Juvenile Justice and our kids

[Guest guest]

Charlyne's note about arrests was and is so timely. I attended a seminar on

Friday for the re-write of the Juvenile Justice code for the state of GA.

Seems the code written in 1971 is out dated . Probably true in other

states.

My concern was the disproportionate number of kids who belong to minority

groups. Yes - racial is part of that, but so are kids with disabilities,

kids in foster care, kids with unusual parental configuations.

Disproportionate to such HUGE amounts that legislators (and think tanks) are

looking at the facts and trying to figure out why.

One thing is clear - our schools are becoming direct pipelines to jail.

Secondly - our children who are already labeled are at higher risk of

landing in the juvenile justice system for that little playground push than

the school bully is.

Our job is not only to monitor our kids education, but we need to be

proactive in ensureing that a mnifestation of our child's disability is not

going to get him or her in handcuffs in the back of a police car. Make sure

that flailing is symptom and what the action needs to be. Make sure that

cursing is a symptom and what the action needs to be. (Elie has NEVER

cursed even one word since he left his school - intersting little note).

And Charylne - my heart sister- you save me too. That is why we have a

circle - never ending- of support for eaach other.

On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 2:23 AM, charlyne1121 wrote:

>

>

> Hi All,

> Beth, thanks for the welcome back. Business was ok despite the

> economy. I was fortunate to have some TV coverage the day before the fair

> began. I am camera shy but the newscaster previewed his questions and

> promised he would get a shot of the trailer so I agreed. The segment not

> only ran on the 5:00 news but again at 6:00, 11:00 and twice the following

> day. After all that I never did see it but seems everyone I know did. My dh

> saw it and said I did ok. I think it helped. A few of my customers commented

> that they had looked for the trailer after seeing it on TV. I got lucky all

> because I was still setting up late in the day because my stock guy never

> showed.

>

> New Members

> I have a food concessions company doing business at fair and events. I

> started this business 15 yrs ago for my son knowing that 10% of disabled

> people were employed, now 16%. My goal was to have an established business

> that he could step into after finishing school. He has worked occassionally

> at a few small events pouring lemonade and waiting on a few customers but

> would rather boss me around than do manual labor. He collects money just

> fine. The business season is short, the hours are long and the work is

> physically demanding. What was I thinking? I spend some of my off time doing

> community service, sped advocacy. I found this group about nine yrs ago when

> my son was having extreme behavioral issues and doing some weird stuff. I

> had no clue what to do or where to go for help. If it weren't for this group

> I would have had a room at the institute. My son does not have autism. He is

> one of those regular DS kids if there is such a thing. The group let me hang

> in regardless. Trust me, he isn't easy despite good speech. I have no boring

> life with him.

> Carla,

> Zeb was being abused at school and I had no clue. The behaviors were a

> result of the abuse. Although Zeb had speech, he couldn't tell me what was

> going on. My daughter happened to be home and received a call from the

> elementary school secretary to come get Zeb. She walked into the office to

> find him tied up. The principal was out and a teacher had pulled his long

> sleeved shirt sleeves around his body like a straight jacket. He was

> completely covered in sweat. My daughter is a big girl and takes no crap.

> She jacked the male teacher. I came home to a hysterical daughter and Zeb

> cowering in the corner. I took Zeb immediately to the pediatrician and she

> called child protective services. Nothing happened to this teacher. My guess

> is that he lied and the other teachers swore to it. Years later, he is a

> principal at another elementary school where I had the privledge to advocate

> for another student. My meeting was a personal victory for this student

> where this principal ate crow. He called me into his office where he

> apologized and said he almost lost his teaching license. I accepted his

> apology but I can't forget. Little did I know that this incident would be

> the beginning of many more in each grade. Zeb has always been fully included

> and that the other students protected him. I received calls from their

> parents etc. Zeb was arrested in 4th grade for pushing another student. I

> wouldn't have survived this ordeal without the love and support of this

> group. My battles with this school district are too involved to write. Zeb

> says he is writing a book after he graduates if he ever does but the book

> may get written. Zeb has an offer of help from a reknown published author of

> multiple books. We shall see. He was arrested again last year. Sara salvaged

> my sanity. Both times the charges were dismissed. I would have never thought

> that I would become familiar with the criminal justice system with Zeb.

> Despite great speech Zeb's anxiety kicks in and still cannot tell me when

> something is wrong, go figure. Sorry for the long post.

> Charlyne

>

>

>

--

Sara -To Life!