WTAF school takes away blind boy's cane

[pugz]

replaces with pool noodle. WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK??!

fox4kc.com/2014/12/16/north-kansas-city-school-takes-away-blind-childs-cane-replaces-it-with-pool-noodle/


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two North Kansas City parents are outraged after they say their blind son’s cane was taken away from him at school by a bus driver.



Eight-year-old Dakota Nafzinger attends Gracemor Elementary School. Rachel Nafzinger said school staff took away her son’s cane as punishment for bad behavior on the bus and then gave him a swimming pool noodle to use as a substitute.



The school wouldn’t go on camera, but North Kansas City School District Spokeswoman Michelle Cronk confirmed taking away Dakota’s cane, calling it school property that was given to him when he enrolled. They said they took it away after he reportedly hit someone with it and wanted to prevent him from hurting himself or others.



His family said it was a way to humiliate him for misbehaving.



They say Dakota is like any other 8-year-old, only he was born without eyes — something in the medical world known as Bilateral Anopthalmia. Still, Dakota loves to sing, fish and swim — despite the extra work those activities require from someone who is blind.



“It’s a lot harder with this,” he said, indicating the swimming pool noodle he’s now having to use. He said it’s not doing much good.



“Why would you do that? Why would you take the one thing that he’s supposed to use all the time? That’s his eyes,” his mother said.



Cronk said Dakota hit somebody with his cane on Monday while riding the bus. When asked why a pool noodle was given to him as a substitute, Cronk said Dakota fidgets and needed something to hold.



“They said they were going to give me this for the next two weeks,” Dakota said.



Dakota’s mother said he was written up for misbehaving on the bus, but she said she doesn’t understand why his punishment was to take away the thing he needs the most.



“He’s gone through so much in his life already, 8 years, 8 years, and I just don’t like someone else putting my son in that position,” she said.



Dakota’s father, Donald Nafzinger, said his son simply lifts his cane sometimes and the bus driver thought he was using it violently.



“All around, he’s a good little guy, and he shouldn’t be treated the way he’s being treated,” he said.



On Tuesday Dakota attended his sister’s concert with nothing but a pool noodle to guide him around.



“Can’t feel things,” he said.



“If I don’t stand up for him, who is going to?” his mother asked.



After Dakota’s story aired, a viewer called and expressed an interest in buying Dakota his very own cane. We’ll keep you posted on what transpires.

[nightingale]

Wat.

Was he hitting kids with the cane? Not that it justifies taking it away and replacing it with a pool noodle. On what planet is that a good idea?

[blink]

I don't know whether I entirely believe that he didn't hit someone with his cane, but that doesn't justify taking it away. Unless we're going to start going back to the whole an eye-for-an-eye type of society, I don't think this is acceptable. Make him sit right behind the bus driver, lose recess/play privileges. You don't take his fucking cane.

Also does the school not realize he needs it to walk/"see" his surroundings? It is like they gave him the noodle not to help him but just to keep him busy while he sits, unable to move because he doesn't know wtf is around him.

Though I am also confused as to why the family doesn't have their own cane for their son.

[UMaineTeach]

it's shaky legal ground to remove adaptive equipment. You can get away with briefly removing it if he's hitting kids with it and he can get it back immediately when he agrees not to hit/seems calm/safe. I would wonder if in some cases you would have to write it up as a seclusion/restraint since removal of some equipment prohibits movement.

There's no way you get away with removing it for 2 weeks. That's just not legal (depending on how his IEP/504 is written).

[Deleted]

Is this normal that the cane would have been provided by the school district? That it's school property and not his?

[expatpumpkin]

I don't think we have the whole story here... Why don't the parents have another cane for him? Or give him a sturdier substitute? And I don't believe that he was "just lifting" the cane as the father said. He hit someone with it, probably more than once.

[msmerymac]

I'm so confused as to why he is still walking around with a pool noodle.

[pugz]

oh I'm sure he hit someone with it, but even if he did, the punishment is inappropriate.


someone local has already contacted the family and sent them a new cane. I imagine they are poor, but still I would think that a cane would be covered by the child's insurance, and in KS and MO they have children's insurance plans for those that can't afford it themselves. Maybe they were able to get a better one through the district though and that's why it wasn't theirs?

[meij]

Is it just taken away from him on the bus and given back to him at school? If he was hitting kids with it on the bus I can see him not being allowed to have it on the bus if there wasn't an aid to keep track of the situation. I'd also think the bus could be a place he wouldn't necessarily need the cane so keeping it up front until he got to school wouldn't be a big deal to me.

ETA on my first read I couldn't tell if they were saying he was just without it on the bus but I saw the part about the school concert on my second read through.

I don't know. On one hand it isn't ok to give this kid a free pass to hit people with his cane because he needs the cane and on the other hand it's terrible to take away a medical device.

[redwino]

This is completely unacceptable and definitely treading around the illegal waters. If the student is just now learning to navigate with a cane, then it makes sense that the can belongs to the school. I imagine this is a skill that children learn once they are a certain age so maybe 8ish is the magic age. Although I would think you could teach a child to utilize a cane younger than that.

I'm pretty sure this school will be in hot water. I want to know who approved the noodle. I refuse to believe an IEP team said that was a totally acceptable alternative. Hell, we know the parents wouldn't agree to that.

[redwino]

Dec 17, 2014 17:17:09 GMT -5 meij said:

Is it just taken away from him on the bus and given back to him at school? If he was hitting kids with it on the bus I can see him not being allowed to have it on the bus if there wasn't an aid to keep track of the situation. I'd also think the bus could be a place he wouldn't necessarily need the cane so keeping it up front until he got to school wouldn't be a big deal to me.

ETA on my first read I couldn't tell if they were saying he was just without it on the bus but I saw the part about the school concert on my second read through.

I don't know. On one hand it isn't ok to give this kid a free pass to hit people with his cane because he needs the cane and on the other hand it's terrible to take away a medical device.

You can punish the kid without taking away his cane. If he utilized a wheel chair and was running into people or over their feet, it would be insane to say he couldn't use his chair anymore. Punishing him for hitting like you would punish a kid without disabilities (if the hitting isn't related to his disabilty, of course)

[penguingrrl]

Holy hell that's a disturbing story. You can't take away a medical device for poor behavior. And how the fuck is a pool noodle supposed to help him at all? I mean, seriously?

[stealthmom]

I'd have my atttny on their asses so fast their heads would spin.

[orangeblossom]

Dec 17, 2014 17:17:09 GMT -5 meij said:

Is it just taken away from him on the bus and given back to him at school? If he was hitting kids with it on the bus I can see him not being allowed to have it on the bus if there wasn't an aid to keep track of the situation. I'd also think the bus could be a place he wouldn't necessarily need the cane so keeping it up front until he got to school wouldn't be a big deal to me.

ETA on my first read I couldn't tell if they were saying he was just without it on the bus but I saw the part about the school concert on my second read through.

I don't know. On one hand it isn't ok to give this kid a free pass to hit people with his cane because he needs the cane and on the other hand it's terrible to take away a medical device.

I'm sorry, but there is no other hand.  I don't care if he was hitting kids from the morning bell until school ended.  You do not take a kids medical device away from them.  Period.  

You address the wrong behavior, but taking it away, no, no, no.  If he didn't stop, then yes, talk to the parents, and maybe even in-school suspension or some alternative punishment is doled out, but no, you do not a) take away the device and b) replace it with a device that's not even comparable.  The can is metal and makes noise for a reason, WTH is a noodle going to do.

Like others said, are you going to dump a kid out of their wheelchair, because they keep ramming people with it.  No, you're not.

We may not have all of the facts, and I'm sure there are details left out, that probably make the family look better, but at the end of the day, the school admitted to taking it away, and that is wrong, full stop.

[mcfelix]

No no no no no. Nothing would justify this in my opinion. Unbelievable.

[curbsideprophet]

This is crazy. I am also confused on who thought a pool noodle would be an okay substitute.

[redheadk]

I had a few students with visual impairments that used canes. IME, getting them to use their cane was a struggle (especially as they got older and were familiar with their surroundings) but it's really important for them to use it so that they are proficient in unfamiliar places. The district owned all the canes and other equipment the kids used. I have no idea if they had canes at home, but I'm guessing no for at least one bc he had one of the saddest home life situations of any student I've taught, which is seriously saying something.

[pugz]

talking to a friend that is in special ed last night she explained that under IDEA the school must provide adaptive equipment for the students that need it. That is why the cane technically belonged to the district and the family was low income so likely could not afford one of their own, plus why get a second when they already had one, you know?

I keep waiting for some kind of apology from the school or something but so far nothing. It's a local story though so I'll report back.

[debatethis]

Wouldn't this kid/access to his cane be protected under the ADA? We would be having conversations about behavior at home and with his teachers but there is no excuse for taking his cane away for two damn weeks.

[kirra]

I have a lot of feelings about this, so I may not be completely rational.

They are using his disability to punish him.

They are using a punishment on him that they can't give to anyone else- because he is disabled.

Disabilities are not something to be ashamed of. That said, society often puts you in an "other" category and makes it feel like the things wrong with your body make you a worthless person.

A school should never use a disability as a punishment. They are publicly putting him in that "other" category.

He probably hit the kid. I'm sure the school has other kids who have hit someone. The same standards/punishment should apply to him.