Special Education Law Blog

Lack of Appropriate Interventions and Training Lead to Tragic Results

In the news today are two  stories that spotlight the need for better and more comprehensive services for students and training for staff. In one case a special education student with autism was shot 5 times and killed by the on-campus officer after the student stabbed him with a knife. The article does not present all of the facts of the case but it raises issues as to how well did the police officer understand the student: how he processed verbal directions, his motivations and his mind-set. There is no doubt a larger context to this story than the article reveals.

Would  better  police training  have resulted in a  different  non-lethal  outcome. The NAACP commented:

"'There are many dedicated law enforcement officials who serve selflessly every day but may need better training on how to handle confrontations safely,'the NAACP stated. "The unfortunate incident in South Carolina underscores the urgency of implementing national standards on the use of force, training and monitoring practices so that law enforcement officers do not cause the unnecessary loss of life.'"

"Where the Wild Things Are" Useful for Students With Autism

I went to see Where the Wild Things this past weekend. The movie is an adaptation of the classic children's book. The director Spike Jonze in an interview on NPR discussed that the main character Max was selected for the role in part because his vivid facial expressions that show the emotions the character is experiencing during the movie. The movie explores how Max and the monsters have to deal with strong and sometimes out of control emotions. 

For some students who have autism, the movie could be a movie-social story about emotions: recognizing the facial expressions of different emotions and understanding how strong emotions can be overwhelming and have consequences. Although I am not an "autism expert," I have represented a lot of students on the autism spectrum, and have seen first hand how misunderstandings about emotions and how to cope with various emotions can lead to real life unwanted consequences. The movie is very spare and the emotions expressed are clear and unambiguous making it more useful for students with autism. Perhaps viewing the movie on DVD (when available) allowing for stopping and starting and freeze-frame might be the way to go. While there is more to curriculum than watching videos, and I normally think that movies are used as giant time-wasters in school, the movie Where the Wild Things Are should be considered an exception.

School Violence Today is Really About Gun Violence

Violence in schools appears to many to be a recent problem. However, violence in schools did not start with Columbine.  Interestingly violence in schools has a long history in the good old fashioned one room school house. Apple for the teacher and a rock through the window! The difference is that given the prevalence of guns in this country violence becomes lethal and at times on a large scale basis. Jonathan Zimmerman, a History Professor at NYU, in a recent commentary in the Philadelphia Enquirer observes that:

"We've always had school violence, and we've had youth gangs for a long time, too. The new factor is gun possession, plain and simple."

Taking a historical view of school violence should finally lay to rest the other prevailing view that school violence is a byproduct of special education inclusion. Inclusion is not the driving force behind school violence especially since in the 19th and early 20th century there was no inclusion, but there was still school violence.  The horrible tragedies occurring in our schools are the result of a failure of our society to control guns, not the promulgation of IDEA or its predecessor Act first enacted in the 1970s.

Possible Future Research Potential for Autism Treatment from Cord Blood Stem Cells

About 10 years ago my brother and sister-in-law generously allowed us to "bank" their son's (our nephew's) cord blood at the time of his birth, for an indefinite future where the stem cells in the cord blood could have real therapeutic applications. I have at least one client, who have gone abroad for stem cell treatments, and claim very positive effects. We have been using Cord Blood Registry ("CBR") as the bank for the stem cells. I just received the following notice (see below) about possible research opportunities using cord blood to investigate therapies to address autism.  Read the discussion in http://www.blisstree.com/autismvox/another-autism-treatment-stem-cell-therapy/ as a caution about stems cells as a current viable therapy. Nevertheless,  I thought this notice would be worthwhile to share. We all need  hope within the confines of safe and proven therapies.

Special Education a Risk Factor for Violence in Chicago Public School's Model

Ron Huberman, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, has unveiled a plan [Download Students_At_Risk pdf]to address violence in and around schools in the wake of the tragic killing of Derrion Albert, a Chicago Public School student, who is the latest victim of violence that was captured on video and posted online. The plan is based upon statistics that reveal the killings and violence are not totally random.  The data shows that the students at highest risk of violence are:

" most likely black,male, without a stable living environment, in special education,skipping an average of 42 percent of school days at neighborhood and alternative schools, and having a record of in-school behavioral flare-ups that is about eight times higher than the average."

The new model is also leading to a rethinking of the security policy to favor mental health interventions and prevention over policing and punishment. To me the sum total of this model reveals that suspensions, expulsions are simple and summary answers to deep-seated and complex mental health, learning and economic problems. This model is not the first time that the City has studied this issue of school violence. Perhaps the very public death of Derrion Albert will actually lead to more thoughtful data-driven actions that will start to make a difference.

Thank to my cousin Mark Mlawer for bringing this NYTimes article to my attention.

New Approach to Reduce Suicide Attempts Among Teens at Risk

A recently published report addresses a new approach to teenage suicide attempts. The report is summarized as follows:

"A novel psychotherapy used in the study—cognitive behavioral therapy for suicide prevention (CBT-SP—was developed to address the need for a specific psychotherapy that would prevent or reduce the risk for suicide reattempts among teens. CBT-SP consisted of a 12-week acute treatment phase focusing on safety planning, understanding the circumstances and vulnerabilities that lead to suicidal behavior, and building life skills to prevent a reattempt. A maintenance continuation phase followed the acute phase."

The preliminary findings of this report, although based upon a small sample,  show real effectiveness in address this pressing issue. I hope school social worker and psychologists will review the findings and take stock of the need for intensive therapy to addresses the lethal risks.

This past year I have had at least double the number of teen clients who have had severe mental health issues and many of them at risk of suicide. The response from the schools has varied from total denial of the issue, to avoidance of the issue, or claiming it was merely a family issue having nothing to do with the educational needs of the child. I had one school social worker claim that the student was not hearing voices since he had never seen him conversing to someone who was not there. When asked if he had actually asked the student the basic question "are you hearing voices" he finally admitted that he had not, but claimed there was no basis to ask the question since he never observed anything unusual making the whole discussion quite circular.  He persisted in this argument despite the fact that parents had emailed and report their child's unusual behavior to the social worker.

The unfortunate fact is that the risks of suicide for teens are real and apparently increasing. School personnel need to be vigilant and mindful when parents report aberrant behaviors, depressive patterns and other risk factors.

School Cop Beats Student With Special Ed Needs Caught on Tape

At a school in Dolton, Illinois, an on campus police officer was caught on videotape  beating a special education student for not having his shirt tucked. It would be great if such incidents were uncommon but they are not. The tension on many school campuses that I visit is palpable. I sometimes feel like that the staff is expecting the students to stage a rebellion at any time, so any real or perceived slight or disrespect can be met with stiff consequences, albeit not normally in the nature of a physical beating.

One of my first cases over a decade ago involved a student who would not confess to being the next Columbine-style killer. The incident arose in the weeks following the tragic incident when any "odd" special education student received extra scrutiny and were profiled as a threat. My client came close to a full emotional breakdown when the staff brought the school detective in to take over the interrogation. Although she was not physically violent, her aggressive words had a bad effect on my client's mental well-being.

Advocates Play A Vital Role in the Sped Process

It is great having Pam on staff as a full-time advocate. She is able to bring her "mom-sense" and special education expertise to the table without making every case a replay of her personal battles with the school. Not every advocate I have seen is able to maintain this level of objectivity, which can lead to increased hostilities instead of moving towards possible resolution. My colleague and fellow COPAAN, Robert Crabtree has written a useful list of dos and don'ts for parents and their advocates. If this list was followed there would lot more effective non-attorney special education advocates, which would be a good thing for parents. Parents would be well advised to insist that their advocates follow many of these points.

New Study Shows One in A Hundred Children Have Autism

A recent Federal study shows that the actual number of children who have autism is not 1 in 150 as previously reported but 1 in 100. It is unclear whether it is an increase in prevalence or an increase in diagnosis. The Atlantic Monthly reports that the increase in numbers is a result of the fact that an autism diagnosis paves the way for funding. While there may some truth in this story from the Atlantic Monthly, in my experience and in discussions with several therapists, there is an absolute increase in the number of children with autism. Schools are generally not well equipped to handle the numbers of students in the system now. If in fact that there will be many more students who are going to require special education for autism, schools will need  to significantly revamp their programs to address the numbers and increased needs.

October Is National Disability Employment Month

The U.S. Department of Education has issued a proclamation that October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. While I am glad for the greater attention to this essential issue, however, I can not feel that nice proclamations and a special monthly designation are merely nice rhetorical flourishes. We need the US DOE to  set guidelines, goals, standards and priorities to actually increase employment for people with disabilities. A good start would be for the US DOE to vigorously insure that the SEAs are holding LEAs responsible for full implementation of their transition responsibilities under IDEIA. We will not see greater rates of employment until schools recognize the centrality of transition planning, which day to day I have not seen.