HOUSTON - 8-year-old Garrett Fowlers' mother is the first to admit he can be a handful. The first grader has autism, aspergers and attention deficit disorder.

Donna Fowler adopted Garret at birth. She's been a single parent since her husband's death in 2007.

"Being a single parent I don't have a lot of options," Fowler said. "That's just the bottom line we're at everybody’s mercy."

Fowler gave Humble I.SD. her permission to restrain Garrett. Being a special education teacher herself Fowler said she thought her little boy would only be restrained in emergency situations.

But according to Fowler's attorney Humble I.S.D's own records show Garrett was restrained 66 times in just a 19 day period. [3-4 times daily]

"In all my wildest dreams I would have never imagined on a 7-year-old that that would have been done that many times," Fowler said.

Fowler said she learned the exact number of times Garrett was restrained after filing suit against the district.

"It was devastating,” Fowler said. “I just couldn't believe it,"

"I’ve been doing this for 15 years, this is really the worst case I've ever seen," said special needs advocate Lou Geigerman. "When I saw this case my jaw dropped."

So how often do area school districts restrain special needs students? Fox 26 Investigates decided to find out.

School districts are supposed to file a report with the Texas Education Agency every time a special needs student is restrained.

Based on those reports submitted to the T.E.A., In 2009 Houston I.S.D. used restraints 116 times.

That's fewer than some smaller surrounding districts like Klein I.S.D. with 240, Fort Bend I.S.D. with 188 and Pasadena I.S.D. with 128 restraints.

Humble I.S.D. reported 136 restraints to the state in 2009.

So does that mean 66 of the 136 restraints Humble I.S.D. reported last year were done on Garrett? Not according to the district which disputes the 166 figure.

The district counts each report submitted to the state as one restraint. But Fowler's attorney said when you count all the times a restraint hold was checked on each report, Garrett was restrained 66 times in 19 days.

"There is just no reasonable way that I could legitimize what the district did to this child," Geigerman said.

Even though Garrett's mother believes educators were using restraints to punish her son, she lost her legal battle with Humble I.S.D.

A hearing officer for the T.E.A. ruled in the district's favor. In a prepared statement Humble I.S.D. told Fox 26 Investigates, "This parent has made allegations over time to state and local officials. None of the allegations have been substantiated and T.E.A. found the educational program to be appropriate.

Restraint is only used when students are endangering themselves and others. It is never used for discipline it is a safety measure period."

"Look nobody is going to sit here and say the kid didn't have issues," Geigerman said. "But restraining the kid that many times just didn't make sense."

According to his mother Garrett is still being restrained multiple times a day.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100503-special-needs-student-
restrained-66-times-in-19-days

Emphasis added by H4K Editor