Please answer the following question:

When can disciplining a student with ASD be seen as a change of LRE/placement? What advice would you give an administrator who is looking at suspending a student with ASD?

Please respond to student discussion:

1. (SHAN) When disciplining a student with ASD any removal from the classroom greater than a ten day suspension is considered a change in placement and a conduct manifestation determination must occur in order to comply with FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education). Therefore, it is best practice to set the child up for success by putting modifications and supports in place prior to severe situations occur.

In the case of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I believe structure and supports are critical to the prevention of problem behaviors. I would give the following advise to an administrator who is looking into suspending a student with ASD. Administrators should contact the Child Study Team case manager and teacher. They should ask them what structure and supports are in place for the student. It may be the case that the supports and modifications are not taking place as they should. I would recommend that a Functional Behavior Assessment be completed for the student. Once antecedents, behaviors and consequences (ABC) and a FBA completed, a behavior intervention plan needs to be created that clearly defines the intervention the individual child needs. It is best to predict the supports and modifications that are necessary for each unique child’s needs. A proactive plan is better that just trying to manage a student who is out of control. I would suggest utilizing child specific behavior modifications before suspension.

Rothstein, L. F., & Johnson, S. F. (2014). Special Education Law (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

2. (Tere) When a student is suspended for ten days or more, a change of placement may occur. In order to determine the most effective approach, a manifestation meeting is conducted. This meeting is required to protect students from unnecessary disciplinary action. Students with disabilities who are removed from class for behavior concerns are required to continue receiving services. In some cases, administrators are unclear with the laws pertaining to individuals with disabilities. I would discuss the importance of involving the special education teacher when discipling a student to confirm the IEP is being addressed. Schools needs to determine the positive and negative effects the suspension will have for the student. Was there a previous plan in place? Did the student harm himself or others? Would developing an effective plan be more effective to teach appropriate behaviors? Communication is imperative to support students with disabilities. Everyone on the school team needs to be involved to make informative and appropriate decisions on suspending a student.

3. (DEB) If a student is being removed from the class and/or suspended and is out of the regular classroom more than they are in it, the team needs to look at the services currently in place because something needs to be changed because the student is not able to access the general education curriculum.

One of my students this year had a diagnosis of ASD but there also appeared to be mental health issues as well. There was a significant family history of severe mental illness in the family including biological mother. Along with these issues, she had cognitive deficits. Collecting data and determining her present levels was extremely challenging because she demonstrated work refusal. As the year went on, she became violent in the classroom, she would stand and scream, run from staff into other classrooms and scream, spit at staff and her peers. We tried every strategy we could think of but nothing worked. With grandmas permission, we video taped one of her outbursts and the video showed her violence as well as talking to people who weren’t there. This prompted gram to seek medical mental health intervention. We had a team meeting because she was spending most of her day outside of the classroom due to extreme behaviors. The team recommended another placement because trying to discipline her became more restrictive for her and we clearly were not meeting her needs. She was removed from the classroom daily and that is a situation where discipline became more restrictive for her.

When it comes to suspending students with ASD, I actually encourage my administration not to do it. My feeling is that either the student will not understand or make the connection that they are suspended due to behavior or it may be an unintentional reinforcer and the behavior may increase. I believe that for students with ASD, behaviors that we may see are typically a result of frustration, sensory overload or even anxiety. It is up to the team to figure out why the behaviors are happening and work to help the student. Often times, punitive consequences can have the opposite effect people are looking for.

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