June 28, 2019, Terre Haute (IN) Tribune Star: Court: Terms of special education plan don't excuse crime https://www.tribstar.com/news/indiana_news/court-terms-of-special-education-plan-don-t-excuse-crime/article_53d18763-899a-552f-a983-ef1e9d6c6926.html Although a high school student had a special education plan, it doesn't excuse him when he commits what is considered a crime, the Indiana Court of Appeals said Thursday. A 16-year-old sophomore at Avon High School had been found to have committed disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement when he fought with two officers in May 2018. The youth, who is not identified by name in court documents, had an individualized education plan (IEP) after being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. On May 3, the youth argued with his girlfriend after she broke up with him during the lunch period. Avon Police Lt. David Margason approached the youth who threw his sweatshirt on the ground, yelled obscenities and stormed away. Officer Jacob Boggess approached and gave verbal commands for the youth to stop. Boggess grabbed the boy's wrist and the youth pushed him away. The two then began to fight as the youth continued to resist the officer, according to documents. The officers, who were working off-duty security, managed to place handcuffs on the youth and take him to the school office where he continued to scream obscenities. Both officers were injured in the incident. In the office, the youth said he wanted to see his special education teacher which he had been instructed to do when he felt overwhelmed. The instruction is part of his IEP. Later, a Hendricks County juvenile court found he had committed disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement. Although the state wanted the youth placed on probation, the court issued no penalty. The youth's lawyer asserted that the officers failed to follow IEP protocol. However, the state appellate court said the youth's lawyer did not cite legal authority where an IEP would serve as a legal excuse for committing an otherwise criminal offense. "Neither the mere existence of an IEP nor an official’s alleged failure to follow the outlined protocol would constitute a legal defense for criminal conduct," Judge Terry Crone wrote in the court's opinion. He added, "We understand that (the youth) believes that the Avon Community School Corporation failed him in this instance, and we do not disagree with his general statement that public school systems should 'take steps to train their school resource officers on the appropriate way to respond to children with emotional disabilities.' "Nevertheless, an appeal of the current juvenile delinquency adjudication is not the proper forum to address these concerns. Sufficient evidence supports the juvenile court’s true findings, and therefore we affirm the court’s delinquency adjudication," the judge wrote.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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