5-year-old with ADHD handcuffed, charged with battery on officer
November 27, 2011 by Leslie E. Packer PhD
Filed under Advocacy, Commentary, Featured
All too often, I read something in the news that upsets me with all of my hats on – as a psychologist, a mother, and a disability rights advocate – like the item I posted earlier about using vinegar-soaked cotton balls in the mouths of autistic children or my coverage on this blog of the use of aversives and the controversial Judge Rotenberg Center. Other stories that are particularly upsetting to me are those involving the arrest of young children. I’ve posted some of those incidents in the past on this blog, and in August, I read of another case where Toronto police handcuffed an autistic 9-year-old. Then this week, I saw a news report from California by Dave Manoucheri of KCRA News involving a 5-year-old with ADHD that was very disturbing:
Earlier this year, a Stockton student was handcuffed with zip ties on his hands and feet, forced to go to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and was charged with battery on a police officer. That student was 5 years old.
Michael Davis is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. His mother says it has led to fights at school. But when the school district said it had a plan to change Michael’s behavior, his mother says things went wrong.
“Michael is energetic,” Thelma Gray said. “He is one big ball of energy.”
Gray calls Michael a comedian. She says his biggest problem is his ADHD stops him from thinking before he acts or speaks.
“He’s very loving,” Gray said. “He’s a good kid and he’s not the discipline problem that he was made out to be.”
Those discipline problems include fights with other students, even throwing a chair.
Gray says the school, Rio Calaveras Elementary of Stockton, wanted to change that behavior by having Michael meet with a school police officer.
“He could come out and talk to Michael and the kids are normally scared straight,” said Gray, describing how she says the school district proposed the meeting.
But the meeting didn’t go as planned.
You can read more of the news story on KCRA. In this case, the U.S. Department of Education reportedly did investigate and the news station obtained the report under Freedom of Information. I’m not sure why the department released the report and didn’t invoke FERPA like the district did, but the news station summarizes the report:
The report states that the Stockton Unified School District “delayed an evaluation of the student {Michael} which denied the student a fair and public education.”
They added that the school didn’t offer behavioral services to Michael or his mother, because “it would cost the district money.”
The report goes on to say that, whether or not funds are available through state or federal grants, the school district had an obligation to have Michael evaluated, which it failed to do.
The comments under the news story are also upsetting as the lack of understanding expressed by some people reminds me of how much ignorance still exists about ADHD.
But commenters aside, this case represents a total failure on the part of the school district, the building administration, and the state.
What the heck were the school personnel thinking if they thought a 5 year-old with ADHD could be “scared straight?” That they would even consider this approach demonstrates to me that they do not understand ADHD at all.
Would you want these people educating your child? I wouldn’t. This child might have (or may have?) been seriously psychologically harmed by their inappropriate handling.
I have often noted that schools fail to use research-validated or best practices in handling students with neurological challenges. This is a case in point. Have the school personnel received adequate training in how to educate students with ADHD (or other neurological disorders, for that matter)? Are budgetary concerns an excuse for mishandling a student?
I am not a lawyer, but I hope that the family sues the district. And I hope that as part of any settlement, the district is required to undergo training in best practices for educating students with neurological disorders – and is audited for compliance with I.D.E.A.
In various places around this country, parents have banded together to call for a halt to handcuffing young children. If you have not been involved in such advocacy efforts, you might want to look into what goes on in your area or state lest this happen to your child.
My kids are safe because they are out of school. Are your children safe?
Carousel image credit: © Richard Nelson | Dreamstime.com
