December 28, 2011
Mr.Steve Beshear
Office of the Governor
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 112
Frankfort, KY 40601
E-mail: Elizabeth.Roach@ky.gov
Fax: (502) 564-0437
Re:Child with symptoms of autism subjected to cruel treatment for misbehavior in school
Dear Governor Beshear,
I have received new information and request your urgent intervention in the following situation in Mercer County, Kentucky.
I have been informed by reliable sources that Chris Baker, a nine year old autistic student, was told by his special education aide to climb inside a bag intended for therapeutic purposes as a punishment to "control his autistic behavior" on 14 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.
Not only could this teacher's actions -- placing an Autistic child inside a bag not intended for confinement, and tightening the drawstring to keep him there, for punishment -- could potentially have led to serious injury or death, but these actions were an egregious violation of the rights of any human being to be free from fear of abuse.
Governor Beshear ,If you think it's wrong to tell an Autistic child to climb inside a bag not intended as an instrument of confinement 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.
I thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely yours,
William's Desk
Link:http://www.williamgomes.org/?p=215
--
William Nicholas GomesJournalist & Human Rights Activist
80/ B Bramon Chiron, Saydabad,
Dhaka-1203, Bangladesh.
Cell: +88 019 7 444 0 666
E-mail:William [at] williamgomes.org,editorbd[at]gmail.com
Skype: William.gomes9
Face book: www.facebook.com/williamnicholasgomes
Twitter: twitter.com/williamgomes
Web site :www.williamgomes.org
Attachment(s) from William Gomes
1 of 1 File(s)
__._,_.___
