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Alright – so, Age of Autism recently wrote a blog about this and this needs to stop. Public schools are paid with public funds to help and educate children with autism – not abuse, lie and cover up. This is happening in Minnesota schools such as Bloomington public school district. Children with autism who are nonverbal can not tell their parents what happened and schools are abusing many of these children. This is heart-breaking and sad. How can the very people who we trust to care and teach our children neglect and abuse them. Often these schools don’t have cameras and if they do the school covers their actions. Many schools also refuse to have other professionals go with the child because they would rather hide what they are doing  than be transparent and honest.

Here is the link to the age of autism blog post.

Many schools including Bloomington use calming rooms which is a code for seclusion rooms where they lock the child. Iowa legislators are investigating this. Maybe it is time for Minnesota legislatures to do the same. Autism family sues the school district for assaulting their child. Another family sues the school district after the teacher abused their child. How can we trust these teachers and school administrators now if they are going to abuse our kids then lie and cover up?

I really think Minnesota state legislators need to look into how many of similar cases are happening in Minnesota and what can be done about it. Additionally, parents sadly have to sue these school districts who often have high powered attorneys.

Above words do not reflect any committee, agency or candidate.

Idil – Autism Mom

Alright – so, Minnesota Department of Human Rights recently warned 43 Minnesota school districts for explicit discipline disparities. First, let’s explain what disparity is.

Disparity is such an ugly word that allows the privileged to discriminate against those they consider inferior or less. This is a country were equality should prevail and should be the model, right? This is a country of immigrants where everyone came from somewhere, except native Americans and sadly African Americans who had no choice. Nevertheless, many school districts still practice discriminatory practices in how they discipline students of color which adds to the huge education gap between white students and students of color.

Minnesota has some of the worst disparities in education, health and employment. As a person of color – quite frankly, I am soooo tired of being told by the privileged, “we know, we understand, we are working on it, we can’t find someone of color to hire, we are trying, blah blah and yada, yada. Oh and my favorite, “no one with the right qualifications applied”. Gee – I wonder where I heard that before. People who are doing and contributing to these disparities are not going to change their behaviors if there are no consequences or incentives. In other words, if a school such as Bloomington school district suspends children of color more than they do white children, but they don’t lose any funding, suspend the teacher whose record shows the disparity, etc. then why would they change their behavior. Think about it. By the same token, districts who are equal and fair to all of their students, but there is no incentive or recognition then why should they do good? what is in it for them. Think about that. For example, when a white student does something that is suspension worthy, the school is most likely to get a behavior analyst to help the child by finding out the function of the behavior and developing a behavior plan.  Another example, if a white student does something that is suspension worthy, the school is most likely to contact his/her parents and collaborate with them in finding a solution.

By the same token, if a minority student especially black or brown does something that is suspension worthy, the school will just suspend that child then cite the law/policy that allows them to do it. If a black or brown student does something that is suspension worthy, the school will most likely not contact the parents because they know minority parents are less likely to sue or complain about the school district. Can you see the differences that can contribute to disparities in the education system.  I do, and it pisses me to my core. We can not accept bias and discriminatory treatment for our children. I know it is tiring, exhausting and frustrating but try to take those feelings and change them into energy, tenacity and persistence.

Minnesota Department of Human Rights made a deal with Bloomington School District about their bias and discriminatory treatment towards students of color and students with disabilities that was signed by the chair of the school district board, the commissioner of the human rights department and the superintendent of the school district, who is a person of color but has not addressed disparity thoughtfully thus far – in my humble little opinion. Did Bloomington learn anything over this, heck to the no. In fact, they have suspended more students with autism who clearly did not understand nor comprehend what suspension is. My advice to this district would be to fire the special education director Ms. McIntyre and the principal of Jefferson high school. Suspending a child is extremely subjective and depends on who is doing it and how they see that child.

Remember when the previous superintendent of the Minneapolis school district was outraged by the high rate of suspension for black children specially boys and created this policy, well we need every district to create their own suspension/expulsion prevention committee who would oversee what the school is doing and how fair they are. And, if that committee which must be diverse enough to reflect that district finds subliminal bias behaviors then firing must be next. Hence, why I highly recommend firing and/or at least suspending without pay the Bloomington school district special education director and Jefferson high school principal as well as any others who blatantly violate students of color and students with disabilities’ right to get free and appropriate public education.

Above words do not represent any committee, agency or candidate.

Idil – Autism Mom who is determined to fight inequality from every river, valley and mountain.

Alright – so, I am new in advocating or even understanding special education laws and policies. I saw a story few weeks ago by the Mpls Star Tribune segregation and inequality limit Minnesotans with disabilities and I started thinking how can this be. Didn’t we move from segregation to inclusion of people with disabilities which includes autism. Sadly, we have not and may even be going backwards. Then I started looking into how school districts start this disturbing chain and gateway tunnel early.

Children with autism and other behavioral disorders are often sent to a segregated education setting where the child sees no one but those with other disabilities all day long. School districts are sending children to these secluded and segregated educational settings as young as elementary and middle school. Think about that for a minute. The child is locked for hours every day and sees no one with typical behaviors then where and how can this child possibly learn how to act normally. There is no segregation section in grocery stores, parks, malls, etc. which then causes the parent to not take their child anywhere because they don’t know how to behave. This leads to this child becoming a young adult who now lives in a segregated group home and works in a segregated employment setting. How is this different the days of institution and seclusion for individuals with disabilities decades ago? It is not.

So what now? what do we do, how do we stop this, who has the authority and what can parents whose children have autism and/or other disabilities do?

So many good questions and I don’t have all of the answers yet. My first suggestions for any family who is struggling with this are:

1. Don’t sign anything that takes your child to a segregated educational setting.
2. Learn about Individuals with Disabilities Education Empowerment Act (IDEIA) and learn about what least restrictive environment (LRE) is. Most likely the school district is violating this.
3.  Learn and educate yourself about the process of filing a complaint with Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and due process which means you may have to go in-front of a judge or go through due process which can take long and is complex. But you can do it – stay strong and focus on the needs of your child.
4. Call Minnesota Disability Law Center as they have been working on this issue and can support you.
5. Don’t get intimidated or bullied by the school district because they will try but you can beat them if you are persistent and informed – stay calm, focused and be strategic with your child’s needs.
6. Contact your local and congressional representative and senators and ask what they can do legislatively which can include holding funding from districts who violate IDEIA. Currently, there are no incentives or consequences for districts who violate IDEIA or send our kids to segregated educational settings and there is nothing that says did you try to educate the child in the LRE.
7. Blog if you can, tell other parents about your experience, contact the school board and scream from every mountain, river and valley because you are your child’s best advocate.

Stay tuned as I learn more about this and figure out how to stop this big and well funded school districts from segregating our children which can only lead into a segregated and institution like life which we don’t want. We want our children to live in an inclusive and welcoming world where people understand and have compassion.

Above words do not reflect any candidate, agency or committee.

Idil – Autism Mom

Alright – so, someone from DHS asked me a while ago why I don’t advocate in the public education system and autism. So – I started thinking about this including my own experiences with the public education system. I started speaking with autism parents and asking their experiences with school districts. I also started asking education advocates what their thoughts were in autism and public schools.

What I found was surprisingly shocking. First, most parents are not happy with their child’s public school. Second, most advocates said – the system is designed and stacked against the parents. One advocate said “the goal of the school district is to overwhelm the parents, make them exhausted, tired and eventually give up and stop fighting for their child because no one can fight forever”. Another advocate said “while the majority of superintendents and special education directors are good at their core, they hire ruthless and cruel gatekeepers whose sole purpose is to take the low hanging fruit and screw with the rest”. Some parents said “always use the words – due process because school districts hate that”. Other parents said “just home school your child because it is a fight not worth fighting”

More parents said “we need to keep complaining and filing formal complains with the Minnesota Department of Education”. Some other parents said “we should just start autism charter school similar to Lionsgate and others in the country”. I tried really hard to find a parent who was in content with the public education their child was getting from public schools. I simply could not find. Those that did not complain simply said “it is not good but what is the alternative”.

If you google special education attorneys and advocates – there are thousands of them. This makes me really sad because these folks would not exist if school districts did what was best for the child with autism. Normally, I get energized when I see discrimination,  inequality, differential treatments, and disparity from autism parents. Then I try to advocate in changing policies & guidelines to ensure individuals with autism are treated with dignity, are taught to their best outcome in a manner that enhances their quality of life and that of their family. And, to some extent – I have been successful but the education system task seems painfully hard and a tall order.

With this in mind, I am going to start as I usually do and say “Rome was not build in a day and a journey of thousand steps starts with one single step”. These sayings used to keep me going whenever I would get overwhelmed in my autism advocacy.

Let’s start with what the current federal and state laws say about special education and autism. What does it say, what rights does the child have, what rights do the parents have, what are the responsibilities of the school districts, what happens if they don’t follow it, what are the consequences, etc.  The education system does not fail students with autism, it is rather the people in charge of those systems that fail students with autism and their families. The question is what can be done about it and who can do it.

Stay tuned as I find out more about these layers and layers of information and start advocating to hopefully some kind of a meaningful policy change that will impact students with autism in a positive and productive manner.

As usual, above words do not reflect any candidate, agency or committee.

Idil – Autism Mom.