http://www.examiner.com/x-31431-Pittsburgh-Special-Education-Examiner~y2010m3d7-Advocacy-fraud-alert--Michael-E-Robinson-Sr?
The link to original Change.org "Autism Reform Act of 2009" has been changed dues to the deliberate attack from obvious motive from our medical insurance and pharmacies companies.
We are frustrated at the recent action which has change the link.
OUR new link for "Autism Reform Act of 2009" is http://www.change.org/ideas/view/_the_autism_reform_act_of_2009__
Medical industries and companies that disrupt autism community will not go unnoticed!
Rhode Island - September 17, 2008
Note: The only reason this room became public is because they got caught. I wonder how many other public schools have these rooms that parents do not know about.
In the aftermath of a simmering controversy over the creation of a locked isolation room in the basement of the Block Island School, Supt. Leslie A. Ryan has resigned as the district’s special-education director. The existence of the isolation room was first made public by The Providence Journal on June 14, just as the school was closing for the summer. The Journal inquired after receiving an anonymous DVD showing a corridor leading to Room 20, showing a door with two bolts and a hole where a doorknob should be. Inside, one window is boarded up with plywood, and there are pillows and blankets in a jumble on the floor. A letter accompanying the video wondered whether this room was being used for “unruly students.” Read the complete story by clicking on the link below.
http://www.projo.com/education/content/BLOCK_ISLAND_SUPERINTENDENT_09-17-08_D3BJV8V_v40.1a53dc1.html
‘Chill room’ leads Block Island superintendent to give up special education role
07:16 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer
In the aftermath of a simmering controversy over the creation of a locked isolation room in the basement of the Block Island School, Supt. Leslie A. Ryan has resigned as the district’s special-education director.
“As we know, it was wrong to put locks on the chill room,” she said Monday at a School Committee meeting packed with supporters and critics. It was her first public acknowledgement that she was responsible for creating the room.
Ryan, who had doubled as special-education director since 2006, apologized for what she characterized as a painful episode for the island community and said she has always kept the children’s best interests at heart.
She said she was not aware that the room ran afoul of state regulations involving the restraint of students. And, she said, she made the decision to use it during a crisis situation.
She said her resignation was necessary to establish “clear accountability” by separating the special-education director position from that of the superintendent. She will continue as superintendent, but will relinquish her special-education duties as soon as a part-time replacement is hired.
While acknowledging her role in creating the room, Ryan did not disclose to the parents and staff at the meeting that her earlier, repeated representations that the room had been developed in consultation with Bradley Hospital were untrue. She also did not acknowledge that the district had never prepared a written crisis-intervention plan for the student who had been locked in the room, as she earlier told other island officials.
Those disclosures, however, were outlined in a Sept. 2 letter sent to the state Department of Education and the state attorney general’s office. The letter, written by Denise Myers, the school district’s lawyer, was sent to clarify misinformation given to the two agencies earlier.
The existence of the isolation room was first made public by The Providence Journal on June 14, just as the school was closing for the summer. The Journal inquired after receiving an anonymous DVD showing a corridor leading to Room 20, showing a door with two bolts and a hole where a doorknob should be. Inside, one window is boarded up with plywood, and there are pillows and blankets in a jumble on the floor. A letter accompanying the video wondered whether this room was being used for “unruly students.”
Ryan released a terse statement denying the use of any “archaic practices” involving students. She refused a reporter’s request to see the room, and also refused to answer questions about how the room came to be or how it was used.
Police Chief Vincent Carlone, who took a reporter to see the room, said Ryan told him the room had been developed in consultation with Bradley, an East Providence hospital specializing in children with emotional, mental and behavioral challenges.
Bradley officials have repeatedly denied involvement. In July, a hospital spokeswoman said that someone from Bradley consulted with the school early last year about the needs of one student, but did not provide recommendations on the design or development of a specific behavior room.
As the controversy grew, the School Committee hired consultants, who reported publicly late last month that the room violated the state fire code because its door could be bolted from the outside. It also violated state education regulations because staff could not observe students at all times through the small window in the door.
The consultants also reported, for the first time, that the room was used for more than one student and on more than one occasion. They said the room was used for a while as a voluntary “chill out” room for students. At some point, its use became “more restrictive” to handle an overly aggressive boy. They also said that a girl was sent to the room for “undesired behavior.”
After the first story by The Journal, the state Department of Education directed Block Island officials to report, as required by regulations, on any time a student had been physically restrained.
Ryan responded with details of one incident, last Nov. 30, that “required temporary use of a latch” because a student was “attacking staff and trying to punch through a glass door.”
At the School Committee meeting Monday night, Ryan’s resignation was accepted by a 3-to-2 vote. Chairman William Padien and member Anne Hall were opposed. Her $90,000 contract will be renegotiated.
“I feel there were things done incorrectly — wrong,” Padien said, “but there were a lot of things done correctly.” The resignation might be a service to some, but it would be a disservice to others as it stemmed from a single incident, he said.
Prior to the vote, parent Derek van Lent spoke in support of Ryan, saying it was his understanding that Ryan has been “outstanding,” with the exception of one regrettable incident.
John Warfel, a teacher at the 150-student school, cautioned that the combined special education-superintendent position had created an inherent conflict because it essentially required Ryan to supervise herself.
Then former Police Chief William McCombe, acting as advocate for the mother of the boy restrained in the room, suggested “the public didn’t have the whole picture.” He alluded to the Sept. 2 letter containing admissions involving Bradley and a written educational plan for the student. Padien said it wasn’t relevant to the motion. McCombe responded that such details were relevant to Ryan’s performance.
After the meeting adjourned, Myers, the district’s lawyer, was asked why she had written a letter to the Department of Education in late July asserting that the school had an individual education plan and a behavioral plan in place for the boy. She said Ryan had told her so.
“There has never been a behavior plan,” Myers said.
Ryan will not be allowed to have contact with the boy or his sibling, Myers said.
“[Principal Davida Irving] will be in charge of the child,” Myers said. “He will not be dealt with by the superintendent.”
Town Manager Nancy Dodge said yesterday she was perplexed to read the Sept. 2 letter because Ryan had told her repeatedly that there was a behavior plan for the child and that Bradley had been involved “every step of the way.”
“There was no plan,” Dodge said, adding, “I was very surprised to find that out so far along the way.”
***@****
Special Ed Child Kills Self After Being Forced By His School Into Seclusion Cell
December 18, 2008 - 10:21 AM
Category: Wrongful Death
Tags: child abuse, school abuse, special education child abuse, wrongful death
This is a sad story of the wrongful death of a 13 year-old child who needed help from his special ed school but got a form of torture. A few weeks before a 13-year-old north Georgia special education student killed himself, he told his parents that his teachers had put him in "time-out." Understandably, his parents thought this meant their son had to sit in a chair in a quiet area for a few minutes.
Shockingly, however, time-out in the boy's north Georgia special education school was spent in something akin to a prison cell -- a concrete room latched from the outside, its tiny window obscured by a piece of paper. Called a seclusion room, it's where in November 2004, this special student hanged himself with a cord a teacher gave him to hold up his pants.
I am the chairman of the board of a private special education school, and know that the vast majority of professionals who dedicate their careers to special education are angels. I am becoming increasingly aware of and alarmed by the horrific exceptions to this rule. Child abuse in schools and treatment facilities which cater to the most fragile members of society, learning challenged children, is far too common. I am aware of one such case in which the institution advertises itself as having expertise in providing healing services for severely abused children. One family alleges that this institution has no such expertise, and that it purposely employed abusive behavior toward a child in order to force the child to confront his past abuse. The alleged result is that the child is now so traumatized he cannot cope with the public.
Seclusion rooms, sometimes called time-out rooms, are used across the nation, generally for special needs children. Critics say that along with the death of the above-referenced child, many mentally disabled and autistic children have been injured or traumatized.
Few states have laws on using seclusion rooms, though 24 states have written guidelines, according to a 2007 study conducted by a Clemson University researcher. Please contact your local legislators and lobby for laws banning the use of abusive seclusion rooms on our innocent special needs children. They should not be treated like enemy combatants. My heart goes out to the parents of this poor boy. I know from personal experience they fought extra hard to get their child to where he was by age 13. In many ways, that must make his passing even more difficult.
Michael Phelan
Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 375
There is a difference between a recovery room and a time out room. My son has gone to the recovery room. It is a regular size room where there are different things that he can do to calm down. That is not the same as the time out room.
Can I ask what has been the problems with timeout rooms? My son's school has them, and if he needs to go there he is always with his teaching aid. Have some children been left in there on their own? I believe there is a place for these types of areas, but they must be used as an area to calm down and not used as a way of punishment or an area of confinement. The idea behind them should be to help teach them that 'before' they get into such a state they should seek out a quiet area to recover.
5Th Highest Ranked Overall " Idea for change in America "
Posted by: "Michael E. Robinson, Sr." ***@**** peace4kids
Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:36 am (PST)
Listmembers,
Throughout the last few weeks we have had several what I would
call 'shocking' reports regarding the treatment of children with
disabilities and as well the treatment and retaliation of those who
try to help them. The CNN reports of time out rooms and cells should
concern EVERY parent regardless of whether their child is disabled or
not.. if for you have not looked at this site I believe you should,
however awful it may be it is the horrifying truth for the children in
our schools...regardles s of disability or none.
URL could not be posted due to WP.net's rules
After viewing the article and seeing the video of the father of
the child from GA. that died in one recently, it is not a 'fun'
subject to discuss - but discussion must take place and action after such.
The other very shocking news came to you in a post recently..
Regarding an Arizona Advocate that is facing 150 plus years prison in
a retalitory action against him due to the fact he was a 'winning'
advocate with not only a record of due process wins. The arresting of
him with guns drawn is simply wrong. Haven't we had enough ?
So, many parents and those on the Autism Spectrum have responded
rallying the " Autism Reform Act of 2009 " , And relief for those that
have been or are in Special Education or Disabled ".
This is not a replacement for the ADA but I personally think the "ARA"
should be an ACT that is reauthorized and continued after it has been
made acceptable to the President Elect and the Legislative branch that
will ratify and fund it.
THE ACT IS CURRENTLY IN 5TH PLACE IN THE NATION FOR ALL IDEA'S FOR
CHANGE IN AMERICA. In the 'Education' category it is 1st by almost 600
votes and almost 800 votes over the 3rd place idea that will also make
it to the final round.
We have made a statement as not only parents but also those on the
spectrum or with other disabilities. I believe strongly that the
'force' of the movement of parents must at some point, and I believe
the time is NOW, join together with the large population of those on
the spectrum or disabled that are Adults. This is for them, and if we
are going to speak for them they not only deserve a 'say' in it, they
are needed for input that has already been crucial in revising the
proposal in ways I believe will be more acceptable to the
President-Elect and to the entire community that needs to merge..those
with disabilities on the spectrum or not, and those that are parents
of disabled children and are going through the education process. By
looking at the 'finished product' or person that has gone through
special education we get insight that we could only get from someone
that has actually been in the students chair, been denied something
unfairly as an adult such as SSI, being put on waiting lists for
Medicaid waivers, and so on. How long should we just sit here and say
" I don't like this part" " We can't fund this " (We've funded
bailouts totaling a trillion plus when you include the fannie/freddie
and we've also spent just as much/more on war) " This should be
changed " (well email me or respond with some constructive input for a
change or addition to the the ACT) "I just don't have time to read
this post or concern myself with this
because..... ..." (Our children and those that are older kids of ours
come first, take the few moments and do what you can to make the
difference.. Please) " I don't think the Aspies and others that are
adults can make these kind of decisions " ( Believe me they can and
already have !)
So lets open our minds to the possibility of real " Change " , the
kind that counts. Regardless of what political party we follow,
regardless of what beliefs we have that are different " I like the
GFCF diet " " I think HBOT is the way to go " " I think chelation is
all that works " " All kids need a 1:1 aide (this may be close to very
true for the younger kids on the spectrum and with other disabilities) ".
REGARDLESS.. . we must join together and forget about indifferent
feelings on subjects that will result in absolutely NO funding unless
we come together in a strong accord and make something happen.
This is not 'my' act.. as I've said before it belongs to the people,
made by the people, and for the people. I'm just a concerned dad with
a big mouth that types fast (but I can say enough is enough, time for
change NOW) ! No more kids need to die, no more adults on waiting
lists due to underfunding the Medicaid Waiver program, no more kids in
unsafe inappropriate environment pulling out their hair as the one
young girl did in a time out room.... The bottom line is we have an
OPEN DOOR now.. we have attention and need to go after it. Please
email me offlist at .. and let me know your input. It all
counts.. some are major ideas and some are compiled with 'like' ideas,
all of which will appear in some shape or form on the final proposal.
The input I am now getting from the Adults on the spectrum is quite
large. We have several 'groups' ....and in the last 12 years I have
not seen unity at all within them.. lets as parents be patient and
listen to our kids...let them give input..as Adults they have valuable
information. .And those on the spectrum or with other disabilities. .
try to keep an open mind as far as the possibility we now have as the
5th highest rated idea in America and Number 1 in Education a basic
'given'. Those who haven't supported.. please take the time to
register and support - your input matters.
URL could not be posted due to rules on WP.net
Michael E. Robinson, Sr.
The Office of Advocacy for Autistic Children(soon to be Individuals) .