Autistic Children and Their Rights for an Equal Education and Their Right for Equality

By Rachel Lyman Salt Lake Community College Social Health & Diversity 1110 December 07, 2013

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates one in 88 Children born in 2000 are diagnosed with autism or ASD autism spectrum disorder. In eight years this represents a 68 percent increase in autism rates. This dramatic impact has been felt by school districts nationwide struggling to cope with students who are in need of a high level of support and services. The Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is an educational right in the United States that is guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA. With these acts in place they are designed to meet individual needs of handicapped or exceptional children as well as the needs of non-handicapped children. Tragically, most often profoundly affected children are relegated to segregated environments and are subjected to spending their entire school days behind closed doors. Many of the school teachers and teacher aids working with exceptional children in the classroom have little to no training with autism, with no surveillance and there is little oversight to ensure consistent educational and safety standards. The lack of oversight has resulted in an alarming increase in reported incidents of student abuse. There is a lack of educational funding that has been a contributing factor to this problem and this is a consequence of social marginalization. If the lack of educational funding and cutbacks, staffing, training have exacerbated the mistreatment our exceptional children, then how can society stop marginalizing these children and start advocating to fund this epidemic? Shelia and Andre Foster were the proud parents of an Autistic child named Cody. Cody attended the Leake-Watts School for exceptional young teens. On April 18, 2012 Shelia received a phone call and was told that her son had fainted after playing basketball. The Leake-Watts School paid for Coreys funeral to express their gratitude. It came to light that this was an attempt to cover up the tragic death of young Cory Foster. Parents had requested to see surveillance videos of their sons last moments of life, but the school refused with a court order.

The surveillance video was made public in November 2012 and aired on ABC News, shows Cory playing basketball in the school gym alongside other children. Just a few minutes later Cory was surrounded by staff in a corner of the gym and appears he is pushed facedown by four staff members. About 45 minutes he is seen leaving on a stretcher. Shelia and Andre Foster are now sewing the Leake-Watts School. The staff members involved with the death of Cory Foster are on leave while the trial is going on. One of the staff members told investigators that while Corey was being restrained, he had told them he couldnt breathe. One of the other staff members said if you can talk your fine. Im just picturing him lying there, Shelia Foster told the Journal News. Its painful. Thats my blood. They took so much away from me. I just dont want this to happen to another child. The Foster familys lawyer, Jacob Oresky said, They circled him like thugs or a gang. The staff members at Leake-Watts exercised a lot of force on Corey Foster and they killed him. (Mom Sues Over Sons Death, ABC News, Hill 2) Schools and educational facilities need to understand that they are trusted with our children and exercise the highest possible degree of care in safeguarding their wellbeing. said Oresky. In this case Leake-Watts failed to do so and we dont want to see any other children get hurt due to carelessness. (Mom Sues Over Sons Death, ABC News, Hill 5) Shelia Foster has joined forces with parents around the country whose children have been killed or injured as a result of being physically restrained or put into seclusion rooms at school. They are fighting back and speaking up in support of national legislation that seeks to institute a uniform standard on

restraint and seclusion of nations schools. There are thousands of children that have been traumatized and have been injured at the hands of caregivers and its just unacceptable. What happened to autistic Corey Foster is so tragic and horrible. It was unnecessary for the staff to take such drastic measures. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 5, No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 26 section (2), Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. This does not mean only some of us deserve this right, it means all of us, whether gender, ethnicity, skin color, language, age, ability status, religion, sexual orientation or economic class. Our Nation has written the standard for Human and Civil Rights for all, but for some reason the people with power and authority get to choose what groups will benefit from them. The sad part of this hegemony is that our society with less power (money), 80 percent of our Nation, just confides and doesnt ask any questions. We need to stand up for what we believe in! We need to treat all human beings with kindness and respect! We need to put ourselves in others shoes and decide if they are being treated fair. I believe that the Cycle of Socialization is where we need to make a change. The obvious first leap that people make is the assumption that if we just began to appreciate differences, and treat each other with respect, then everything would be alright, and there would be no oppression. (The Cycle of Socialization, Harro 1) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 4 percent of children have a disability (2009). In 2009, there were 9.3 unique victims of child maltreatment per

1,000 children in the population (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Because States are not required to submit data on the disability status of abused or neglected children, variation in the way States define and collect these data makes it difficult to accurately estimate the rates of maltreatment among children with disabilities. (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2)

A study from Child Maltreatment in 2004 revealed that children with a disability were 1.68 times more likely to experience abuse or neglect than children without a disability. Children with disabilities may not come forth with the information needed to stop the abuse, because they feel ashamed surrounded by an environment that marginalizes and discriminated against them.

Children with or without Disabilities and Type of Maltreatment

Keep in mind while viewing this chart that of the 53.9 million school-age children 5 to 17, about 2.8 million were reported as having a disability in 2010.
Neglect Children with disabilities Children without disabilities Physical abuse Sexual abuse Psychological/emotional abuse Medical neglect

57.4% 51.3%

25.8% 30.1%

8.8% 11.6%

4.4% 4.7%

3.5% 2.3%

We need to make these exceptional children our priority and that means giving them more funding and oversight. We shouldnt be sacrificing these innocent, helpless children to the danger of uneducated teachers or aids. Our Nations schools need to be prepared for the children with extra needs, we need to offer education to our educators and we need to include everyone into our society offering our support and care.

The majority of our Nations power belongs to the wealthy, 20 percent. So, the rest of 80 percent need to cause some havoc if we want to see a change. We need to fight for what is right. If you have a loved one that is exceptional then you need to advocate for them, or if you know someone that has an exceptional family member or friend, reach out to them and over your advocacy. When we become an advocate we: pursuit the influence of our Nations outcomes and this includes public policies and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions that directly affect peoples lives. (Key Concepts, Cohen 2001) We need to spread the word, exceptional children are beautiful children, innocent and in need of our protection from uneducated minds. These exceptional children are capable of achieving the same education as a non-exceptional child; they just need extra support and attention. We can provide what they need by educating their teachers, aids, and society to treat them with respect and love. We need to provide the necessary training and decide on restrictions that should not be used towards children. We cannot afford to abuse or country, which will create a bigger mess to clean up later on. Our Nation needs to provide a minimum standard of training our exceptional teachers and aids. We need to maintain a minimum standard for staffing levels. We need a legal reform that makes child abuse in schools a criminal offense. We should start with surveillance cameras in vulnerable childrens classrooms, to maintain the standard of care is being overseen. Parents, have a talk with your exceptional child, letting them know that they should never let anyone treat them wrong and what that entails. Teach your child to be aware of whats wrong treatment; teach them to tell us when it happens. If they come to us with an injustice, we need to be there advocate, it is our duty, and we are their protectors. We can turn or shoulder on this matter, we need to develop a liberty consciousness. This means we need to be aware of whats going on

with our children, analyze it, take action and determine accountability. We should all write our government and tell them we want our Nation to have equal education for our exceptional children and in order to have that we need educational funding for staffing and training our exceptional children so society will stop marginalizing these children and start advocating to fund this epidemic.

Works Cited: Adams, Blumenfeld, Castaneda, Hackman, Peters, Zuniga. Readings for Social Health and Diversity, Third Edition. Routledge 2013. Johnson, C.P.. Early Clinical Characteristics of Children with Autism In: Gupta, V.B. ed: Autistic Spectrum Disorders in Children. CDC.gov. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc, 13 May 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. Cardone, Barbara A.. What are The Statistics of Abused Autistic Workshopsexexpess.com. Education Workers Group, 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. Children?.

Phillips, Leslie. Behind Closed Doors: Whats Happening to StudentsWith Autism in Americas Public Schools?. Nationalautismassociation.org. National Autism Association, 25 Jan. 2012. Web. 2 December. Ross, Brian. Death at School: Parent Protest Dangerous Discipline for Autistic, Disabled Kids. ABCnews.go.com. ABC World News, 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.