Disabled Boy's Isolation Sparks Feud - DISPATCH FROM FALMOUTH, MAINE

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Disabled Boy's Isolation Sparks Feud DISPATCH FROM FALMOUTH, MAINE

(Note: especially see the last paragraph ~ GG)

A school district bans a child with Asperger's syndrome from the

playground, citing behavioral problems. His parents file suit.

By Mehren, Times Staff Writer

FALMOUTH, Maine — Ten-year-old Jan Rankowski started out a recent school

day learning to locate objects with a compass and working on his

programming skills at a computer. When it was time for a study break, he

went outside and climbed on the jungle gym.

But Jan played alone, as he has for a year since officials here banned

him from the elementary school playground near his house.

School administrators said the move was necessary because Jan, who has a

form of autism called Asperger's syndrome, used profanity on the

playground and failed to respond to authority. Jan's parents, Gayle

Fitzpatrick and Rankowski, have sued to regain privileges for

their child.

A lower court judge has ruled in favor of the school district; the case

is pending before the Maine Supreme Court, and a ruling is expected by

next summer.

" What we are suing for is not just for Jan, " Rankowski said,

" but so that thousands of other kids with Asperger's can't be thrown off

a playground because they don't look a teacher in the eye when he says

hello. "

But A. Hewey, an attorney for the Falmouth school board,

described the dispute as " a personal issue between the parents and the

school " and said there was no foundation to Jan's parents' claim of

discrimination. Other autistic children, Hewey said, have used the

playground without a problem.

Rankowski and Fitzpatrick are home schooling Jan. In most subjects, he

works substantially above the fifth-grade level, where he would be

placed in a public school.

But poor social skills are a hallmark of Asperger's syndrome. Jan, a

sturdy child with tousled brown hair, speaks to people when he chooses

and seldom makes eye contact. He lacks the normal neurological filtering

system that tells most children his age when it is advisable to make

certain remarks and when it is not.

" He does not socialize in traditional manners, or at all, " Fitzpatrick

said.

For example, Jan once informed a school official that she was the first

principal he had met who was not obese. He used an insult that school

officials said was obscene when some children taunted him. He " gives his

two cents' worth, " his mother observed, " even when nobody needs to hear

it. "

" This is not exactly a behavioral problem, " Fitzpatrick said, " because a

behavioral problem is when you know the difference. His issues are

neurological. They are involuntary. It is verbal miscommunication, not

aggression. "

The family's lawyer acknowledged that about a year ago — just before the

playground ban was issued — Jan had " groined " another child during an

altercation with three boys who were teasing him. Attorney Ron Coles

said the principal investigated the incident, concluded there was

bullying and said all the participants were at fault.

The playground discrimination lawsuit has generated considerable

attention in this town of 10,000. Disability advocacy groups nationwide

also are watching the case carefully.

" It is a red-flag issue when we hear that because of a disability, a

child is not being permitted to take part in an activity that other kids

can, " said Brewster Thackeray, vice president of the National

Organization on Disability in Washington.

" We know that a lot of times these things happen because of

misunderstanding, " Thackeray said. " It is outrageous to expect an

administrator of a school to be familiar with every disability. But we

hope for a level of sensitivity. "

About 1.5 million people in the U.S. have autism. With refined

diagnostic techniques, that number could increase. Fitzpatrick says she

receives dozens of phone calls and hundreds of e-mails each week from

parents of autistic children.

B. , an associate professor in the department of leisure and

recreation studies at the University of Southern Maine, said it was a

Catch-22 when children with disabilities were asked to leave a

playground. " If these kids aren't allowed to engage with other

children, " he said, " they are going to be further marginalized. "

When that happens, said, " they don't develop play skills, which

are very important. That is how young people and children develop. "

Fitzpatrick and Rankowski balked when school officials wanted to

evaluate Jan's social maturity. The couple have reams of papers

reflecting scores of tests performed on their son. They say the

evaluations demonstrate that Jan does not play at his age level. They

also contend that their son was always accompanied on the playground by

a parent and a school aide.

But Hewey said the parents failed to furnish " enough information to make

the child's experience on the playground successful. "

In the meantime, Jan spends his " recess " bouncing on his backyard

trampoline or swinging on the bars of the play structure his father

built. After school, he takes karate, piano and drama classes — " all the

things that traditional kids do, " his mother said.

Fitzpatrick said she expected her son to go to college, and Jan said he

might study computer science or video game development.

The family is aware, Fitzpatrick says, that whatever decision the state

Supreme Court makes will be too late for Jan, who will be too old to use

the elementary school playground by the time the judgment is rendered.

" We are fighting this because we are American citizens, " she said. " And

because my son has the same rights as every other American citizen,

disabled or not. And that includes playing on a playground. "

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-autism11oct11,1,1606512.sto\

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