His Name Is Isaiah            

Here’s a story – a true story – about a little boy.  His name is Isaiah.  Isaiah went to school one day and came home with scratches, bruises, and a busted lip.  Happens all the time, right?  He must have got into a tussle with another kid, right?  Nope.            

He got the scratches, bruises, and the busted lip from the “behavior analyst” at his school - the person – the adult - at his school who was supposed to be an expert in helping address any behavior issues Isaiah may have had.  Pretty bizarre for an expert to do this – especially to a seven year old who weighed 52 pounds at the time.  When I was in law school, we were taught that people who did things like this to seven year olds went to jail.         

Do you need to know Isaiah has autism?  Does that possibly make any difference?  There’s no way Isaiah’s disability can serve as any justification for what happened to him.  Unfortunately, it’s because of his disability that Isaiah was subjected to corporal punishment and restraint.  The ACLU/Human Rights Watch study on corporal punishment of children with disabilities in public schools showed that children like Isaiah are often being punished for manifestations of their disability – for behavior that is often beyond their control.  This is just wrong.  And it has to stop.  Now.   

Isaiah is the little boy from Florida whose case is featured in the ACLU/HRW report.  He’s the one who told his mother that “they made me wash the blood off before I saw you.”  Anna Moore, Isaiah’s mother, wants to make sure that what happened to her son never happens to any other child in our public schools. 

I wish Isaiah’s case was an isolated one, but it isn’t.  Twenty states around the country still allow corporal punishment of children with disabilities.  Florida ranks number nine on the list of states that use corporal punishment against kids with disabilities the most.  This is a list that no state wants to be on – it’s a list that has to be abolished.  Permanently.  Now.   

What can you do to help?  Here’s a couple of things.  Write the Governor and the Commissioner of Education and demand an immediate moratorium on corporal punishment of students with disabilities: 

The Honorable Charlie Crist, GovernorState of Florida

The Capitol400 S. Monroe Street

Tallahassee, FL  32399-0001

charlie.crist@myflorida.com           

The Honorable Dr. Eric Smith, Commissioner

Florida Department of EducationTurlington Building, Suite 1514

325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, FL  32399

commissioner@fldoe.org 

Join/build the Cause and share your story – here’s a link to the Cause page on  Facebook (nearly 300 members as of this posting):   http://apps.facebook.com/causes/341382/71996303?m=6d54c0aa            

Thank you to all who’ve written policy makers so far and who’ve shared your stories.  Please keep it up – we’re making progress and building momentum.  This is a fight that our kids can’t afford for us to lose.