Boy with autism got ‘inhumane treatment’ at South Carolina school, mom says. She’s suing
A 9-year-old boy with autism received “inhumane treatment” from teachers at a South Carolina elementary school, a lawyer says.
Shaundra Mims says her son, who is nonverbal, was put in a room that looked like a jail cell last month, according to a lawsuit filed against Chukker Creek Elementary and the Aiken County Public School District.
“Children should never be secluded and locked away alone in a prison cell like room, and especially not by their teachers, individuals trusted to care for them,” Mims’ attorney Tyler D. Bailey wrote in a news release.
But school officials in a statement said the incident “has been inaccurately portrayed.”
“As a school district, we are committed to providing quality educational experiences conducive to support all learners, including students with disabilities,” the Aiken County system said Tuesday via an email to McClatchy News.
What do the boy’s mom say?
The lawsuit focuses on the district’s alleged practices of restraint and seclusion, the “involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area where the student is prevented from leaving,” according to the S.C. Department of Education.
Mims says her 9-year-old son was attending Chukker Creek Elementary in September when she started asking campus officials about her son, who was struggling in school.
After the mother asked the school to change teachers in November, an administrator told Mims the school had a “better plan” for her son and chose an “’alternate location’ for (the child) to go to when he needed a few minutes to calm himself down,” the lawsuit said.
But last month during a visit to the school, the boy’s grandmother found him in a small room with a covered window and someone blocking the door, according to the lawsuit.
Mims didn’t know her child was “secluded by his teachers in a room that resembled a prison cell,” according to the news release from her attorney.
“The school was negligent and reckless in their use of seclusion and restraint to silence, detain, isolate, and punish” the 9-year-old and other students, the news release said.
What does the school district say?
The school and law enforcement officials launched investigations into the allegations involving Mims’ son but found “no wrongful action on the part of the teacher or educational aide,” according to the Aiken district’s statement.
Aiken County schools say trained employees step in when students could put themselves or others at risk.
Also, district officials don’t “promote the use of seclusion in our district and there are no spaces currently being used for the purpose of seclusionary time out,” according to their statement.
State guidelines say seclusion shouldn’t be used to punish students and should instead be reserved for the purpose of controlling behavior. Officials “strongly discourage the practice,” according to the S.C. Department of Education.
Federal laws prevent the district from releasing additional information about the alleged incident involving Mims’ son, according to officials.
Aiken is near the Georgia border and roughly 55 miles southwest of Columbia.
