9-year-old child with autism injured, handcuffed and arrested at school

Roger Parker, Jr., a 9-year-old child with autism, was arrested by police at his Quincy, Illinois, school after he had a “meltdown” during class. School officials at Baldwin South Intermediate School called the police to calm down the little boy after he was escorted from the classroom to a special area.

According to reports, police corralled Roger, who was suffering a classic ASD meltdown, and tried to restrain him. During the tussle, Roger kicked an officer in the nose — likely an accident. It was then that the 9-year-old was handcuffed and taken to the local police station, where he was arrested and interrogated.

Rather than calling for an ambulance and getting help from appropriate emergency medical technicians (EMT), the school choose to call in the police.  The result was both tragic, avoidable and a clear violation of law.  Worse yet, police arrested the injured student for assault. It happens everyday in schools across the country when inept staff call the cops instead of doing their jobs as required by state and federal law.