Family settles lawsuit against high school where autistic student died
“‘Many of our staff are trained,’” Michael O’Connor, superintendent of the Parchment School District in Michigan, is quoted as saying in reference to the use of physical restraints on students. On the first day of school in 2003, a 15-year-old autistic student, Michael Renner-Lewis, died at Parchment High School. Michael’s family has settled a lawsuit against the school for $1.3 million, according to today’s Kalamazoo Gazette.
This is what happened to Michael:
[H]e fainted about 12:30 p.m. and became combative after regaining consciousness, according to the suit. When he began striking out at others, four school and KRESA [Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency] employees restrained the 6-foot, 200-pound boy by grabbing his limbs and holding him on the ground.
The four ignored his need for medical attention, the suit alleged. An emergency call was made shortly before 2 p.m., but Michael could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at Bronson Methodist Hospital.
Michael’s death was ruled an accident, according to a December 2003 autopsy report. The cause was listed as prolonged physical restraint in a prone position associated with extreme mental or motor agitation.
Elizabeth Johnson, Michael’s mother, was not charged with child neglect for failing to make sure her son took his medications. According to toxicology reports, Michael had not been taking any of his four prescribed medications.
While “many” of the staff in the Parchment School District are, as referred to above, “trained,” “many” is not the same as “all”—-and autistic students need properly trained staff all the time.
4 opinions for Family settles lawsuit against high school where autistic student died
Lene Petite
Jul 21, 2006 at 6:32 am
I agree that all the stuff should be well trained because this example shows that the boy was not just treated incorrectly -I’d say that it was cruelty.. Such people need to be kept under careful observation and in this case the stuff seemed to be too vague on his state as even the emergency was called long after he began to feel bad!
Jannalou
Jul 21, 2006 at 9:15 am
He fainted, and then was lashing out after he woke up? That happens with NTs, too - typically a person is going to be disoriented after fainting like that. They don’t get restrained unto death.
Facedown restraints aren’t supposed to be used, either, as the risk of suffocation is very high.
Aside from that - when I’m upset, it’s best to just leave me alone. And I’m not autistic.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jul 21, 2006 at 11:57 am
This story made my stomach turn. First days of school are tough for Charlie—it’s all new, it’s a big transition. I am wondering what sort of plan had been put into place to deal with such situations (I am fearing that there was none).
Lene Petite
Jul 24, 2006 at 4:17 am
I think that more attention should be payed to such situations to be able to prevent at least some of them as I’m sure that many people even didn’t hear of such tragic incidents!
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