Quote From: dougloeffler
To 'Connorsmom' and all other families that have gone through the fear, uncertainty and anxiety of having your child mistreated at school, I really feel for you since I'm Isabel's dad. I wouldn't wish what happened to us or others like us on anyone in the world. I appreciate your story about finding out that this is happening to other families. After we learned about what was happening to our daughter and started t speaking to other parents we learned that other parents had had similar experiences. Many of them had not fought this but had simply moved. This was the right thing for them to do. For us, we decided the right thing for us was to do was to get to the bottom of this. We fought to clear our daughter Isabel's name and keep this from happening to other families. If it hadn't been for the tape we would have continued to believe that Isabel was the problem, not the school.
Its nice in a sense that this topic is getting so much debate. It really reveals the fears that many parents have that their child's education will be disrupted by 'special needs' kids. I understand that. My younger daughter is not handicapped and I have no desire to disrupt or hurt her education. But it is an interesting fact that despite all of the pain that my younger daughter has suffered along us, I am convinced that she is a better child and will be a better adult because of the relationship she has with her 'special' sister and the lessons she has learned from it.
I would like to 'set the record straight' in a couple of aspects that make most of the comments pretty far off base.
1. Isabel was successfully educated in Colorado for four years-- no physical restraints, no seclusion, no severe problems. She spent the vast majority of her day in general education classes and was thriving.
2. When we moved to Iowa the school had a very different schedule, she was only with regular kids for lunch, PE, specials, and a bit in the morning. Whenever she was in the regular education classes she had an aide. She wasn't a burden to the general education teacher. Almost all of her education was ONLY with other handicapped kids. A FEDERAL COURT HAS RULED THAT THIS CHANGE IN PLACEMENT WAS ILLEGAL; THE SCHOOL'S DEFINITION OF 'INCLUSION' WAS SO OUTDATED THAT IT VIOLATED IOWA AND FEDERAL EDUCATION LAWS.
3. Without our knowledge and contrary to Isabel's educational plan, the school started using physical restraint from SEVERAL STAFF MEMBERS to hold Isabel while she was coloring worksheets. This wasn't an education, it was a punishment for huge crimes like "Refusing to take a break". These episodes of restraint lasted on and off for over 1 hour on several occasions.
4. When the timeout video was filmed, the timeout room ACTUALLY WAS ISABEL'S CLASSROOM. When the desk was there she would do her work. If she refused a command they would take out the desk and she was in timeout. There were several different tasks she had to do to be let out of timeout. Non-handicapped children did not have to do these tasks. She had to sit perfectly still on the floor for 5 minutes CONTINUOUSLY. Even moving a hand or making a face made them reset the timer. She then had to pull apart socks. She then had to finish work there.
5. Before this video, the school had physically taken Isabel to the same room for similar timeouts, even though timeout was not in her plan at that time. She had the same 5 minute sit perfectly still demand. She wet herself almost immediately each time. She slipped in her own urine, asked to change her clothes since her shirt was wet, but was told, "No, your job is to finish timeout."
6. The school staff were trained in a very good program (Mandt System) to train them to avoid the need for restraint and to do 'safe' restraints only if necessary. We were told in writing that the school was using this. The CEO of the Mandt Training company told me that NOTHING that the school did was actually supported by his company's training. Literally not a single thing.
7. As we were trying to figure out what was going on we took Isabel to not one or two but three full evaluations at the best hospital in Iowa.
8. An administrative law judge ruled that Isabel's education plan was illegal and wasn't even followed. A FEDERAL COURT UPHELD THIS RULING AND THE SCHOOL HAS NOT APPEALED. The school did not give Isabel a legally appropriate education.
9. My wife had to homeschool Isabel for 1 1/2 years as we tried to rehabilitate her. She was diagnosed with PTSD and would initially become violent almost anytime we tried to get her to do something that looked like education.
10. We successfully reintegrated Isabel in a California school last year. She is now in her second year of school here. Believe it or not, NOT A SINGLE MOMENT OF PHYSICAL RESRAINT OR SECLUSION.
You figure it out. Four successful years in Colorado. Two successful years in California. Two years of hell in Iowa.
What all of us can do is to support education and our educators. Congress has given them more responsibilities but hasn't provided the money to fund it. I'm sure schools 'lose money' educating Isabel. That isn't fair to other kids.
If you want to learn more about the dangers of resraint in schools I urge you to check out the APRAIS website. It gives you some information about the dangers of restraints, discusses positive alternatives, and provides resources to parents who are concerned about what may be happening to their child.
www.aprais.tash.org
If your child has an educational plan (IEP) and you have questions or concerns about this and/or are looking for someone to advocate for you, you might try the website www.copaa.org This is the Council of Parent Advocates and Attornies and it focuses on special ed issues.
If the publicity from the Dr. Phil Show helps only one other child in the country it will be worth it.
Thanks,
Doug Loeffler
Doug,
Thank you for sharing what you & your family has been through, and what you have done to help your child and others. My frustration was related to the beaurocracy of public education (after escalating the issue to the school district, the state's education department and the feds). With every attempt at resolution resulting in referrals to the next step (... the next agency, the next department, etc), and private consultants, the only relief I could get for my child was to move him ASAP. Ultimately, the resolution was a stroke of luck in finding a school with the right group of educational professionals to support the needs of EACH STUDENT they work with. I can only hope that the next school my son attends has learned from the example that the elementary school leadership has displayed. It all comes down to mutual respect and suspending judgement of the child and family. (At least until one has walked in their shoes, so to speak.)
(Original Air Date: 12/05/08) When you send your children to school, you expect them to be taught in a nurturing environment. But what should you do if you learn your child has experienced extreme discipline by those entrusted to teach him or her? Eva and Doug's autistic daughter, Isabel, was 8 years old when her teachers claimed her behavior became too difficult to handle, so they sent her to the time-out room. Cameras captured Isabel's time spent in isolation, which her parents say lasted for over three hours. Her parents say they had worked with the teachers regarding disciplining Isabel and were panicked and horrified when they saw the footage. Next, Martha says her 12-year-old daughter was in a classroom when $42 went missing. In an effort to find the money, a group of girls were strip-searched. You won't believe who reportedly ordered the investigation. Martha says her daughter is devastated and will never be the same. Then, when 5-year-old Gabriel constantly complained that his teacher was mean and yelled at him, his mom, Tabitha, sent him to school with a tape recorder in his pocket. Hear the audio recordings and find out the shocking information Tabitha discovered. Psychologist Ken Merrell, special education teacher Kathy Riley and civil litigation attorney Areva Martin weigh in on these cases. And, after years of being relentlessly bullied by fellow students, Jeremiah brought the torment to a tragic end. His father, Jeff, joins Dr. Phil and Jay McGraw to speak for the first time on television. Plus, if you're a teen and want to talk about what's happening at your school, join the Teen Talk message boards.
