want to avoid the financial cost of paying for ABA trained teacher aides and teachers, to provide autistic children with a real education free of unnecessary restraints.

autism