School Negligence (Locked by Puck)

[Zigner]

Reposting in case others had an opinion to weigh in with:

Puck Puck is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 1
School Negligence
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia. Our 3 year old son is a special education student diagnosed with Autism and multiple food allergies. He is enrolled in the pre-school special education program in Loudoun County, Virginia. His primary teacher for the regular school year is aware of his allergies and his file contains documentation of his food allergies. Currently our son is enrolled in summer school at a different location within Loudoun County. His file was transferred from his primary school to the summer school. The file clearly states his dietary issues and the foods he is not to be exposed to. This is an issue because he is receiving occupational therapy and during these sessions foods are used to teach him different textures to assist him in his swallowing abilities. In addition to the file containing his dietary concerns, my wife spoke to the school nurse in a face-to-face conversation on the first day of summer school to address our concerns for our son and the foods he will be exposed to during therapy. During this conversation the nurse stated she will speak to each of our son’s teachers and therapist regarding his dietary issues. A week subsequent to this conversation our son’s occupational therapist gave our son a full serving of oatmeal. Our son is highly allergic to oatmeal. The therapist stated she was unaware of his medical conditions. This is in an interesting statement considering it is in his health file and the nurse was made aware during a face-to-face conversation and the nurse stated she would speak to each of our son’s teachers and therapists. We believe we have an open and shut case of negligence. The school knew or should have known of our son’s medical condition, they had a duty of care to our son, they breached that duty and they were the direct cause of our son’s injuries, and he has been physically harmed as result of their breach of duty. It has been approximately two weeks since this incident and he is still suffering the ill effects of eating oatmeal. We have spoken to one of his doctors and we were informed that it could be months before he recovers. Do we have a case of negligence against the school, teachers, therapists, etc? If we do have a case of negligence will the school likely settle out of court or will it be a long drawn out battle? If we do have a case against the school where is our starting point for negotiating a settlement?

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Zigner
Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 27,332
First, it sounds like there are no long-term ill-effects. You *might* get medical bills paid out of this.

Second, if your child has such severe allergies, then you really need to be more proactive. A three year old can't tell somebody "I can't have that". Perhaps you shouldn't be sending your child to pre-school. Might be time to stay home and actually raise your child safely.

And, if I were to answer again, I'd answer the same way, except I *might* remove the word "actually"

 

[PQN]

Sorry Zinger, I have to slightly disagree with you here. Schools have a legal obligation to educate special needs kids from birth to 21. Study after study shows 'the earlier they start, the farther they grow'; but I do 100% agree with you that the parents need to be more proactive.

I have two sons with Autism and various food allergies. It is listed in their school files and I speak to the school nurse at the beginning of the year but I found that some staff just never seemed to get the memo so I now take 100% responsibility for ensuring that all staff that will come in contact with my sons know about their food issues.

I would strongly recommend that you type a brief statement that your son has the following food allergies (list them) and may not eat or touch those items. If he has an epipen - include the location of it (school nurses office, etc). If the food can cause a negative behavioral issue, make sure to have that included in his BIP and mention that in the note as well.

Then make a bunch of copies of your note and personally hand 1 to each staff person that will deal with your son. You can do this at the annual IFSP/IEP meetings as well as on the first day of school. Make sure to ask the teacher to put a copy of it in her sub folder and let the school secretaries know as well (they really can stop a lot of slip-ups when there are subs).

While he is still little, you can also use nametag stickers that say "I have FOOD ALLERGIES! Check before you feed me!" You also need to teach your son to begin advocating for himself (if he is verbal) - it starts with him just saying "no" and eventually he will be able to explain why.

You will have a relationship with his school's for the next 18 years, suing them over oatmeal in summer school is not going to help your relationship with them. Not the hill to die on.

 

[ecmst12]

I agree the child is going to benefit a lot more from outside early intervention and therapy then from being raised and cared for by parents alone. The right treatment can make a HUGE difference in the level of functioning an autistic child can achieve.

But yes, you personally need to speak with ALL of your child's teachers yourself, and the stickers are a great idea too.

 

[Zigner]

Folks, the child is THREE. Yes, I understand early intervention, but THREE is a bit young to drop off at a pre-school IMO.

 

[Just Blue]

Folks, the child is THREE. Yes, I understand early intervention, but THREE is a bit young to drop off at a pre-school IMO.

As a Mother to an ASD child that was "dropped off" at P-K AND Head-start at 3.9...You are wrong. If not for the help of a FULL TIME (8 am to 4 pm) school and resources at a young age, my DD would not be where she is today. It is imperative that a Autistic child receive the most help at the earliest time possible.

FYI: At 3 my DD had a vocab of 20-25 words that only I could understand. By 4 most people could understand her. Now (8) she has a vocab of a 9th grader (per testing) and is going into a gifted program in Sept.

 

[Zigner]

As a Mother to an ASD child that was "dropped off" at P-K AND Head-start at 3.9...You are wrong. If not for the help of a FULL TIME (8 am to 4 pm) school and resources at a young age, my DD would not be where she is today. It is imperative that a Autistic child receive the most help at the earliest time possible.

FYI: At 3 my DD had a vocab of 20-25 words that only I could understand. By 4 most people could understand her. Now (8) she has a vocab of a 9th grader (per testing) and is going into a gifted program in Sept.

I understand that I am in the minority on this subject.

Congrats on your daughter's progress

 

[Mass_Shyster]

As a Mother to an ASD child

What is ASD?

 

[Zigner]

What is ASD?

Autism Spectrum Disorder

 

[Just Blue]

I understand that I am in the minority on this subject.

Congrats on your daughter's progress

Thank You!! We are incredibly proud of her...(what a surprise!!! ).

I can understand that if you haven't dealt with a special needs child you would think that 3 is too young for pre-school...But the needs of a "typically" developing child and special needs are way different.

 

[Just Blue]

What is ASD?

www.childbrain.com

Very good site to educate yourself on a very common neurological disorder.

 

[Zigner]

Thank You!! We are incredibly proud of her...(what a surprise!!! ).

I can understand that if you haven't dealt with a special needs child you would think that 3 is too young for pre-school...But the needs of a "typically" developing child and special needs are way different.

I have dealt with 3 special needs children, from birth to adult-hood (well, the last one isn't quite an adult yet), but admittedly, they were not ASD.

 

[ecmst12]

BTW, according to a PM that was sent to me, OP doesn't care about preventing the issue from happening again, he only cares about how much money he can get from his child's temporary injuries. Nice guy.

 

[Humusluvr]

BTW, according to a PM that was sent to me, OP doesn't care about preventing the issue from happening again, he only cares about how much money he can get from his child's temporary injuries. Nice guy.

Yeah, I had kind of guessed that....

I've been diabetic since age 8. My mother (a nurse) spoke to EVERYONE who might ever come into contact with me, trained them on using glucagon, spoke to all my friends, friend's parents....

Just because I don't know the answer to this, what kind of "long term harm" would come from giving a kid oatmeal?

 

[Mass_Shyster]

www.childbrain.com

Very good site to educate yourself on a very common neurological disorder.

But not a very good site for explaining what your three letter acronym stands for.

Google search results for ASD:

Anchorage School District
Atrial Septal Defect
American School Directory
Advanced System Designs
Acute stress disorder
American Society of Dermatology
Advanced Systems Development
autism spectrum disorder


Since the discussion is about a child diagnosed with Autism and multiple food allergies, I'll guess it's the last one.

 

[ecmst12]

The type of harm would depend on the type of allergy. It does not appear he had an anaphyactic reaction which would be the most dangerous, and OP did not describe the symptoms. I would guess some kind of GI distress, maybe a rash. Nothing that won't resolve with a little time and care.