From the Arizona Republic:

An Arizona couple whose 7-year-old son has been held down and sat on by school employees twice over the past year has asked their local school district to notify parents promptly when children are restrained in school.

Kim and Robert Eacott say they were not told that their son Anthony, who has autism, was restrained, but instead found out indirectly. The couple said officials at the Sonoma Ranch Elementary School in Gilbert initially denied the incidents had occurred, but that they found evidence in their son’s file. Robert Eacott said that in one incident a staff member sat on his son because his “letter board was too messy.”

Superintendent Dave Allison said he is asking his staff to work on crafting a policy and board member Helen Hollands said that’s something the board is willing to weigh.

In the past few years, about a dozen families have filed complaints alleging their special needs children have been subjected to physical and unnecessary restraint or their school has failed to ensure their children meet the goals outlined in their Individual Education Plan.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 10:58 am and is filed under autism, education, restraints and seclusion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.