This is absolutely disgusting…
A 9-year-old autistic boy who misbehaved at school was stuffed into a duffel bag and the drawstring pulled tight, according to his mother, who said she found him wiggling inside as a teacher’s aide stood by.
The mother of fourth-grader Christopher Baker said her son called out to her when she walked up to him in the bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.
“He was treated like trash and thrown in the hallway,” Chris’ mother, Sandra Baker, said Thursday. She did not know how exactly how long he had been in the bag, but probably not more than 20 minutes.
It is very disgusting. My heart goes out to the poor boy who must be wondering why they would treat him so horribly. He is a child…just doing his best to communicate. How could they do that to him??
I totally don’t understand…
to the parents of this poor unfortunate child: Sue the school, but remove your child right away. A “therapy bag”? This is the exact opposite of what works for autistic children.
As a parent of a severe autistic teen I know how difficultt it can be to leave my child at school. At his first school they left him out of the special needs class and I would find him eating dirt on the playground. At his second school they did not even try to teach him. It takes diligence and a lot of research to raise such a child. Believe it or not you often have to fight the very people who are being paid to teach your child in order to get him what he needs. But the very first thing is a safe learning environment.
See about charging the person who locked him in the bag with a crime by local police – at least assault.
From the sound of it the child in the story does not exhibit the severity of symptoms of my child, but is still autistic so sees the world differently.
Camp X-ray comes to America. Stuffing an autistic child or any child in a bag is torture, plain and simple. Hell, why not try a little electric shock while they’re at it? Felony charges of child abuse should be pressed against these people. If I was the parent of this child I would need to swallow a significant quantity of tranquilizers to prevent myself from stuffing the teacher in a therapy bag for a few hours.
Back in the day, parents used to handle these situations themselves. I remember a ten-year-old school-mate who was slapped around by the gym teacher for smirking, or smiling or something. The next day his father, who was a Marine veteran of the Pacific campaign, came into the school and beat the teacher senseless. No one called the police or hired a lawyer. Gym class became a much gentler operation. I suppose this isn’t the optimal way to handle such a situation but at the time it was very satisfying.
Twenty minutes in a closed cloth bag! Five minutes in a closed bag. That is torture and will be a visceral body memory in that young child’s life forever. Those adults are more than poorly trained and educated about autism and child development, they are sociopaths. They should be identified as child abusers and not be allowed near a school.
and don’t give me the line that budget cuts have forced mainstreaming in the school population inapprpriately. NO ONE puts children into bags like a kitten they want to drown.
Imagine being another child in that classroom. Adult criminal behavior in the school. I would pull my child out now.
I want to agree with the commenter who said sue the school … and ask the police to prosecute for assault. Parents do NOT have to cooperate in the victimization of their children.