Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Police defend handcuffing autistic boy, 9

A 9-year-old with special needs left police no choice but to restrain him, authorities said.

The boy, who police were told has autism, was attending the Fairbank Memorial Day Care Centre last month when he became upset after being teased by other children.

“This boy was out of control, according to the two 911 calls that we got,” said Const. Victor Kwong of Toronto police. “The information that we received was that he was picking up tables and chairs and throwing them around. The precaution that the school had taken was they took out the other students and they locked him into a room by himself.”

It’s the first time the daycare has had to summon police on a child, said Peter Frampton, executive director of the Learning Enrichment Foundation which accommodates 750 kids across 17 centres. He could not comment on this specific case.

“We have a fairly detailed behaviour management policy,” said Frampton pointing out that the centre has a special needs consultant on staff. “Our staff are not allowed to restrain children which is standard in child care centres. When the normal measures are not working, when a child is putting either himself or other children at risk, then it is appropriate to call 911 and to have additional support attend and support the staff and the child in dealing with this. It is the child’s well being that is at the centre of making that decision.”

Three uniformed officers and a two-person mobile crisis intervention team responded to the call from the Dufferin St. and Eglinton Ave. area facility, said Kwong.

“One option would have been to physically take control of him, but at what point does it become that you’re fighting with a child? That causes more injuries. And going into that situation knowing he was autistic you know that you don’t go into the personal space right away of an autistic child.” He noted police decided that he needed to be restrained “so he doesn’t knock himself out.”

The boy was turned over to his mother who had also been summoned to the centre.

Suzanne Lanthier, executive director, Autism Speaks Canada, wonders if the situation could have been resolved without police intervention.

“No one likes to see a 9-year-old put in handcuffs when the whole situation likely could have been avoided in the first place,” she said. “Taking a child who has mental health issues, including Asperger, and separating him from the other kids in the class, it’s like saying ‘You’re in the wrong here.’ Not the kids that are bullying him, not the kids who aren’t aware of what Asperger is. And you’re just asking for trouble.”

Origin
Source: Toronto Star 

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