I sure hope that you are able to read this because this one is the one that makes me the most upset...................no, it PISSES me off! I usually don't use that kind of language but this one gets under my skin and there is simply no other way to describe the way that it makes me feel!

First of all I am going to use the so called "teacher's" name because I am NOT going to protect her since it is time that she is totally exposed and besides I am protected by First Amendment rights and there is nothing that she can do about it! Her name is April Hendricks and April, who does not deserve to be called a "teacher", used the word "disrespectful" when it was not appropriate at all because my son does NOT have any clue what the hell it means or the concept of it. Please someone let me know if your child who is autistic can follow what disrespectful means and can grasp the concept. Well, for sure my child who is autistic ( I feel that I have to emphasize autistic because apparently she forgot that he was autistic!) did not and still does not grasp that concept!!!!!

Maybe, just maybe.....................Griffin was "shhhhing" them because he was having auditory issues and perhaps the sound/noise was bothering his ears! And maybe he was putting his hand in their faces because they refused to respond to his requests. I certainly know that when someone ignores me that I ultimately use body language to get my point across one way or another. I feel that he was in distress and had no other way to express himself and to make his wishes known in hopes that they would be heard and understood and of course this is NOT what happened.

Okay, let me see if I got this one right........................he said that "he was behaving this way because he didn't want to do that". First of all, I know for certain that Griffin would never say something like that and she didn't clarify that he was asked why he was behaving that way so for sure she is lying like a dog! Griffin is one heck of a brilliant child but he does not posess the ability to explain why he is doing something so clearly and in such detail. And so what if he didn't want to do something, maybe he wasn't feeling well or just didn't feel like being an idiot and conforming to their every whim!

This part is the kicker.........................we are really working on him understanding that sometimes we have to do what we don't want to. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe that she had the audacity to even write that to me! Griffin is well aware that he does not always get what he wants but for her to say that is totally inappropriate and it is absolutely absurd to admit it. I think that here she tells on herself and inadvertently lets me know that she is treating Griffin as though he is just some spoiled brat and that he must learn his lessons and to act like a compliant Educable Mentally Disabled child when he is just the exact opposite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

......and that he is not in charge. OMG! It amazes me what April actually wrote on her notes to me and never, not once, had a parent teacher conference!!!!!!! Any child of that age will test his/her boundaries to see how far they can go, it is all part of the learning and growing process. So for Griffin to exert himself like that is actually a huge leap in progress and I believe that he doesn't have much longer until he is in a regular ed. classroom that is IF he ever goes back to school in this backward state and only IF he were to have an excellent and contemporary teacher who is fully qualified to work with autistic kiddos and who will appreciate him for all that he is and to not just single out certain traits, emphasize them and then push him out the door. I would love for all this to go to Due Process Hearing soon so until then I will let you know how things are going and I will post all the details. The time is near and it is looking as though I am going to get the help that I need and finally justice will be served!


Got to get to bed, it is very late: 2:00 a.m.

Imagine A Child Writing What He Wants To On The Board

This one always makes me chuckle because I would like to know how she knew that Griffin was "purposefully writing wrong answers". Now is she psychic or what? I know that Griffin is a brilliant child but there are times when he does get the answers wrong and even if he was writing the wrong answers on purpose then why should he be punished for it?

Then she wrote that he wrote the wrong answers because, "he wanted to write what he wanted on white board" SO WHAT! Of course he wanted to write what he wanted, he is a child and that is what children do! They are self centered and they want what they want when they want it and for sure that does not warrant punishment.

The only legitimate thing that she wrote on this sheet is that he had difficulty listening to directions but still................that does NOT warrant punishment. He should have been redirected or had the directions explained to him in such a manner that he was more able to listen to and understand them.

I swear this woman was out to get Griffin for some bizarre reason and I cannot put my finger on it but it certainly seems to me that every single day she was looking for something to punish him for! I feel sure that she got some kind of sick satisfaction out of going after him because if she didn't like having to punish him then she would have had parent teacher conferences with me in order to remedy the situations but not once did she ever do that and not once did I get a paper giving the schedule for parent teacher conferences. There is something very fishy about that and very wrong! Griffin has never been at a school where they didn't have parent teacher conferences. I believe that she was afraid of me and what I would have had to say to her about her treatment of my child and she didn't have the where-with-all (not sure if that is how it is spelled) to talk to me face to face. She was audacious in her punishment of my child but didn't have the guts to face me about it.

This woman was and still is inherently EVIL because she was a predator out to have my child for lunch each and every day! She was not and is not a teacher she is the unspeakable because her prey was an innocent child with autism and I am certain that she is preying on somebody else's child because a sickness like that never goes away and I only wish that I could put a stop to it so that no other child is mentally and emotionally damaged by her! What bothers me is that I tried really hard to be nice to her and I took her special stuff for her classroom, I bought gingerbread houses for the kids to make and I volunteered every time they had an activity that needed other adults such as every single field trip that they had.

I have a very strong sense that tells me that she put Griffin in the Rifton chair (which is ILLEGAL) when she had him in time out for 20 minutes, there is absolutely NO way that she could have kept him in time out for 20 minutes without putting him in it. There has got to be a reason that every single time I showed up at that school to go to that classroom that they announced to her that I was coming. What other reason would there be for them to do that? It is just very suspicious to me, there was plenty that they were hiding from me and they did a very good job at hiding it and I should have followed my instincts and dug deeper but I didn't want to think it and believe that it was true. I was in denial and she took full advantage of it.

I would just like to know what she had against my child and I don't care to know what she had against me but Griffin had nothing to do with why she disliked me so bad and he never should have been needlessly punished for trivial matters that were easily taken care of had she known what she was doing in the first place!

I am still looking into finding a Pro Bono lawyer who will help me take this case to a Due Process Hearing and I will not stop until the time has run out (1 year). I am determined to expose this monster for who she really is and make sure that she doesn't hurt anymore children.

My Letter Concerning The Abuse Of My Child

This is a letter that I wrote to the individuals who were at the administrative level at school district 4. I will comment on their reaction to it after I complete the copy of the original:

To Whom It May Concern,

May I first say a word about my precious child named Griffin? He is such a pleasant and joyful child who loves to laugh and with that laughter he has warmed the hearts of many people. He sheds his light on those we meet in public and always brings a smile to their faces. He has certainly taught me more in the past six years than I could have ever taught him. I am a blessed and truly grateful mother.

When Griffin started school, one that I had heard so many great things about and therefore I entrusted my child to the staff there even though I did not know them, I was apprehensive....something just didn't feel right about it. Apparently after some time, as reported by his teacher, he began to have some undesirable behaviors. I began receiving daily reports that were long, very detailed (as far as what he did), and always very negative. What concerned me the most was that the child who she described was not the one with whom I was familiar, so I tried to communicate with her by leaving notes on a steno pad in his backpack to no avail. Despite all my efforts not only through writing but also by phone calls & e-mail messages, and by speaking to her when I would drop him off or pick him up. April, his teacher (EMR teacher) was always evasive and could never seem to address the issues at hand. I had asked on many occasions, even in the IEP meetings, that she write some good reports about him and not just the negative because when he had a good day all she would do is to put a smiley face on the paper. She told me that she didn't have the time and I replied that if she had the time to write negative reports that she had time to to do the opposite as well. Until the very last day of school she never wrote one good report about my child. I had merely made the requests because it was important for me to know as much as possible about how he is doing in the classroom and what was being done about it.

In the IEP meetings specifically I asked to have a BIP (behavioral intervention plan) in place and this was not the first time asking. I knew that his behaviors and his consequences were affecting his ability to learn by continually distracting him from completing his work. Once I realized that I wasn't getting anywhere with April through prior attempts to communicate. I asked her if she knew of any child psychologists in the area and she highly recommended one that she had taken classes from while in college. I took him to this woman for a very brief visit and she gave me some papers for April to fill out, which I wanted copies of but of course this wish was not granted. The papers were concerning his behaviors, when they occured (before and after what had happened), and how the behaviors were dealt with. I had finally felt that something was going to be done to help him and I was going to see how and what April had been doing to and for my child.

By this time, when I would ask April if she had filled out the papers she continuously told me that she had not but meant to. When I reminded her that I wanted copies because I wanted to know what kind of consequences he was getting and if he was in turn getting positive reinforcement as well, for his "good" behaviors, she would not reply. At this point I wrote a letter to her and asked as nicely as I could to please help me help my son and for us to be on the same page in order for him to not only learn in school but for him to not continue to only know negativity and learn to hate school.

Despite all my efforts in asking for a special (unscheduled) IEP meeting, which I had every right to, it was never granted. I would not give up on my child, I refused to get angry instead I wanted to keep trying to work it out. I had not even considered home schooling at this point, I wanted to have faith the the system would work for us and that there would be harmony.

April did not report on the daily report, that she had kept him out of recess, all of his related arts classes (which he needed for future mainstreaming attempts), and made him sit in time out for 20 minutes (he is only 6 years old and I cannot "make" him sit for 5 minutes) just for coming out of the bathroom stall, not the bathroom itself but just the stall, with his pants down!!!!!!!!! I was quite disturbed by this and felt that those were severe consequences for something that he didn't even know was socially unacceptable! I also felt that it was a severe consequence for him to be denied access to the only time during the day when he has physical exercise and has time to self-regulate himself and to cope with his sensory needs that were accumulated during his time inside being punished in time out. She severely punished him by denying him the inclusion time in a regular classroom which he has had little experience with since being in her classroom. Not only that but I wondered how much April actually knew about autism because to take an autistic child away from his peers is actually a reward since they prefer to be alone anyhow.

I told one of her assistants that I did not want him missing recess no matter what and I was very serious when I told her. The next thing that I knew I had received a rather angry call from the principal, Hope. She insisted that Griffin needed to learn consequences and she would not even address the issues that it was a severe punishment to keep him out of all of those activities and to make him walk laps around the gym during recess and that he needed the inclusion time as well.

It is my understanding that my child has the right to attend recess, by law, and all of the other services such as inclusion time. Griffin is only six years old and he is autistic, he doesn't know what is socially acceptable and frankly he doesn't care either because that is a major part of having autism.

I had written to this alleged "child psychologist" and said that Griffin was a brilliant child, scoring at the 81st percentile for his age/peer group and that I felt that he wasn't being challenged and that he was being mistreated for his behaviors. Lest I forget that the two of them were buddies from college and the next thing I knew Griffin was being punished more, more negative reports than ever, and April totally ignored me............TOTALLY! Well, I had done it for sure at this point and now my child was going to pay for it! I felt completely and utterly helpless and even when I had an advocate in the IEP meetings there was obviously nothing that was going to be done about it and and I didn't know where or whom to turn to.

Regretfully, I signed the documents in the IEP meetings because even with and advocate from the SC Autism Society (who did not help me at all) I was devastated and defeated. The benefits that they had promised me and had written on his IEP were not followed through with, I am certain, because he was still being punished for his autistic behaviors, it was all for naught and it had been a complete waste of time.

I would like to personally thank you for reviewing my letter and taking into consideration all that my son and I have experienced concerning our issues and the lack of positive attention to them. I am grateful for this opportunity to be "heard" and to be able to share with you my reasons for pulling my child out of the South Carolina public school system and making the wisest decision I have made for my child to home school him and to never ever allow him to set foot in your reprehensible school system again!!!!!


In the final analysis, the entire staff, each one who dealt with Griffin broke numerous federal and state laws including but not limited to; Section 504, IDEA, they did not provide him with an FBA (functional behavioral assessment), nor did they follow any of the laws governing the data and directives of the I.E.P. meetings.

The women who were at the administrative level only covered for the teachers and principal who dealt with Griffin and did not blink and eye when reading my letter as I watched with my last hope. I am not qualified nor do I have the capital to hire an attorney to represent me at a due process hearing for all that has been done to my child. I have yet to find a lawyer in this area who will work with me pro bono, this state and it's public school system have NOT won this battle because now my child is safe at home learning and being rewarded daily instead of being punished for being a child with autism.

On the positive side, as I like to see it because there's nothing else I can do at this point, it was a blessing in disguise and my dear son, Griffin, is home and happy right where he belongs. We have grown so close and he has developed in leaps and bounds. Home schooling is so tough and it is so difficult to adhere to but with just enough love and patience it can be done and my child is all the better for it! I now know that my child is growing in a natural and healthy manner and negativity is not even part of our vocabulary. Griffin has autism and there is nothing shameful about that, he no longer has to act out due to unnecessary punishment and his sensory needs are being fulfilled by him with his cuddle swing, his mini trampoline, and his other activities that we do throughout the day.

I am proud to have a child with autism and far as I am concerned, he will always be proud to be autistic because that is what I am teaching him.

Welcome To My Blog, May You Learn Something New After Reading This

Thank you for stopping by this blog, may you find something valuable here that you won't learn anywhere else, other than experiencing it yourself, firsthand, as I have. You may wonder why I named this blog as I have, it is because if you are curious about La France Elementary School in South Carolina I would like for you to know a few things about their treatment of autistic children, such as my son, before you consider putting your child in this school.

My son went to the special needs classroom and as you will see by the evidence that I present, that he was mistreated and punished for being autistic/having autistic behaviors, for having sensory processing issues, and that the teacher was NOT qualified to teach autistic children.

You might think that because you do not have a special needs child that this doesn't apply to you but you will find that, after reading more information that I provide, the principal and even at the district level I was in fact bullied and intimidated to take an entry off of my other blog that was a perfectly legal and justifiable entry. It was the assistant superintendent who admitted to me that she told the principal to tell me to take the entry off of my blog in which that had NO right to tell me or to even suggest that I take something off that the first amendment gives me the right to publish. I believe that after you hear my stories that you will agree that these people who are getting government funding for having my child in the classroom when he is not even there anymore. I even had a lawyer tell me that, "You can bet that this school is still getting the government funding even though your son is not even in the classroom this year." I am sure that they are which should concern all of us since that is OUR tax money and nobody is even checking into it.

Perhaps you will just take a look at the evidence and information that I present because the papers that I scan are the actual ones that the teacher sent home with my child and it is apparent that she is making him stay out of recess, sit in time out for 20 minutes, and missing his regular education classes just for acting autistic and doing things that practically ALL autistic children do.

We moved from Anchorage, Alaska 2 years ago and the education and level of understanding was far beyond stellar and it has been nothing but hell since he set foot in La France Elementary. I was denied an I.E.P for months and never got the Behavior Intervention Plan in place during the IEP that I did get even though the teacher repeatedly reported nothing but negative comments about my son nearly every single day. I want to go ahead and publish the report right now so that you can see it and let me know what you think about how she had NO knowledge of how to deal with an autistic child. I am outraged and I will keep this blog forever and never give up trying to get justice for what has been done to my child. Not only does my son have disabilities but so do I and I feel that I have been mistreated and taken advantage of by these people. They took advantage of the fact that I was terrified of retaliation while he was in the school and now that he is attending school at home and never will be in the SC public school system ever again, I will speak out and teach people what has been going on there!!!!!

Please read on:

In reference to the paper up above which is a report sent home by the teacher concerning my son. Keep in mind that it is the teacher's own policy that if the child gets a "red" light then there is a parent/teacher conference about the child's behavior and how to best deal with it, I imagine to make sure that everyone is on the same page. NOT once was there a conference with the teacher, she never even mentioned it and even though I did, she never would respond to me.

Although she comments that she is concerned about his "defiant behavior" she does not sit down and talk to me about it, she does not answer my e-mail messages, my phone messages, or the notes that I put in my son's backpack that went to school with him. I was left in the dark the entire time my child was in that classroom without any explanation whatsoever!

She mentions that he is not getting along with his peers.........................DAH!!!! Anyone who even remotely knows anything about autism knows that they do not have social skills and do not understand how to relate to their peers, this is a major factor in the diagnosis of autism! This is a common theme for her and she often punishes him for not "getting along with his peers". This is WRONG people! The other behaviors that he displayed was caused by ??????? If there had been a discussion about it perhaps I could have figured out why he was doing those things. All I know is that he does not do those things at home or out in public with me or with my relatives who watch over him. I have lots of ideas of what could have caused them from being bored with the curriculum (his IQ was in the 81st percentile, he is exceptionally intelligent and needs to be challenged). He may have been ignored and needed help and didn't know how to ask for help, if there was too much commotion going on in the classroom he could have been having sensory overload. There are so many things that could have been going on with him and I do not believe that he should have been punished for acting out when the teacher should have known how to deal with it other than trying to keep him still in time out for a whopping 20 minutes................which is insane! I just wonder how she kept him still for so long especially if he was so upset. I could go on but I will save it for later in order to move on.

Once again, he was probably yelling and taking things from classmates because he has absolutely NO social skills, he doesn't know what sharing means or how to carry it out and frankly doesn't care, he has no concern for his peers whatsoever!

It simply sounds to me like he had a major meltdown and that nothing was done about it, nobody tried to calm him down, to redirect him, or to even bother asking him what was bothering him so much................instead all he got was discipline for actions that he had little to no control over.

She mentioned that "he thinks he is and wants to be the boss". Well, for starters he has no clue what that means, not in the least, and he has no idea what "being the boss" is and how to manipulate adults in such a manner. What he does do is to get extremely upset when he loses control and doesn't know what to do, what to say, and how to ask for help. So, if the teacher and all the adults in the classroom are not helping him to maintain control of himself and to regain control when he loses it, then of course he is going to be what is considered to be "rude". Most of all he will tell you what he doesn't want to do because it is most likely the source of all of his frustration or it is too much expected of him while he is having a meltdown. I explained to her over and over and over for many many months, that he has sensory issues, as all autistic children do, and that if he does not have those issues addressed then he will act out and ultimately have a meltdown and sometimes it is then too late to even get him to calm down so that you can talk to him. If he has some means of self-regulating and is left alone for awhile to get himself calmed down (and he is closely watched so that he doesn't hurt himself) then after quite some time then he will at least stop lashing out at those who are overwhelming him and expecting too much of him.

The teacher would never listen to me, no matter how sweet and kind I was and it didn't matter what kind of approach I took, she absolutely refused to work with me and to help out my child. I recently went to an advocacy group who told me that many federal laws have been broken and that I should carry through with litigation but I will keep you posted on that.

Please, after reading this, I do hope that you have some understanding about what my son has been through and how the school refused to work with me and my son. I will be posting new reports often so keep checking back from time to time. I just want you all to be aware of all that goes on there and that you should always be pro-active with your child and keep track of what he/she is being punished for and if the teacher is even communicating with you about how to help your child and to work with you so that everyone is on the same page, whether your child is a special needs child or not.

Thank you for stopping by, please feel free to leave comments and let me know what your opinion or feelings are on this situation.........or you can definitely ask me questions that I will be more than glad to answer. BTW, I must add that my child's SLP (Speech and Language Pathologist) was an angel and seemed to understand him better than anyone, if only they had all been that way! So, if she reads this I wish to thank her for all the wonderful work that she has done because it is evident that he has learned a great deal from her! I must mention that his teacher at Pendleton Elementary was also an angel and I am grateful for the time that she spent with him. She has a special needs child so she knew how to love him unconditionally as she has done with so many students in her care.

Oh yes, I forgot to add.................so what if my child chooses to talk to himself?????????? What is the big deal and what kind of point was she trying to prove by writing that down on his report? Is that meant to be derogatory or what? There a millions of people who talk to themselves on a regular basis..................does that mean that he is being punished for that as well? Or did she think that I was going to think that my child was mentally ill or something because he "talks to himself"? For heaven's sake...........he is only 6 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And is he being punished for whining in his speech class (I truly doubt that his SLP expected him to be punished for whining)? I frankly do not know many children around that age, and even older, who do not whine when they are faced with something that they do not want to do......................for that matter I know just as many adults who whine about everything!

MORE TO COME SO STAY TUNED. Have a wonderful day and may you make all the appropriate choices for your child's education and well being.