In Parents' Words

"...So we started doing body checks. Before the bus, when he got to school, before he got back on the bus and then once he was home. Then I got the note from the nurse. Bruises on his arms and chest that weren’t there when he arrived at school. Another meeting district with me school tells us “he’s doing it himself”. I asked for a formal investigation and the next day I hid a audio recording device in my son’s backpack. For a week I recorded and I got more then I even thought. As they were “investigating” and asking all these questions of me and staff the teacher was yelling and cursing, making fun of, degrading, threatening, taking about killing herself, telling my son “your mommy is a bitch” Then another mom asked me to listen to that day’s recording because she thought something happened and I did. What I heard sounded so violent and sounding like the child was being hurt bad. And the aide goes and tells the teacher (on the recording). “Watch with that one, she can talk”. - A parent from NY

"It becomes foggy in my memory of everything that happened next! I can tell you my hand was held and the tone of the two administrators voices were heartfelt and genuine!

“We need to formally inform you that a person who is in close contact with your son (I’m choosing not to put the name here) has allegations - I stop them right there from what I knew was coming next.

Sobbing I say “Please don’t say the final words, I beg of you don’t say what I know your going to say, this can’t be happening, my God, this can’t be happening!”

We have no choice but to tell you your child may have been a victim of physical abuse! This person has been called and told not to return to school until the investigation is complete. At this point one of the administrators was crying with me and I didn’t feel alone!" - A parent in Westchester County, NY

"My daughter's fine motor skills were a challenge. She was high functioning in some area and severely lacking in others. My daughter enjoyed her lunchtime while in "high school". One "expert" decided it was ok to withhold lunch until she would tie her shoes. She is now 40, still has a very difficult time tying her shoes and still can't tell time unless it's a digital display. I wonder how many days she went without lunch because a sadistic person thought it was good therapy? She was threatened if they found out she told. Cameras are needed to keep the bad apples away from our special kids. Most are dedicated workers and cameras will help keep it that way." - A parent from Onondaga County, NY

"My 13yo, non-verbal, autistic son stepped into his new self-contained, middle school classroom, and - as we learned much later - was restrained, twice, on that very first day. The restraints - 34 in total - continued over the next two months without notification to the family.

Two months after the first restraint - the school suddenly disclosed a log with 34 restraints applied to our son over that two-month period. Sometimes multiple times a day. Some - close to 20mins. On at least one occasion, my child fell asleep after experiencing the restraint.

According to the school’s log - the nurse examined my son less than half the time these holds were applied. The nurse did not notify us.

According to the school’s log - staff and educators up and down the chain of command were present during these holds, as many as 9 at one time. Aides, teacher, assistant principals, principal, asstnt director for spec education, school psychologist, and others. None told us these interventions were being used on our son.

The administration’s response to our many questions was to normalize these events as necessary emergency interventions. Why then were these repeated emergencies not reported to parents? Why did noone report that a child’s educational experience was a string of emergencies? Why, in a world where every scratch and sniffle warrants a call from the school nurse - did we not get even one about smthng so serious? The questions go on and on.

This has also made other children in the class suffer. Parents reported significant changes in behavior and were asking the school re possible causes, but were never told about the repeated restraints their children were witnessing.

A camera in that classroom could have prevented a lot of trauma and heartache for children and families." - A parent in Westchester County, NY

"My son was physically assaulted by an aide in his classroom and it led to him not going back to school for over a year because he was absolutely terrified of being hurt again. To make matters worse, the school waited a whole week before we were even informed of the incident...Oh and when we went to the police to press charges, we were told we couldn’t do so because our son couldn’t tell them what happened due to him being non verbal."

- A parent in Dutchess County, NY

"2nd grade for [XXX] I hope are memories she never remembers. She had to be picked in A LOT. And most times grandma or pop would get her as I worked. The things they reported witnessing when picking her up lead them to not being able to anymore. It was to hard for them to see. Grandma said one day she went to get [redacted] and they had her in an all white room with no one. She was screaming help. They wouldn't let grandma in at first. Until she said "you called us for help now let me get to my granddaughter" as soon as she had [XXX] everything stopped. She had red marks all over and grandma reported her faces was more red than she had ever seen anyones being. Grandma also reported aides saying very mean things to [XXX]. Cutting her down and just making things worse. Definitely not de-esculating the situation...I requested all of [redacted] write ups. Not only did I discover they were not following her IEP of small child holds only, but they were also using supine. And more frequently than small child! Then..I see where [redacted] was restrained 16 times in 1 single school day. And not a call made to me. We knew something was not right. We would watch [XXX] play school at home and how she treated her baby dolls was exactly how she was treated. She has reported pillows being put over her face, being put in her cubby where her coat went, being spit on(it makes sense now where she learned to spit), fingers getting bent. Her arms being pulled so far back she couldn't breath. Her hair being pulled. Black bruises all over. Legs, arms, buttocks, cheeks. I reported in to the dept of education. They investigated. I get a voice-mail from the Albany dept of education investigator. "We conducted our investigation and have not found any evidence to neglect. Sometimes when children act disorderly and unsafe we have to take the appropriate measures..." they were using restraints as behavior intervention. Not due to safety. It was clear, to anyone with brains. We were defeated. Another child broken by people who should have showered her with compassion and understanding." - A parent from Clinton County, NY