Mother says teachers ‘abused’ son with autism, files complaints with Ohio Department of

DAYTON — A mother filed complaints with the Ohio Department of Education after her autistic son was held down on the floor by teachers with his arms and legs pulled behind him.

The complaint led to an investigation and findings of wrongdoing by Dayton Public School employees.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spent Friday going through emails, police reports and state documents, as well as speaking with the mother about the incident.

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The incident happened around the beginning of this school year, on August 25th.

A mother told News Center 7 her nine-year-old autistic son was restrained at Eastmont Park Prek-8 School in a completely inappropriate way.

“It’s shocking, it’s just shocking to me,” the mother said.

This woman agreed to speak with News Center 7 but not identify herself to protect her son’s confidentiality.

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She provided documentation of the complaints she filed with the school and the Ohio Department of Education after she claims her son asked for help when his computer program timed out.

“He pulled his hood up and put his head down, that started the meltdown,” she said.

A state department of education report said that DPS employees said, “the student’s behavior started with refusal to complete his assignment, cutting up a paper towel, turning off his computer and putting his head on a desk.”

The behaviors escalated to throwing objects, head butting staff, kicking tables and staff, throwing chairs and hitting staff and himself.

That’s when the 9-year-old was restrained, repeatedly, at least two times in what’s called a prone restraint.

“He was placed on the floor with his hands and his feet held behind him,” the mother said.

The ODE report states that, “the times listed in the witness statements identify that the full incident occurred for 30-45 minutes.”

The district said, “the student was restrained three separate times for 2-3 minutes per restraint.”

Witness statements report prone restraint was used with the student in two of the three restraints, demonstrating a lack of training as prone restraint is prohibited through the state rule.

The mother knew that her son’s teacher and other employees had acted wrongly, but told News Center 7 her complaints fell on deaf ears.

That’s why she filed the ODE complaint.

The state found the DPS staff to have used non-approved restraint techniques, to have failed to notified the students parents in the required time frame and to have received inadequate training.

The school superintendent declined an interview request with WHIO-TV, but school officials said in a statement that, “staff first attempted to calm the student by talking to him throughout the incident.”

“Of the six employees present for the incident, two did not have current crisis management and de-escalation training documentation,” the statement continued.

These staff members had been previously trained, however their certifications had expired because there was limited training during the 2020-201 school year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The statement also said the safety of students and staff is the district’s utmost priority.

The district plans to follow all corrective actions outline by ODE on or prior to the deadlines provided.

The mother pulled her son out of the school district and worried about the long-term impact of what happened.

“This could go with him to adulthood, that scares me to death,” the mother said.

Some of the six staff members involved in this incident still have state-required training to complete in the next several months.

The school district is going to be required to send out notifications to every parent in the district about their rights in terms of filing complaints with the Ohio Department of Education.

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