Evelyn Towry's Parents Sue School Over Arrest of Their 8-Year-Old Autistic Daughter

• Wow, a cow hoodie and an 8 year old autistic girl. So scary. What the crap is with those teachers?! They shouldn't be allowed to teach.

• a hoodie with cow spots and ears. wow. mid western bulls. yeah i heard about that gang. they are notorius for cow tipping and tractor theft. not to mention random drive by milkings and udder devastation. she's eight, and was going to a school party. she should have been allowed to attend the party, and either her parents called about the violation or sent home with a note. and good job for her, standing up for herself when all her red lights went on.

• "because they weren't getting through to Evelyn or her parents after creating a plan to stem her behavioral problems." In other words, this wasn't the first problem they've had with this particular child. Her attire violated dress code; ignoring the rules for one child would lead to accusations of favoritism from other parents. Did this child's parents not know the dress code, or did they think their child was too special to follow it? Was removing the hoodie an option? If so, was the child unwilling to remove it, or throwing a tantrum about not being able to keep it on? "Teachers restrained her. That's when the girl spit on them and 'touched them inappropriately,' which we're guessing is sphincter-talk for 'tried to get away.'" Whereas I would guess it meant the child was hitting, kicking and spitting on them, but they were not legally allowed to lay hands on her to stop her from hurting herself or someone else. I would guess it meant their options for dealing with a child clearly out of control were limited to blocking her from leaving the room until someone arrived who COULD physically restrain her. I'm not willing to villainize the school for not allowing a child with Aspergers to ignore the dress code and hit people without repercussions.

• you know what...A hoodie is outerwear. If the rule says "no hoodies" then have her take it off. Solitary confinement was not nessesary

• This is the email that I wrote Betsy Walker. I guess she's the principal for the school, according to the website. "I really like how your administration had an autistic girl arrested, but you have a PTA-sponsored day labeled as 'Dress Like A Pirate'. Yeah, let's arrest a girl for wearing a hood, who's probably nervous being at school to begin with, but cater to those who actually dress like outlaws. Good jobs, guys, seriously. Sarcastically yours, Mark PS - You guys are famous!"

• I was thinking the same thing, Hammer, though I would have let it slide if I were a teacher. The world has gone to utter shit if a little girl can't wear a cow costume to a third-grade school party.

• The first thing that pops into my head is why didn't they just call the parents and let them know what was going on and then decide what to do from there, have the girl wear a different costume, let her go home, whatever. And come on! It's a freaking hoodie for christ's sake.

• Hyena Killer makes a very realistic point. I've worked in both mainstream schools and educational settings for those with developmental disabiluties. A mild form of Aspergers can function well enough for a mainstream school. Their behaviour is rarely overly problematic, except for their own personal life. By contrast, autistic kids are very frustrating and not pleasant to deal with in any context and mainstream schools are not suitable for them. Negative for the child, their classmates and teachers. Just like the labelling up to Asbergers the only ones benefiting are the parents denial of the severity regarding their childs impairment and realistic limits. These teachers undermined their true case by gambling on a truly innapropriate confrontation, Happens when they get frustrated over valid objections being disregarded, I have seen the same error by others forced to provide an unrealistic service plan. They ought to have remained professionals , taking time to document examples, build their case with the advice of specialists. I hope they end up failing in their action as seen as significantly culpable,contributors. as they were, The teachers and school ought to be admonished for not having or acting on the least harmful procedures regarding a minor childs arrest, This occuring on a percieved assult On this occasion the child was reacting more by defence, with no true premeditated intent or ikely to pose a significant risk to others.

• I guess I am a little confused about how everyone talks about how little teachers are paid. At my job, if I don't do the bare minimum, I get fired. Have you recently been to a public high school in a major city? Take a random group of 50 high school seniors and ask them to do four simple things. Make change from a $100 bill. Write a one page story. Spell the following words or phrases (underachiever, welfare dependent, convicted felon, high school dropout) Read a page from Catcher in the Rye and tell you what it means. The school systems in America have been destroyed by teacher's unions and liberalism. Teachers, for the most part, don't even do the bare minimum. So why are we surprised when things like this happen.

• Not defending morons...None of us know the history or the actual behavior of this child. She could be an Autistic brat. Autistic or not she still needs dicipline and her parents may not be doing any. I've seen it many times where the story sounds horrible because we are only told what the administrators decided to do. Her parents may be using her Asperger's Syndrome as an excuse to misbehave. There are too many questions to put this whole incident on the school. AND if the girl hit me Asperger's Syndrome or not you would have had to call the police.... SN: Her parents should be familiar with the dress code and should have not sewn the ears on the hoodie. If she wanted to be a cow they should have given her a headband of some sort. Rules are rules and she should not be expected to get special treatment. At my sons school if they dress out of code they are given a tshirt to change or if parents can't come to the school to give them a change they get ISP (in school suspension). So this may have been her ISP.

• Wait so the special kid, got arrested for being cute? .....Wait wait, are they sueing the cops too? Cause only a dumbass would actually arrest a young child first off; and one that's got Asperger's, that's asking for a lawsuit. Go Evelyn! You and your parents will never work another day in yours lives!

• Aw shucks, thank you guys! :)

• This is what happens when people act like computers. The difference between a computer based robbot and a human is the latter can act in a sensibal / rational way. The computer act on clear instructions with no flexibility. Specially this flexibility and understanding should be a prime qualification for those who deal with small children. These dumb school officials and Police fools should be sent to a psychiatrist.

• To add to your post alexdarc, that the cops actually arrested her when they arrived. Insane. I would like to know at what point this childs parents were infact called?

• if that was my girl. and yes, she is a aspie, just like I am. that so-called school would not have the chance to choke on the dust of me removing her from the school. I then would be home-schooling her instead. @Pete Kotz which bars in paradise? . @Leslie thanks for the addy.

• Hyenakiller - any idea how expensive "special schools" for special needs kids cost? Think college expensive. Any idea how hard it is to get your Autistic kid into one? There aren't that many around. Schools get paid extra money from the state for mainstreaming special needs kid. Then they work very hard to provide only enough services to stay within their legal obligations, and if you try to remove your kid from their school (or try to get them placed in a "special school") they will fight you. Sadly this situation was entirely preventable, by the teacher, and by the principal. Not only was it scarring to the child, but it was a huge waste of money to the taxpayers. I just can't imagine the train of the thought that arrives at "I know what would make me and my staff look great - I'll call police and have an 8 year old special needs kid arrested over a cow sweatshirt!"

• I cant believe that !!! my son has and he has done much worst at school and NEVER was the cops called

• ROFL @ Gram that is good

• Good lord what is wrong with these people. How do you do that to a little girl. She's probably scared for life. But hey, for all we know cow is a gang color in Idaho.

• FYI, the school has a public website and a contact email address: betsy.walker@posd.org (I assume Betsy must be the webmaster). I've sent them a non-profane "what is wrong with you people?" email -- feel free to do that same! URL is http://kt.lposd.org/

• holy hell-this is ridiculous.

• @Moongrim exactly. thing is alot of kids with autism. especially aspergers used to be held back alot. that and marked as troublemakers. this was during the Cold War. since they did not know as much as they do now about it. thing is, some teachers have a certain mindset when it comes to folks, especially kids, who have to deal with the fact of autism on a personal level. the teachers tend not to be able to see it from the level of the kids. and on some teachers cases. they expect to be able to slide thru the school year with out any surprises. as well as only having "normal" kids in their classes. they tend to get lazy and then get mad when their mindset gets upset. the unfortunate mindset of alot of folks about autism. is that they tend to associate it with being intelligence deficient. when foks with autism tend to be very high scorers. we tend to not be people persons. as well as our thinking outside the box is to others, not normal. as well as a few other things. like to a point. wisdom. but old thinking habits tend to continue. with not only folks like HK, but also teachers and to a point. a good portion of society......

• Now a normal, compassionate, standup educator would have figured out a way to safely calm the situation. Unfortunately, compassionate standup educators are the exception, not the rule when it comes to educators across the nation- particularly when they're dealing with Autistic kids. As I know all too well.

• My youngest brother is on the same level as this girl and for a long time was non verbal. My mom also fought tooth and nail to get him the help he deserved. She became so good at it other people in the school with children on the autistic spectrum called her in to help call bullshit on the bureaucratic stupids who ran the schools when they said they couldn't do something they were required to by law. She became a bit of a celebrity among speech pathologists, mother of children with autism, and the special need community in general in our town. My brother is in high school now and at parent teacher meetings she asks if they had read his IEP. They don't even know he was on the autistic spectrum. He's found the mechanisms to cope, though it just took a while to communicate it. Now I have worked in schools and I'm getting training in college right now. Yes schools can be difficult, and I've lived with my brother and my family for most of his life. I know getting kids to settle down when they are freaking out is hard, and it's even harder when they have Autism. My brother would freak for hours if we did something that wasn't part of the pattern. It seems irrational to a young girl that a piece of clothing that her mother made for her for an event at the school would cause her to be banned from it in the first place. It's even more irrational to someone with Autism. I think the educators should get educated before they start getting kids hauled off by police. Special needs children have, (guess what?) special needs! It is up to the schools to meet those needs. If they didn't sign up for this sort of thing they shouldn't be working in schools. Period.

• I also have a nephew who is 13 with Asbergers.Though I know what my sister has went through tryig to find the right teachers/schools over the years. He has become unruly at school and has had to be picked up by his parents. But calling the cops on an 8 year old child ? I mean wtf? Let her wear the hoodie and call her parents you frickin morons.

• Yep, that's one dangerous looking little girl there. Handcuffs may not be enough to restrain her, better keep one hand on your pepper spray. Everybody's pointed out the stupidity of the school administration but how about the cops! I can't image a police officer doing this.

• The rules are the rules. Keeping a consistent adherence to rules and regulations is far more important than the welfare of any individual or group of students. People who do not agree with this just do not understand the stress that modern educators have to deal with.

• Way to scar at least one child for life. Usually these stories are just so much escapist, schadenfreude crap (that I read and enjoy), but getting the names of the administrators and "educators" attached to such terrible decisions and actions out in public is necessary. Shame on them!

• Good take, Hyena. This is where we might agree on the PCism run amok thing. In our attempt to treat all equally, maybe we've gone overboard in thinking we can all be equal despite obvious differences. Then again, I have two autistic kids on my street. Their parents tell horror stories of school administrators' unwillingness to deal with their problems. And God forbid we're the guys who have an 8-year-old arrested. Not only will we take a blistering lecture from St. Peter, but we'll be shunned at all the finest bars.

• Well, HyenaKiller (appropriate sounding name), I have an autistic daughter, and while she can be every bit as annoying to me as my two "neurotypical" kids, I usually assume that it is up to me to cope, seeing as I'm the adult in the house and everything. I mean, I know it's tough when someone comes between you and your favorite t.v. shows, but sometimes we just have to rise to the occasion. Children with A.S. do not generally sit in a corner and drool; nor are they particularly violent. There is no reason for them to be excluded from mainstream classrooms, especially if the teacher is creative and bright enough to understand some basic things. Kids with A.S. do very often suffer from anxiety-related problems and have a very keen sense of social justice. When a teacher does something absolutely asinine and unfounded--like sequestering an otherwise high-functioning kid with Asperger's Syndrome by herself in an empty classroom--he or she deserves the backlash a panicking child can dish. There is no excuse for ignorance, especially when 1 out of 5 children today is on the autistic spectrum. And here's a novel thought: maybe if you don't have the brainpower to think your way out of a box (or, say, remember that your student has A.S. and you shouldn't pick on them for no good reason), then maybe you should just have gotten a Business Degree and stayed out of the public school system.

• @Dick - it's not often I get a real laugh out of something on here.

• That was funny, Dick

• and here alot of "normal" kids coming out of school. unable to respond correctly to history questions. @HyenaKiller not all folks with autism are at the same level as your niece is. some, it is barely noticiable. and if Bill Gates of Microsoft's parents had done as you think should happen to all folks with autism. you would not have that nice computer you have now.... he too has aspergers. thing is, if you look at the stereotyping of nerds and then look at the medical discriptions of folks with aspergers. you will find it is pretty much identical..... for all we know. this kid could be the next Bill Gates or Albert Einstein.....

• Ok for a second drop the fact that the kid was autistic.... New story, 8 year old girl goes to school in a cow costume for a school party and is locked in a separate room by herself without her parents being called to correct the percieved issue. The child then acts out when teachers tried to restain the frightened child and is arrested by local police. Any teacher that cannot handle an 8 year old or call the parents shouldn't be teaching. There are 12 year old baby sitters that could have handled the situation better and they don't have a teaching degree....

• This is what happens when you have zero tolerance policies. You end up with zero thought processes. And that will probably be the school's defense… we mindlessly followed the policy to the letter.

• I know this girl, she once took my wallet and my shoes and then pistol whipped me. Good thing the teachers made it through alright.

• I have an autistic niece. She is 12 now, and I can tell you from experience it is quite trying to be around an autistic person for any length of time. Even though I have known this child since she was an infant and who would often fall asleep on my chest as a baby, she still gets on my nerves. I feel like going off sometimes on her when she wants to take over my T.V or if I turn the T.V from cartoons to say anything else and she starts cussing me. I take a deep breath, and tell her to stop being a little brat, and then send her upstairs to go watch that T.V. I am dismayed that I cannot tolerate her for very long, even though I know she is incapable of acting like a regular kid, it is still very aggravating. I love the kid to death, but autistic kids belong with in a specialized school where the teachers and admin have experience dealing with the unique challenges of dealing with autism. It takes patience and training to cope and deal with them correctly. Sue the school if you wish, but I can understand how frustrating it is dealing with an autistic child. In my opinion, if the child was in a more appropriate location, this issue would not have happened.

• While this is our new uniform at the Latin Kings Rural Idaho Division, Our recruitment policy bars the admitance of 8 year old girls. She has to be at least 10 to join so I can assure you all that she is not a member. Louise Zumuda is however a ranking member, perhaps he was mad that she was wearing the gangs colors....

• I didn't mean all teachers were idiots. Only some of them. and they wonder why our children can't pass the MCAS here in MA? Hell a few teachers have been unable to pass the test at the 5th grade level. But we allow them to continue teaching. I understand (at least in MA) that there is a storage of good decent teachers. I also understand the pay isn't what it should be. But it isn't good when teachers are being accused (right or wrong) as preverts or bullies. Our young people who are considering teaching as a career see these stories and they back up and say "WHOA" To bad to sad, some of these up and coming teachers might have made a major difference in some childs life. Sad.

• I hope this teacher and principal are fired and never allowed to work in a school (except as a kitchen worker or janitor) again. Unnecesary for doing this to this child. We try and teach our children to be more open about others with disabilities. But yet our teachers and principals have no compassion. So sad. Just like that story from a while ago when the child was expelled in Kindergarden because she accidential brush the teacher's breast! Said the little girl sexual assulted her! Idiots teaching our children.

• This incident should have been treated as a single situation, not lumped in with past problems the school may have had. Why were the parents not called to come pick up the child or drop off a different costume. I understand the school policy thing, if they make one exception they will hear it from 50 tightassed parents. The school deserves some type of punishment in this, they could have avoided this altogether if they had used their heads.

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