Be Quiet, or I will tape your mouth shut!

On August 15, 2008, parents in Fowlerville, Michigan had their infant taken away from them and were charged with child abuse and neglect for allegedly taping a pacifier in the mouth of their infant. (Report: Pacifier Taped in Baby's Mouth) While I tend to agree that taping a pacifier in the mouth of an infant is not the best choice a parent could make, and I am fairly certain many will agree that this is wrong; this particular story adds a certain element of contrast to what our society views as acceptable when it comes to keeping a little one quiet.

What if the child was not an infant? Would it be acceptable to tape the mouth of a child at the age of four? Who has the right to decide if a child's mouth should be taped shut? How about a teacher in Queens, NY? That teacher is now facing a lawsuit based on a parent's claim that their 4 year old daughter had her mouth taped shut for speaking during "quiet time" at school. This story was reported in the New York Post and on UPI.com on May 11, 2008.

In Cleveland, TX, a 5 year old little boy that suffers with Asthma had his mouth taped shut by his teacher -- (KTRK TV, Houston, TX). In Marietta, GA, a 10 year old boy suffered the same treatment during an after-school program -- (Cobb County, GA). In Durham, NC, a 9 year old boy that suffers with Cerebral Palsy, blindness in one eye and asthma, had his mouth taped shut, according to a report by WRAL News. What is happening in our schools that they view taping a child's mouth shut as an acceptable means of discipline? What is happening in our society that we are allowing this type of aversive action to take place in our schools?

Are you surprised to learn that incidents like this take place and seem to be an acceptable practice by school administrators? Guess what, it is happening closer to home than you may realize! I was recently contacted by a family in Haddon Heights that told me this horrific story about their special needs child having his mouth taped shut by a substitute teacher. The boy's mother told me that school administrators were covering up this incident and placing a rather creative spin on the situation. Stories have now surfaced, which I presume were by school officials, that claim this was part of a class game. Taping a child's mouth shut, especially a child on the spectrum, cannot possibly be viewed as a "game!"

According to the child, this was not a game at all. He was asked to be quiet several times during class and openly admitted that he had difficulty with this request. Furthermore, he explained to his mother, that he was warned by the substitute teacher that if he could not be quiet, his mouth would be taped shut. The boy claims that when he spoke again, the substitute teacher taped his mouth shut. For those of us with a child on the spectrum, we are already aware that our children do not typically tell lies. It is not in their nature because they are hard-wired to deal with facts and have a tendency to be extremely literal. Not to mention that they often do not grasp social norms and would be unaware that this is not a socially acceptable practice. They just know that it happened and was not very enjoyable.

Having your mouth taped shut would present difficulty even for a typical child. However, in this particular case, the child has a disability that classifies him for special education. That disability includes a Sensory Integration Disorder that makes this scenario particularly problematic. I see three very clear problems here. One, if the child has a Sensory Integration Disorder, the physical feeling of having his mouth taped shut most likely caused discomfort, if not actual pain. So as an individual behavioral strategy, this was unacceptable for this particular child.

Second, any type of behavioral challenge, including an inability to follow directions or remain silent during certain instructional periods, should be addressed via a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) that would include preparing a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP) that addresses the behaviors in a positive manner. That is what Special Education Law dictates. A teacher, substitute teacher, case manager, or even a local school official does not have the authority to re-write the laws governing special education. There seems to be a clear violation of the law if negative approaches such as this were utilized and the behaviors were never addressed in a constructive fashion that complied with special education laws.

The third problem, which I find very disturbing, is that a child with special needs was subjected to public humiliation in front of his peers. Based on the very nature of autistic disorders, this child is prone to sensory issues, not to mention he is prone to feeling anxious, embarrassed and fearful. To humiliate him in front of his typical peers causes more psychological damage than many educators realize. How will our children ever "fit in" when they are singled out and subjected to such acts?

Our schools and teachers who partake in this type of discipline should be held accountable for their actions. It is no wonder that other students treat our disabled children so poorly -- in many cases, they are learning it from the staff. Furthermore, it is not enough to just blame a poorly trained staff member for making such a bad choice -- when school administrators do not do anything about issues like this, they are condoning this type of behavior from their staff. They too, should be held accountable.

The family from Haddon Heights initially tried to contact the School Principal to complain about this situation. When the School Principal was too busy to meet with the parent, she went directly to the Superintendent. It appeared that their concerns were not being taken seriously, so the family documented the incident in a police report to make certain there was an official record of the incident. By December 8th the parents had written a letter to the Director of Special Education and the School Principal to indicate their concerns in writing. They feared that their child's behavior was being addressed through physical management and restraint and they were concerned about their son's emotional health as a result of the incident. However, their complaint went unanswered for a month.

By January 5th, the family had learned that this particular substitute teacher was still permitted to teach at the Seventh Avenue Elementary School and had been assigned again as a substitute within a week of the incident. The family followed up with a letter to the Haddon Heights Board of Education. In their letter they pointed out other incidents that concerned them about the manner in which their child's special needs had been addressed.

Finally on January 7th they received a response from Phillip Hammer, the President of Haddon Heights Board of Education. The letter stated that a thorough investigation had been conducted by the School Principal and the Case Manager. Mom was told that this investigation included an interview with the substitute and the aide, but the investigation did not include interviewing the child, who was the apparent victim. Furthermore, it does not appear that any other students or their parents were interviewed. Surely, other students would have gone home and told their parents about this situation. The letter went on to state that this substitute would not be assigned to this particular classroom again, but stopped short of stating that the substitute would not be used to fill vacancies in other classrooms at the school or within the Haddon Heights School District.

The letter seems somewhat antagonistic in that it states that "the result of this investigation revealed facts that do not conform with the claims [the parent] has made." In other words, the parents are lying? Apparently they are not, because other parents have reported that there was an incident in that particular classroom and on that particular day, and when this particular teacher was assigned -- that do in fact include an incident of taping mouth(s) shut.

The letter goes on to state that the school district is "following policies consistent with the district's priority to ensure the safety, well-being, fair treatment and quality education of every child." It would certainly force me to ask questions such as: Is it "safe" to tape a child's mouth shut? Is this in the best interest of the child or his "well being?" Is it "fair" to treat a special needs child in this manner? How does taping his mouth shut ensure a "quality education?"

As for the report from another parent that confirms the taping incident occurred, it is interesting to note that this report was made in a public fashion, as a response to an article in the Retrospect on Friday December 19. The parent that supposedly wrote this response was conveniently listed as "Name Withheld on Request." Although the response puts an interesting spin on the incident, it most certainly confirmed that an incident occurred that involved taping more than one child's mouth shut. If this response letter was submitted as damage control, it seems to have caused more damage because it substantiates the family's accusations that the incident took place. You can read the article that appeared in The Retrospect by clicking here.

In speaking with the boy's family, I have learned that the boy's mother seems to have become the target of unwarranted harassment by others, simply because she stood up for her child's rights. I am asking readers to support this family by sending emails to the Haddon Heights School District. Let them know how we, as a society, feel about taking such aversive actions that lead to fear and humiliation for our special needs children. Perhaps publicly embarrassing a school district that seems not to hold staff accountable for their actions, may force them to address this issue and apologize to the family involved.

Dr. Nancy Hacker, Superintendent, e-mail: hackern@hhsd.k12.nj.us
Mrs. Jane McGovern, School Principal, e-mail: mcgoverj@hhsd.k12.nj.us
Mr. George Rafferty, Director of Special Education, e-mail: raffertyg@hhsd.k12.nj.us
Mr. Phillip Hammer, President, Haddon Heights BOE, e-mail: pwhammer@gmail.com

As always, feel free to leave comments below.
Kathi Magee