Dec 18, 2018, Spokane (WA) Spokesman—Review: Father alleges autistic daughter abused, injured at Shadle Park High School http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/dec/18/father-alleges-autistic-daughter-abused-injured-at/ A severely autistic teenage girl endured severe physical abuse this year while being held in an unpadded room at Shadle Park High School, her father alleges. On three occasions, Katie Pope, a 15-year-old from Bellevue, suffered injuries that required treatment at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. “This is a challenging time for us,” said her father, attorney Richard Pope, who removed her from a Spokane group home last week and returned her to Bellevue. … Renewing a process that began last spring, Pope is again seeking placement for a daughter who he says cannot be managed at home. Pope’s situation highlights several issues: the lack of appropriate housing in the Seattle area for high-needs children, many of whom are being sent to Spokane; low funding for special education throughout the state; and how schools must deal with crises. In the meantime, Pope has taken to social media to demand the termination of several Shadle officials and Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Shelley Redinger. “My daughter was severely physically abused and neglected by staff at Shadle Park High School,” Pope posted Monday on Facebook. The posts drew hundreds of responses, some critical of the school but others blaming Pope for placing his daughter in danger. Shadle parent Nelly Bean wrote to Pope, “My son had to ride the bus the day your daughter had a fight with one of the other special-needs kids. And my son had to run to the back of the bus and exit the emergency door for his safety.” … Pope’s criticism of the district centers on the use of an unpadded isolation room in Shadle’s ABLE (Autism Behavior Learning Environment) classroom. Pope says that his daughter was placed in the room “a dozen or more times” this fall. … However, Coddington said Shadle is working to place padding on the door in the ABLE classroom. … Katie, who is nonverbal, began school at Shadle on May 22. By law, public schools in Washington must accommodate all students, including those with special needs. However, special-needs programs in the state are underfunded despite the recent influx of funding that followed last year’s McCleary decision. … The rooms are used nationwide, usually to help the student return to a calm state so they are no longer a danger to themselves and others….
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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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