8 year-old Autistic girl arrested and handcuffed for tantrum

[Droopy]

​Little 8-year-old Evelyn Towry just wanted to be able to go to the party like all the other kids. But for some reason, a teacher at the Boise third-grader's elementary school wouldn't let her while she was wearing her favorite sweatshirt, a hoodie that her mom had sewn cow ears on to look like a cartoon character. Instead, the teacher put Evelyn in a classroom and asked two staffers to watch her and make sure she didn't leave.

​This wasn't cool with Evelyn. She tried to leave the room but staffers blocked her path. And it was then that her parents say their daughter -- who has Asperger's, a high-functioning form of autism -- freaked out.

According to the staffers, Evelyn spit on and "inappropriately touched" her two guards. Probably the kind of behavior that happens every day in schools all across the country. And likely not to leave a mark unless the kid happens to be the daughter of an NFL lineman which, based on these pictures, she is not.

But the panicked flailing of a scared little girl was apparently too much for the grown-ups to handle on this day. As the school's principal called police and asked to have Evelyn arrested on suspicion of battery.

The cops, presumably not possessing a single critical-thinking bone in their bodies, went along with the administrator's wacky demand, patting and frisking Evelyn before putting her in what we can only imagine were kiddie-sized handcuffs

A prosecutor wisely refused to press charges. And Evelyn was released to her parents before having to spend too much time in the county's juvenile lockup.

They're now suing the school district and the sheriff's department for violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. But really, it'd be just as accurate to say they're suing for a lack of common sense.

Original Article

It happened in July of this year but still, what is everyone's thoughts and reaction to this?

 

[Kit]

Uh that is old news. It happened in January 2009 because I remember hearing about it then. I thought the girl was being unreasonable and the teacher. Nothing wrong with a cow hoody but if you are being threatened to not attend to Christmas party unless you remove the hoodie, I would just take the darn thing off just so I would attend. And I thought autism was totally irrelevant. Even NT kids refuse to obey teacher orders. If they think the rule is stupid and don't agree to it, they break it. How many NT kids wouldn't fight to leave the empty classroom? I heard on WP they do it too and the teachers aren't always allowed to touch them but it depends on the school policy.

 

[Kit]

Well I see this is just an update. The parents are now suing the school district and the police department for what happened over a year ago. I am not sure what to think of that. Even NT kids get arrested too for this stuff and their parents also don't like it. If this happened in the 90's, the girl wouldn't have been arrested but now these days schools call cops on kids now when they get violent. Rather the kid is autistic or ADHD or mentally retarded or normal.

 

[Droopy]

First I've heard of the story as someone Tweeted it today. Anyway, judging by the comments there seems to be a lot of people on the side of the girl but some don't agree with suing the school. I think putting handcuffs on an 8 year-old is unnecessary in my opinion and they should have been trained to deal with the tantrums.

 

[Kit]

I wonder if their opinions be any different if the article didn't mention her having autism?

I couldn't read all the comments because it always bugs me to see people making assumptions based on disability or acting like they should receive special treatment and it's okay to handcuff normal kids but not special need kids or it's okay for special need kids to be violent but not normal kids and to me that is unfair. That's how their comments appear to me. I guess it has to do with how I was raised because mom never excused my behavior and never treated me like a disability. Plus I was expected to follow the same rules as my brothers and show respect. But I wonder how she would react if that were me being handcuffed and taken to the station? Would she tell me it was my fault or think how the school handled it was wrong and so was the teacher for making a big deal out of what I was wearing that was nothing? I remember crap in 6th grade and mom was always on my side. Same as when I got suspended from school and she was mad about it because of how it was handled and the way they did it was illegal. Also the fact the teacher lied to my dad and then the next day decided to make a big deal out of what happened and they didn't even tell my parents.

If people were saying it's wrong to arrest any child for that behavior or to arrest any eight year old for that behavior, then I would know they think that of all kids, not special need kids or autistic kids. Same as if they were saying how stupid the teacher is for having issue over a cow hoodie and it be stupid if she told any child to take it off and taking away their Christmas party for not obeying.

 

[Droopy]

I don't think handcuffs were needed whether the child was special needs or not. All they had to do was talk to her to find out what the problem was and clam her down. If they tried that and it didn't work then simply phone the parents. Arresting a child for having a tantrum is excessive in my opinion. Being teachers, they should have been trained for the situation and non-special needs children have tantrums too.

 

[. . .]

First I've heard of the story as someone Tweeted it today. Anyway, judging by the comments there seems to be a lot of people on the side of the girl but some don't agree with suing the school. I think putting handcuffs on an 8 year-old is unnecessary in my opinion and they should have been trained to deal with the tantrums.

I also don't agree with them suing the school, but it's often the lawyers who approach the victims after hearing stories like this.

 

[Billi]

Here's one from my local paper http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2010-10-18/former-tybee-police-officers-plead-not-guilty-tazing-autistic-teen
I think the criminal trail may go to court before the civil lawsuit, they tried to cover this up, and didn't drop the charges against this young man for a month while they tried to figure out how to make this go away. Two officers fired and two other officers resigned.

 

[smith2267]

Ha. I bet she swung wildly, and being short, naturally happened to hit them in the crotch.

 

[Tarragon]

What was all the fuss about in the first place? An 8yr old kid wanted to wear her favourite hoodie with cows ears to a party? Now, call me soft hearted and a pushover,but why the hell would a teacher want to stop this in the first place??! Stupid teacher, stupid school system and stupid power trips for "authority". Stuff the lot of them. Sue their backsides off, I say.

 

[Soup]

I'm with Tarragon on this one & I am a teacher of kids this age. Why give a kid a hard time over a hoodie? I wear hoodies every day (right now, it's a Navy blue Roots kanga hoodie. Nice!). If they were going to some place where it would be wholly inappropriate (hard to imagine with a group of 8 yr olds...) then a teacher with a clue would've arranged it with the parent days ahead to NOT send little Evelyn in with her cow ears hoodie on that particular day because everyone had to wear a white shirt & a navy skirt or trousers or whatever & avoid the problem altogether. They were going to the school Christmas party: not the royal wedding.

Teaching is a pedantic profession by definition & it is also a very conservative field. Many teachers I've encountered have control/authority issues of their own & any deviation from what they dictate becomes an act of defiance. The way the teacher excluded her from her peers was wrong. When there are parties for the kids at school, everyone looks forward to them for days & the event becomes something truly grand for the kids. To then crush her hopes & exclude her like that over something so trivial is bullying. What's wrong with an adult compromising from time to time?

That hoodie was probably a comfort for this girl- especially since her mother altered it for her, making it unique. When I encounter something like this in the classroom, I always ask myself who the heck it is going to harm if the child leaves it on (or carries it with him etc.). Is there a health or safety issue? Is the item a danger? Is it wholly inappropriate for at school (like toys from home for ex.) If the answer is no, & the kid just feels better & safer in the class with their hood up, I allow it. So far, nothing adverse has ever happened because of it. Look at all the adversity that came directly out of trying to be overly controlling & emphasize mindless conformity. None of this had to happen.

 

[Ste11aeres]

I'm with Tarragon on this one & I am a teacher of kids this age. Why give a kid a hard time over a hoodie? I wear hoodies every day (right now, it's a Navy blue Roots kanga hoodie. Nice!). If they were going to some place where it would be wholly inappropriate (hard to imagine with a group of 8 yr olds...) then a teacher with a clue would've arranged it with the parent days ahead to NOT send little Evelyn in with her cow ears hoodie on that particular day because everyone had to wear a white shirt & a navy skirt or trousers or whatever & avoid the problem altogether. They were going to the school Christmas party: not the royal wedding.

Teaching is a pedantic profession by definition & it is also a very conservative field. Many teachers I've encountered have control/authority issues of their own & any deviation from what they dictate becomes an act of defiance. The way the teacher excluded her from her peers was wrong. When there are parties for the kids at school, everyone looks forward to them for days & the event becomes something truly grand for the kids. To then crush her hopes & exclude her like that over something so trivial is bullying. What's wrong with an adult compromising from time to time?

That hoodie was probably a comfort for this girl- especially since her mother altered it for her, making it unique. When I encounter something like this in the classroom, I always ask myself who the heck it is going to harm if the child leaves it on (or carries it with him etc.). Is there a health or safety issue? Is the item a danger? Is it wholly inappropriate for at school (like toys from home for ex.) If the answer is no, & the kid just feels better & safer in the class with their hood up, I allow it. So far, nothing adverse has ever happened because of it. Look at all the adversity that came directly out of trying to be overly controlling & emphasize mindless conformity. None of this had to happen.

I wish more teachers were like you.

 

[MoCoffee]

I had hoped the bullying of students by teachers had been eradicated by now. When I was a child, I was bullied by teachers, and this gave the kids free reign to bully me too. This must be stopped.

 

[Judge]

I had hoped the bullying of students by teachers had been eradicated by now. When I was a child, I was bullied by teachers, and this gave the kids free reign to bully me too. This must be stopped.

That breaks my heart. Yes...being bullied at times by a few teachers was far worse to me than by my peers. Something I haven't thought of for years until now.

 

[Flinty]

I had hoped the bullying of students by teachers had been eradicated by now. When I was a child, I was bullied by teachers, and this gave the kids free reign to bully me too. This must be stopped.

Interesting; I wasn't directly bullied by teachers, but they certainly didn't condemn bullying by others. Then again, we got a lot of rookies back home because the pay was excellent and the town relatively peaceful, especially given its location. A lot of them weren't ready for the real world.