An autistic boy whose trips to a school's seclusion room escalated from five minutes a session to 20 – where in the latter the child removed his clothing and urinated on them – now suffers with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as alleged in a personal injury lawsuit and reported by The Republic and the Lincoln Journal Star.
The parent's state in the suit that they were not notified each time that their son was shut inside the 35 square foot room until after the 20-minute episode.
Both the child and the parents are not identified by name in the lawsuit to protect them from harassment or scorn.
District polices, not adhered to according to the suit, require that the district staff (LPS) document every incident of seclusion and then notify parent within 24 hours. The suit states that the district was negligent in their failure to train staff on the correct procedures and to supervise them to make sure they followed those procedures.
Christopher Miller, the family's attorney, stated that the 12 year-old boy has since been diagnosed with a post-traumatic stress disorder.
Damages are sought for medical expenses – approximately $1,470 so far – and a monetary amount to be determined to cover all past, present or future emotional and physical pain.
The lawsuit has been filed in Lancaster County District Court.
Miller told reporters that the boy was placed in Pyrtle Elementary School's "safety room" nearly 50 times between the months of September 2010 to March 2011. When a student is placed inside the room the door is kept closed.
It wasn't until February 2011 that the boy's parents were told of his trips to the seclusion room, and that was because the mother was called afterward and asked to come to the school.
Miller said, "The main issue in this case is that LPS had, at the time, guidelines for seclusion, and those guidelines were not met, particularly parent notification within 24 hours. Had they been notified, the child would not have been harmed or harmed to the extent he was."
According to LPS guidelines the use of physical restraints or seclusion is allowable if a student is out of control, disruptive or creating a risk of injury to himself or others. Other plans, that the school develops with parents, would allow seclusion for other reasons. The district, however, bars the use of the seclusion room as a means of discipline.
An investigation by the Nebraska Department of Education concluded that the boy had previously been held in seclusion for stints of two to five minutes. The day that the school telephoned his mother and asked her to come to school, was after the boy had been placed in the room for 20 minutes, in which time, he had removed his clothes and urinated on them.
If your child has been injured while at school, or on school grounds, you can recover your damages by filing a lawsuit. Contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss monetary awards.