The article below came to us via Inclusion Daily Express and you can read the full piece at the link. Whenever I see a story like this one I’m reminded that this could happen in my own community. It could happen anywhere in the United States, for indeed the public’s perceptions about disabilities and the concomitant failures of civic training regarding how to help people with disabilities remains a huge problem. I weep for Evelyn Towry. I applaud her parents. I’ll never forget what it felt like to be a kid with a disability in public school. And we thought things were supposed to be better nowadays?
S.K.
Parents Sue School District Over 8-year-old Daughter’s Arrest
(Spokesman-Review)
July 14, 2010
BOISE, IDAHO– [Excerpt] The parents of an 8-year-old autistic girl who was arrested at her northern Idaho elementary school are suing the school district and the sheriff’s department in federal court, contending the agencies violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Spring Towry and Charles Towry, along with their daughter, Evelyn, filed the lawsuit Friday in Idaho’s U.S. District Court against the Lake Pend Oreille School District and the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department.
The family claims the district discriminated against Evelyn because of her disability, and that the school failed to make reasonable modifications so she could access to school services and facilities. They are asking for unspecified monetary damages.
The case arose Jan. 9, 2009, when the Kootenai Elementary School third-grader was arrested, handcuffed and taken to the county’s juvenile lockup on suspicion of battery. School staffers said Evelyn had spit on and inappropriately touched two instructors. The child was later released to her parents, and the prosecutor’s office dropped the charge against her.
Entire article:
Parents sue over 8-year-old’s school arrest
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/2010/red/0714d.htm
Planet of the Blind 