I always make sure now that daily Adapted Physical Education (APE) is written into Charlie’s IEP. Around 10.30am every morning he does “fitness” (calisthetics and walking/running), soccer, bowling, yoga (his favorite) and other activities; his PE teacher is trained to teach autistic special needs kids. In previous schools he had PE maybe once a week (one year, it was at Friday around 1.30pm). I realize now how important it is for Charlie (and any child, I think!) to have PE daily: Moving around and “thinking with other parts of his body” are essential for Charlie’s learning at his desk.
I was …read more

11-year-old Gunnar Moody was handcuffed by school police because he would not leave a P.E. class at Bret Harte Middle School. As reported yesterday by NBC11.com, Gunnar said that he was singing while doing sit-ups and handcuffed and dragged out when he did not respond to requests to leave.   

Gunnar’s parents said what happened at Bret Harte Middle School is unacceptable. ”The bottom line he’s in phys ed. And all the kids are making noise yelling, screaming and talking and he gets singled out for going ‘la-la-la?’” Michael Moody, Gunnar’s father, said.

His mother, Laura Moody, asked a campus police officer if …read more