Jonathan’s Law
March 6, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Jonathan Carey was a 13-year-old non-verbal boy with autism. He died on the evening of February 15th while on an outing with another child from the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Schenectady, New York. Jonathan was improperly restrained by the alth worker Edwin Tirado, 35; the driver of the van, Nadeem Mall, 32, the continued driving around Colonie to run errands instead of seeking medical attention for Jonathan. Both men have been charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Yesterday, March 5, Jonathan’s parents, Michael and Lisa Carey, testified before the Senate Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities in Albany, New York. They are proposing “Jonathan’s Law” which “calls for stiffer penalties for those who endanger the welfare of the disabled and will provide parents and guardians access to all records pertaining to their children,” as reported in today’s Capital News 9. Sadly, Jonathan had been abused and neglected before when he was 11 years old and a student at the Anderson School, a publicly funded private school in Dutchess County.
At the Anderson School, the Careys discovered their son living in deplorable conditions and learned of a drastic change in his care program — both of which, the family said, they would have known about with better access to Jonathan’s records.
Lisa Carey said, “The withholding of records from families allows state agencies to conceal the evidence of abuse, neglect and broken laws, which have been established to protect our most vulnerable population. This must be stopped immediately.”
Senator Thomas Libous of Binghamton was also quoted as saying “‘Right now we’ve learned that this state does a miserable job with children with autism and has to do a better job.’” Legislators hope to make Jonathan’s Law a priority and hope to have a draft of the legislation ready in two weeks.
Yesterday I wrote about a package of autism bills—on teacher training, issues concerning adults with autism, medical research, and more that passed the New Jersey Health & Human Services Committee. One bill, A-4058, specifically calls for the establishment of an “autism awareness program for emergency medical technicians, police officers and firefighters”; I mentioned the tragic death of Kevin Colindres, an 18-year-old autistic man who died in January after he was restrained by police. I know that the circumstances surrounding Jonathan’s and Kevin’s deaths were different, but the fact that both were restrained and stopped breathing—-and that both were autistic and unable to communicate especially when they were upset—is very troubling to me. There are other means to help an autistic person when he or she is very upset and I more than hope that New Jersey bill A-4058 and Jonathan’s Law will go a long way to educate about this.
Kevin Colindres and Jonathan Carey should still be alive today.
It’s a shame that it usually takes a tragedy to change laws.
And it seems that tragedy had happened more than once to Jonathan—he must have already been through something terrible in his earlier placement.
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I work in a school with many autistic children, I had recently been certified in restraints. Today we had a mandatory meeting at work, it was about “Jonathans Law”. We all have to get recertified, in the mean time we have select people who will be called if needed.
It’s terrible to hear stories like Jonathan’s, hopefully now people will be more aware, and think before acting. All of my students are amazing, and I would do anything to keep them safe.
As a mother of two autistic children and a residence manager of an IRA for a non-profit private agency, I was greatly saddened to hear of Johnathan’s story – it is the nightmare that all special-needs parents fear. My heart goes out to the Careys. All special-needs parents must ponder placement and what is right for their child, and we should not have to worry that our children will not be treated with the base respect that all human beings deserve. I will continue now more than ever to run my IRA as a professional from the unique perspective of a mother – I frequently tell my staff that I expect the house to be somewhere I would feel comfortable having my children placed. And I am proud of my staff…and I hope that other parents realize that this tragedy does not translate to every agency. There are many out there who care very deeply about the rights and quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities.
This is so sad. And scarey.
My son on occassions needs to be restrained because of his life threatening SIB. I hadnt thought that restraining could be life threatening to.