LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A 9-year-old autistic boy who misbehaved at school was stuffed into a duffel bag and the drawstring pulled tight, according to his mother, who said she found him wiggling inside as a teacher's aide stood by.

The mother of fourth-grader Christopher Baker said her son called out to her when she walked up to him in the bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.

"He was treated like trash and thrown in the hallway," Chris' mother, Sandra Baker, said Thursday. She did not know how exactly how long he had been in the bag, but probably not more than 20 minutes.

Mercer County schools Interim Superintendent Dennis Davis said confidentiality laws forbid him from commenting.

"The employees of the Mercer County Public Schools are qualified professionals who treat students with respect and dignity while providing a safe and nurturing learning environment," Davis said in a statement.

State education officials said they were investigating.

Chris is a student at Mercer County Intermediate School in Harrodsburg in central Kentucky. The day had barely begun when his family was called to the school because Chris was acting up. He is enrolled in a program for students with special needs.

Walking toward his classroom, Baker's mother saw the gym bag.

There was a small hole at the top, she said, and she heard a familiar voice.

"Momma, is that you?" Chris said, according to his mother.

A teacher's aide was there, and Baker demanded that her son be released. At first, the aide struggled to undo the drawstring, but the boy was pulled out of the bag, which had some small balls inside and resembled a green Army duffel bag, Baker said.

"When I got him out of the bag, his poor little eyes were as big as half dollars and he was sweating," Baker said. "I tried to talk to him and get his side of the reason they put him in there, and he said it was because he wouldn't do his work."

Baker said when school officials called the family to pick him up, they were told he was "jumping off the walls." Days later, at a meeting with school officials, Baker said she was told the boy had smirked at the teacher when he was told to put down a basketball, then threw it across the room.

At a meeting with school district officials, the bag was described as a "therapy bag," Baker said, though she wasn't clear exactly what that meant. She said her son would sometimes be asked to roll over a bag filled with balls as a form of therapy, but she didn't know her son was being placed in the bag. She said school officials told her it was not the first time they had put him in the bag.

So far, almost 700 people have signed a petition on the website change.org. Lydia Brown, an autistic 18-year-old Georgetown University freshman from Boston, said she started it after reading a story about Chris.

"That would not be wrong just for an autistic student. That would be wrong to do to anyone," Brown said.
Advocates for the autistic were outraged.

Landon Bryce of San Jose, Calif., a former teacher who blogs about issues related to autism, said the school's treatment of Chris was "careless and disrespectful."

"A lot of the damage that we do to students with all kinds of disabilities is by treating them as though they deserve to be treated in a way that's different from other people," Bryce said.

Baker said she heard different accounts about her son's behavior that day.

Baker stopped short of calling for the dismissal of school employees, but she said they should be suspended. They also need more training, she said.

In Kentucky, there are no laws on using restraint or seclusion in public schools, according to documents on the state Department of Education's website.

A July letter from the state agency to special education directors said the state had investigated two informal complaints this year.

In one, "a student (was) nearly asphyxiated while being restrained," and in the other, a student vomited from panic attacks after spending most of an academic year "confined to a closet, with no ventilation or outside source of light," according to the letter.

Baker's case was first reported by WLEX and WKYT.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/22/school-accused-putting-autistic-boy-in-duffel-bag/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews#ixzz1hPg34Tgg

Outrageous! These teacers ned to be fired, please sign the petition!


Here's the link to the petiton, please sign!
http://www.change.org/petitions/end-abuse-of-autistic-students-in-mercer-county-kentucky

is it a petition to bag up non disabled, misbehaving children too?

if not, count me out,,,,

No, it's a petition to fire the teachers who did this and change the rules regarding this type of behavior.

I dont know enough about behavioral problems or acceptable treatment to support that cause, but good luck,,,,

In Mercer County, Kentucky, nine year old Chris Baker, an Autistic student, was told by his special education aide to climb inside a gym ball bag for punishment to "control his autistic behavior" in mid-December 2011. He was placed in the bag with the drawstring tightened and left in the hallway in the school. When his mother, Sandra Baker, was called to the school to get her son, she demanded that he be removed from the bag right away. The teacher struggled to undo the drawstring, and Chris emerged sweaty and non-communicative. According to the teacher, this had been done several times over the last year, but Sandra didn't know until this latest incident. While she met with state officials on Monday 19 December 2011 before a possible meeting with school officials, there is no guarantee that those meetings will prevent this kind of abuse from happening again -- either to Chris or to other students.

If you think it's wrong to tell an Autistic child to climb inside a bag intended for gym balls and tighten it with a drawstring, which could potentially have led to serious injury or death, as punishment, then please sign this petition. This is wrong. This is abuse. It needs to stop.

We hereby affirm that

1.) Physical, mechanical, and chemical restraint or seclusion of Autistic students and students with other disabilities is abuse except in brief, temporary, and emergency interventions when there is imminent and immediate threat of harm to self or others, and that are carefully and completely documented and reviewed with a full debriefing including the student and parent(s) or guardian(s) afterward;

2.) All special education teachers ought to receive extensive education and training in appropriate interactions with and educational methods for Autistic students and students with other disabilities both before starting work with these students and throughout the duration of their careers in order to promote the best possible outcomes for all students;

3.) All non-special education teachers ought to receive at least basic awareness education and training in recognizing autism and other disabilities, particularly invisible disabilities, which can include intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as appropriate interactions with Autistic students and students with other disabilities either before beginning work as teachers or as continuing education credits in order to promote the best possible outcomes for all students;

4.) It is in the best interests of all educators, educational administrators, parents, and Autistic students and students with other disabilities to ensure the safety and well-being of all students, including Autistic students and students with other disabilities, and that a safe environment means one in which a student is free of fear of any kind of restraint or seclusion or punishment-based treatment rather than respectful, individualized education; and

5.) Appropriate continuing education professional training on interactions with Autistic students and students with other disabilities ought to include appropriate de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques that recognize significant differences in processing and communication in Autistic students and students with other disabilities, in order to prevent the use of restraints of any kind or seclusion on Autistic students and students with other disabilities.

And in accordance with our affirmations, we demand that the following actions be taken or started before the end of December 2012, with all due speed:

1.) That the teacher(s) responsible for placing Christopher Baker in a gym ball bag be dismissed from position for abusing a vulnerable person (a person with a disability) OR be required to successfully complete extensive continuing education professional training in interacting with and educating Autistic students and students with other disabilities, not to be fewer than at least the equivalent of a semester-long graduate level course developed using existing standards and best practices in model state systems, and which shall specifically include techniques for appropriate de-escalation and crisis intervention;

2.) That all current and future special education teachers in Mercer County be required to successfully complete extensive continuing education professional training in interacting with and educating Autistic students and students with other disabilities, not to be fewer than at least the equivalent of a semester-long graduate level course developed using existing standards and best practices in model state systems, and which shall specifically include techniques for appropriate de-escalation and crisis intervention;

3.) That all current and future non-special education teachers in Mercer County be required to successfully complete basic continuing education professional training in interacting with and educating Autistic students and students with other disabilities, not to be fewer than at least eight classroom hours of instruction developed using existing standards and best practices in model state systems; and

4.) That use of any type of restraint or seclusion on any student be explicitly prohibited except in brief, temporary, and emergency interventions when there is imminent and immediate threat of harm to self or others, that are carefully and completely documented and reviewed with a full debriefing including the student and parent(s) or guardian(s) afterward.

LOL, funny, not the OP.

Of course I will sign it.

this is never appropriate.

It can be down right deadly, a child can suffocate in a bag like that. Damn morons.

You have an excuse for everything don't ya?

So you think hanging a kid in a duffel bag is ok?

not at all, I actually have an associates in pareaducation which deals with special education and ESL learners

there are many things I may not AGREE with (like drugs , for instance) but they are considered LEGITIMATE means of counteracting certain behaviors

I dont know if the 'duffel' bag or 'therapy' bag is an approved means or not, I can see it as being similar to restraining or putting in a corner,,,so long as there is not a restriction of air and it is not prolonged,,,,

I wouldnt think HANGING Them would be ok, IM not as sure about them merely being INSIDE of a bag,,,if it is open ended

but IM not sure of the details about the bag,,,,,,

wrong move. autism is extremely mis-understood.

even if you live with it, it's a puzzle. i have.

they cannot be punished the same way other kids can.

they already have "left out" issues, and to alienate them further?

unfortunately, there is no money for education in these issues for teachers, and just one child can take up the entire class time if the teacher does not know what the $$$ they are doing. this.....

is child abuse. they are aware they are in the bag or closet, but may be puzzled as to why. also.... these children make un-appropriate faces all the time, but don't understand the expression. they try, but for them to try, is like me asking you, what does the color red smell like? their synapses fire altogether differently.

all autism is not the same,, the article doesnt go into much detail about this particular student or his case,,,

I'm sure you wont find ANYWHERE in any Autism literature that it's ok to stick a kid in a duffelbag, pull it closed and hang it up on a wall or door.

Im sure I wont either, did the article say the bag was closed and hung up?