5-year-old boy with special needs charged with felony assault — parents ‘punch the bully back’ with lawsuit– www.theblaze.com

The parents of a 5-year-old boy with autism who had been charged with felony assault in Tennessee have filed a lawsuit after a school administrator refused to back down.

The boy had been enrolled at Sumner County’s H.B. Williams Elementary School in the kindergarten class, and school officials were made aware of his special needs.

‘Resorting to legal actions to punish parents for the actions of a 5-year-old child who still needs those supports — that’s just not the way to go.’

The parents said they asked for behavioral support and federal law requires schools to provide extra resources, but the school officials refused and said they would gather their own evidence, according to the lawsuit.

The school agreed to providing an aide after several behavioral incidents involving pushing, shoving, and throwing objects at other children.

The parents said the support came too late.

“When you don’t provide those supports, you can deny rights not only to the child with a disability, but you can risk harming other children,” said Justin Gilbert, the attorney for the family. “It’s a key reminder that there are broad consequences to not providing supports and interventions and paraprofessional roles and special education.”