Ray Schmitt, a resident of Herico County (VA, US) where he lives with his daughter who has mild mental retardation and autism, wrote a critique of the recent decision by Judge Robert Payne holding Henrico County Schools culpable for failing to provide a free and appropriate public education for Reid Tutwiler. I covered the decision in a previous post on EBD Blog.
Mr. Schmitt’s concerns center in part around his self-professed belief that litigation does not help to solve society’s problems. However, he raises other concerns that have to do with the costs of Judge Payne’s decision, and the effects of such decisions on educational policy and practice.
My point here is that there are times when practicality, reality and a sense of reasonableness must factor into decisions made by parents, schools and the legal system. I went through an agonizing internal debate many years ago, wondering whether I should send my daughter to a private school and fight the county to pay for it. I chose not to because sometimes you just have to accept reality. Sometimes a child is simply unable to learn. It’s one of the most difficult things a parent will ever have to accept, but it’s something to consider.
Let’s look at it another way. I drive a Cavalier. I would love for it to perform like a Corvette. If the same theory the Tutwilers and Judge Payne have about education were applied to this situation, then it would stand to reason that my Cavalier should perform just like the Corvette. After all, both cars are made by Chevrolet. Unfortunately, no matter how much I want it to, my car never will run like a ’Vette. It just doesn’t have the components to make it so. Suing General Motors, however, will not solve the problem.
Surely, some readers will agree and some will disagree with Mr. Schmitt’s analysis. For more, please read the article. This link points to Mr. Schmitt’s comments.
Update (1 Aug 2006): Over on The Life that Chose Me Dick’s covered this, too.
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Among the many fine resources available from the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, one is a free service for parents about parenting by Roger McIntire. Many parents, whether they are concerned about the behavior or a child with emotional and behavioral disorders or a child who doesn’t have such problems, seek advice about how to handle difficulties. Professor McIntire, author of Teenagers and Parents: 10 Steps to a Better Relationship, Raising Good Kids in Tough Times: 7 Crucial Habits for Parent Success (Amazon link), and College Keys: Getting In, Doing Well, and Avoiding the 4 Big Mistakes (Amazon link), appropriately avoids offering closely personalized consultation, but he does provide explicit and sensible advice about the general problems submitted for his review. And his recommendations are predicated on sound theory and solid evidence.
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Professor David Schwebel and colleagues of the Department of Psychology and the Youth Safety Lab at the University of Alabama Birmingham (AL, US) reported that mothers’ ignoring of dangerous behavior correlates with children with externalizing behavior. These results are consistent with other research showing that parental monitoring of behavior is a component in Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.
How mothers parent their children with behavior disorders: implications for unintentional injury risk.
How mothers parent their children with behavior disorders: implications for unintentional injury risk.
J Safety Res. 2006;37(2):167-73
Authors: Schwebel DC, Hodgens JB, Sterling S
INTRODUCTION: This study was designed to test the role of parental supervision in explaining why children with behavior disorders have increased risk of unintentional injury. METHOD: Children referred to a pediatric behavior disorders clinic and their mothers were unknowingly observed in a “hazard room” environment that housed several items that appeared dangerous but actually were altered to be safe. RESULTS: Mother and child behavior in the hazard room was correlated to parent-, teacher-, and observational-reports of children’s externalizing behavior patterns, children’s injury history, and mother’s parenting styles. Maternal ignoring of children’s dangerous behavior in the hazard room was the strongest correlate to children’s injury history. CONCLUSIONS: Poor parental supervision might serve as a mechanism to explain why children with behavior disorders, and those with oppositional behavior patterns in particular, have increased risk of unintentional injury.
Link to PUBMED abstract.
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Writing in the July 2006 issue of The Lancet, Professor Gillian Baird and colleagues reported the results of a population-cohort study of the prevalence of Autism in the United Kingdom. The found 38.9 cases per 10,000 and 77.2 per 10,000 for childhood autism and autism spectrum disorders, respectively, for a total of 1.16%.
Prevalence of autism and related ASDs is substantially greater than previously recognised. Whether the increase is due to better ascertainment, broadening diagnostic criteria, or increased incidence is unclear. Services in health, education, and social care will need to recognise the needs of children with some form of ASD, who constitute 1% of the child population.
in 2005, Craig Newschaffer and colleagues examined birth cohort curves based on US special education data and found that the prevalence of autism was increasing over time, with higher prevalence among younger cohorts of children. (They also report data about prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.)
Link to the abstract of the article by Professor Baird and colleagues. Link to the earlier EBD Blog entry on Professsor Shattuck’s study. Link to Professor Newschaffer’s article in Pediatrics.
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After a police officer killed a young man who apparently had Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, the Boise (ID, US) Community Ombudsman has recommended the officers receive additional training in handling unusual situations, according to a report by Aileen Simborio KTRV-TV. Ombudsman Pierce Murphy reviewed the incident in which officer Andrew S. Johnson shot Matthew Jones in December of 2004.
The 16-year-old was shot by Johnson on Dec. 18, 2004, after responding to the Jones family home at the request of Matthew’s father. Johnson shot Jones four times, killing him, after Johnson says he was attacked by Jones, who was carrying a World War Two Japanese rifle with a bayonet attached.
Murphy believes Johnson did not follow proper procedure when he responded. That’s why Murphy is recommending officers go through more training, specifically implementing what’s called a Crisis Intervention Team model which would help officers better respond to situations involving people suffering from mental illness or significant emotional disturbance.
Surely, responding to a situation such as this one is difficult for officers. They are accustomed to demanding (and obtaining) immediate compliance with orders, but most anyone who’s worked with kids with EBD knows that compliance is a common problem. Furthermore, confrontation rarely brings compliance; rather it often causes kids to escalate.
There are curricula available and in use for helping officers of the law to handle individuals with disabilities. Examples are here, here, and here; there are many others. Do you think your community should promote use of these curricula? Would using them reduce the chances of another child being killed? I hope so.
Link to Ms. Simborio’s story. She provided a link to Ombudsman Murphey’s full report, too.
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Under the title “For Autistic Children, Relating to Others Is Life’s Greatest Challenge,” the American Federation of Teachers has an excerpt from Laura Schreibman’s fine 2005 book, The Science and Fiction of Autism. It’s a worthwhile read.
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