I have an autistic nephew who was dropped off at the police station by the bus driver what can we do?

Question

the poor boy has to ride 1hour 30min. just to get to school because his distric will not accomidate his needs in his home town.he had a fall out with his bus driver before the bus was mobile and supposely hit her, they called home and told his grandma that they needed to pick him up,but she has no car and told them she was not able to get that far.so five min. down the road she pullds into a parling lot and has a police officer come and remove him from the bus (mind you)they never asked if someone else could come pick him up, because i am on the emergency list.now the police officers placed a disordly conduct on him and called the welfare.when i seen him yesterday he showed me his arm and kept saying they hit me.we had a meeting with the elementary principal and superintent and special ed cordinater,but none of them could come up with a solution where this does not happen again .they want him to stay on this 1 and 1/2 bus ride to that school,his first offense and suspened for 3 days.

Answer 1

There is nothing wrong or illegal with a child being transported to a different district.  I would contact the special ed director and superintendent again regarding transportation issues.  They need to provide a different alternative form of transportation - a cab, reimbursing you for mileage, something else.  

Unfortunately, special education has very little control over the transportation departments usually.  I would also call the transportation director and make a complaint against the bus driver for not making a second call.  However, grandma should have offered your name.  That was a big mistake.  In a situation like that, getting the help of the police is always an option.   Remember the bus driver is trained to drive the bus not take care of students with special needs.  It's just the way it is.  

Social services issues should be easily taken care of though.  No worries there.  When they check on him, do ask how you can get services for him, if you are not already.

Answer 2

Get a Parent Advocate NOW. Deal with Social Services form the point of view of autism, and the safeguards in place through the school aren't working. They can't suspend him for actions relating to his disability. Been there, done that.

CAll the District SpEd Director, inform them this is not acceptable. Dump it all back on the school for not providing safe transportation.

Google Wright's Law and dig in...it's a heck of a bumpy ride.... but your nephew deserve a FAPE.

Answer 3

wow. first of all, the school should be covering his transportation, if they can not accomodate his needs, then it is their responsibility. i believe this is under the IDEA law. I would highly suggest investing in a lawyer, at least for advice, then if need be, have the lawyer become involved with the situation. was there a camera on this bus? good luck!

Answer 4

there is no guarantee that any student with disabilities will be educated in thier home school.  if the home school cannot provide the most appropriate LRE, they are financially responsible for getting the student to the nearest school that can.  1.5 hour ride sounds like a bit much, however, without knowing what type of area you live in, it is hard to say if that is inappropriate or not.  i guess it all comes down to...is the ride worth the services provided or would a shorter ride with services that maybe aren't as good be more appropriate?  the bus driver should not have been put into that position...being alone with a student who acts out physically.  bus drivers are not trained in how to restrain or de-escalate, they are trained how to drive the bus...this driver probably did what she thought was best.  if the bus driver is unable to deal with your nephew, an aide should be provided for the ride...it seems to me that that should have been the deal in the first place.

Answer 5

to start with -that bus driver needs to be fired-should not be dealing with student with special needs.

Your child may need an aid on the bus-

I would be contacting the police chief-the officer that filed thd charge needs to be educated and trained-yes they had to take a report if the driver wanted them to-but to actually make it a charge is ridiculous

Any bus driver with common sense would have known to go back to the school-

the only excuse involving the police is if it was an ongoing situation-the child was out of control and a dangerous situation was present-but in that case-the bus should not have moved-the police should have been called

Answer 6

UHHHHH this made me so mad i couldnt finish reading.

my brother is autistic and has to ride a bus for 40 minutes to gget to his highschool. hes in grade 9 now and they place that has the best program for him is that far away.

the bus driver shouldnt have done that.

its rediculous.

first of all the bus driver MUST have known about his condition and should have shrugged it off.

if it bothered him that much he should have waited till he dropped of your nephew and talked to the adult at home.

the police should have known how to handle it and htey should have been able to see that he's not just freaking out on people because hes crazy.

they should have realized that there must have been something to agrivate him.

this saddens me so much because i think that if it happened to my brother i would be so mad.

im always worried about things like this happening to him when im not around. when i wnet to elementary school with him i would hang out with him at recess and make sure no one falsly accused him of anything or hurt him in any way.

now that im in highschool i go to a different school than him and always worry.

i feel for your nephew.

being autistic he probably doesnt lie, i know my broyther never does anyway, he always rats me out.

also, he wouldnt have hit the bus driver for no reason.

Answer 7

Whoever has decision making abilities over this child needs to get informed. Unless agreed to otherwise, a child has every right to be educated in their home district and believe me, the law (IDEA) supports this. For transportation, if the bus driver was attacked before even becoming mobile, then that bus should not have moved anywhere, especially to a police station. The parent should have never agreed to that amount of travel time. That type of situation is ripe for behavior problems. At the least an insistance on having a separate bus aide assigned specifically for the child should have been made.

This has moved beyond a child advocate though finding a good one will help for the future. I would obtain an attorney with knowledge of disabilities and go after the school districts and assist with the police and child services. There is nothing worse than having child services and the police involved with an autistic child. They do not understand the intricate nature of the disability especially since these kids 'look normal.' Since child services is now involved and the child is saying he was hit, then bring it to their attention. These kids are not known for fabricating. There are plenty of knowledgeable specialists that can attest to that.

It is time for whomever is in charge of this child to stop giving the school the power of decision making. They need to get informed and grow a backbone because the majority of schools will try to get away with as much as possible unless caught or held accountable. They do as little as possible and love it when a parent lets them get away with it.

I have two sons with severe autism and have been doing it for 17 years. There has not been a period longer than 6 months in all that time that I have not had to call a meeting to address a school issue. The school knows I will not let them get away with c**p yet they still push the boundaries regularly.

The internet is full of information about special education. http://www.wrightslaw.com/ is a good place to start. Find a child advocate, an attorney since this has progressed so far, contact your nearest university to see if they've got an autism center, contact the child's doctor for help, your state's governor should have some sort of council set up to address disabilities, etc... The main thing I learned early on is that help is out there but nobody just offers it. A parent has to be proactive and very determined in order to get information and assistance.

Answer 8

This is horrible.  His own school district should really be accommodating his needs.  According to the IDEA which is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a school district MUST provide free appropriate education to children with disabilities.  

I would do some research, particularly on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and then contact his school district.  There is no reason he should be riding on a bus for an hour and a half when there is a school district in his hometown.  

Many times parents have to fight with school districts to get what their child needs.  

I would also find out why this bus driver did not contact the rest of the emergency contacts on the list.  

Good luck.