Category: Story
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The Door Opened but the Trauma Followed: My Life After Restraint, Seclusion and Segregation
My name is Chris Hall. I am an autistic adult from Braintree, Massachusetts. Over the years, I have worked with computers, bicycles, and accessible transportation while trying to create a life and a way of working that fit my abilities. Chris Hall with two RadBurro cargo e-bikes used for transportation, mobile repair work, and community…
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The Day My Son Came Home in a Police Car
I am the mother of two neurodivergent Latino boys. My youngest was diagnosed with autism around the age of two, and that diagnosis became a passport to supports and services. His older brother, however, went under the radar for far too long, masking his own neurodivergence. Both of my boys have always been described as…
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See the Child Behind the Story: Jojo’s Story
Our son, Jojo, is a bright, loving six-year-old with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), multiple vision disabilities, and a history of early childhood trauma. Like every child, he has unique strengths and challenges. With appropriate accommodations, supports, and trauma-informed care, we believed he could learn, grow, and thrive alongside his peers in…
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A Parent’s Story: Seclusion, Anxiety, and Broken Trust
I am the parent of an 8-year-old child with autism who attends a Connecticut public school. Like many families, I trusted that the school would provide a safe and supportive environment where my child could learn, regulate, and thrive. My child had supports in place, including supervision and strategies to help manage sensory and behavioral…
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Pain is Information: My Awakening
A few years ago, when I was 40 years old, I broke a tooth below the gumline and needed to have it extracted. My options were to wait a month and have the procedure done at my regular clinic, or go to an emergency clinic and have it done the same day. I chose the…
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Running for Cole
I have always had a passion for running. I don’t run fast, and I’m not breaking any records, but that doesn’t matter because running means so much more to me. Running is my release, a way for me to process my emotions and whatever is happening in my life at any given moment. I didn’t…
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A Mother’s Appeal to Bloomingdale Public Schools Regarding the Use of Restraint and Seclusion
Nearly a year ago, I addressed this Board with significant concerns about the use of seclusion in our District. At that time, I specifically spoke about the practice of surrounding children with mats, enclosing them against a wall for unrestricted periods of time. During that time, I addressed Bloomingdale’s higher reporting of restraint and seclusion…
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What PBIS Got Wrong About My Echolalia
Internalized echolalia is one of those things people rarely talk about because they rarely know it exists. For me, it’s not some quirky feature of being autistic. It’s my brain’s operating system. It’s the language I speak in silence. While the world pushes me to say things out loud and to follow the scripts they…
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Bullied by Peers and Bullied by PBIS
As an autistic person, school was never a place I felt truly safe, included, or supported. Recently I came across a social media post based on the Autistic Not Weird 2022 Autism Survey. Seeing statistics like these—where almost 70% of autistic students reported having a negative school experience—unfortunately doesn’t surprise me at all. I was…
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Honoring Joshie: A Call for Change in Special Education
Today, I stand before you to share the story of a remarkable child, a boy whose light shone brightly in a world that too often failed to see how innocent and loving he was. His name was Joshua Andrew Sikes—Joshie—a boy who loved Halloween, pumpkins, and the simple joy of human connection. He was a…