When we send our children to school, we assume that they are going to be treated fairly and that they are going to be safe from abuse and neglect. However, that is not always the case. Far too often, we hear stories from parents whose children with autism or other disabilities have been subjected to dangerous and improper use of restraints and unnecessary and abusive seclusion. In fact, data from the U.S. Department of Education civil rights data collection shows that most students restrained and secluded are students with disabilities. Students with disabilities make up 12 percent of all students but represent 71 percent of those restrained and 66 percent of those secluded.

There are cameras everywhere we go! We may not see them, but they are there – on toll roads to capture violators, on street poles to stop red light runners, in stores to catch thieves, and often in front offices and hallways of our schools. Police officers  use them to protect our community and themselves, citizens use them to protect their homes and vehicles.... why then not our children? Florida has struggled with being able to guarantee the safety of our students. From the Panhandle to South Florida, evidence has surfaced this year as to just how vulnerable children truly are by reports of abuse at the hands of those entrusted to educate them.

Nearly 50% of children with autism elope from safe areas and caregivers. 91% of drowning deaths in children with autism is a result of wandering behavior. Presently, Florida schools are not required to follow any established protocol for when a student has eloped. Administrators can decide to keep looking and looking without having to call 911. Every second counts!

Florida has the highest number of childhood drownings in the United States. In 2018, there were 88 documented drowning deaths of children in Florida; 76% were age 3 and under. Since children are diagnosed with autism on average in the US at the age of 4.5, it is likely that the vast majority of these young children who wandered away from caregivers were children who would have later been diagnosed with ASD. Research tells us that children with ASD are 160 times more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers.

Florida has seen a significant increase in Baker Act incidents in students with disabilities. There is currently no entity that keeps disaggregated data on school-initiated Baker Acts for kids with autism  and in fact, Baker Acting students with autism is prohibited under Florida law. Although Senate Bill 7026 requires all public schools to have threat assessment teams that include an officer, schools are not required to keep track of Baker Acts that result from the protocols established in this law. It is believed that Baker Acts are being used as a response to behavior, rather than providing positive behavior supports and intervention to children who need them most.