I saw this on a friends facebook page today. She lives in Colorado, but it seems that these school situations are happening everywhere. I could not believe how the incident and the responses echoed some of the experiences in Braden's school.

From Tracey McGinnis:This is my 7 year old son. He came home from his special needs school Monday May 21, 2012 nearly strangling to death by the butterfly harness on his wheelchair because someone either at the school or on the bus put it on very incorrectly. He was struggling to breath, turning blue, and had petecheia on his face from the strain. He is severely disabled, nonverbal, medically fragile. He had to have a CT scan the following day due to swallowing issues and has been in pain the past few days. The police are investigating the matter but the detective told me yesterday that I should prepare myself for nothing to happen, no criminal charges to be filed, no personnel to lose their job. Yet, he admits that 10 more minutes and my son would probably have died! I am beside myself with all of this. I nearly lost my precious boy due to someones careless and very dangerous mistake (that is assuming it was not intentional). Isn't this neglect? Child endangerment? What would you do? Any suggestions? Any advice to help this matter see the justice deserved? Thank you.

Brendan's neck after almost strangling due to improper placement of HIS wheelchair straps by a classroom aid.

This is the Butterfly Harness as it should be positioned. The "U" was tightened around his neck when he arrived home from school.

This is a link to the site that explains Brendan's condition.

                                                       http://www.cmvfoundation.org
May 22, 2012- Well, finally home after a long day at the Children's hospital. Brendan is now resting and the ibuprofen seems to be helping his pain. I spoke to the police officer who took my report today. He interviewed everyone at the school who worked with Brendan yesterday. It was a para (classroom aid) that last put him in his wheelchair and got him on the bus. She told the police that he was buckled in properly. Obviously he was NOT! So, it now goes to a detective with the crimes against children unit. I am just waiting to hear from them. I don't know how they will get to the truth of this terrible situation when everyone at the school is saying everything was done correctly, but they have to! This cannot be just left to go unanswered and the responsible party needs to be held accountable and punished legally. I am exhausted, but that's kind of par for the course these days.





As of May 23 this is an update: "Still having issues swallowing. The ER doc yesterday said his throat has soft tissue damage so is sore and swollen. He's tired and sleeping more than normally"

  
Thank you Tracy for letting me share this... 
 

 

"Does a student have to get seriously hurt.....?

 Does a student have to get seriously hurt...?

When I asked that question I was very serious, although it was somewhat rhetorical as well. However,in the midst of my issues with the school I discovered that a student in Braden's class HAD, in fact been injured. I had noticed this student was not on the bus for a while, but just assumed it might have been due to medical appointments or something like that. When I heard what had happened I was sick...physically sick. I went to visit this student and when I saw him I burst into tears.This beautiful young man looked like he had gone several rounds with a prize fighter. His face was terribly bruised and swollen and he was missing several of his front teeth.


This boy is blind and confined to a wheelchair. He lives in my neighborhood and takes the same bus as Braden.One day after school he was wheeled out to the bus, as usual, when the CEA accompanying him became distracted, possibly assisting another CEA with another student. When she did this she neglected to put the brakes on his wheelchair. His chair rolled down the sidewalk and flipped over. The student fell face first onto the road, breaking his cheekbone, his nose and knocking out several teeth and skinning his knees.     ( the last part is ironic because this boy has never walked or crawled, this was the first time he had EVER had skinned knees)


The injuries were terrible enough, but the way the situation was handled was even worse. Apparently with blood everywhere and an obvious head/facial injury it was NOT felt necessary to call an ambulance for this student. His mom was called to come and get him. There was no concern about possible internal injuries or brain bleeds or anything else that we might normally be concerned about.It was left to the mother to take him to the hospital.

Apparently this level of injury was not considered ambulance worthy-unless of course it was written into the IEP or Nursing Support Plan that under circumstances like these that ambulances should be called. I was beyond stunned by this fact but in my meeting I had to ensure that "when to call an ambulance" was included in Braden's nursing support plan. I think that parents need to be aware of exactly what protocols are in their child's school and district. Ask questions and be specific! DO NOT ASSUME anything!! Realize that what is common sense to you, may not be to everyone.
  
This beautiful boy recovered from his injuries, however he has lost several front teeth. Many children with disabilities/special needs cannot have any type of cosmetic dentistry done due to the danger of implants etc becoming a choking hazard. So this young boy is now permanently maimed...his appearance forever changed. This is all due to a CEA being careless in their duties and putting students at risk.

I looked at this boy and my concerns about Braden and I seriously wondered if somebody had to die before these people would "get it" 

Of note in this situation, as in the others, is that it does not appear that there was any discipline taken against the person(s) responsible for this incident or the ones involving Braden. Of course, the 'powers that be' cannot even offer parents the reassurance that someone has been held accountable for these actions.

As I have continued to dig I find more and more flaws and loopholes in our school districts. It seems that the system is corroded and that if someone doesn't start speaking up that NOTHING will change. I have NO DOUBT that students will be hurt.