Okeechobee County, FL — John Haygood has autism. As a result of his autism, he often acts out at school — a school that is apparently too unqualified to deal with him. Because they are like most schools in America today, officials turned to police force to solve their problems for them, instead of helping the 10-year-old boy.

This week, two Okeechobee County sheriff’s deputies ambushed the little boy on his first day back at school since the incident last November. Instead of going to his home and talking to his parents, police waited until the child came to school to handcuff him in front of all of his peers.

“To go and have him arrested on school grounds in front of other students, in front of personnel, during school hours, they could’ve come to my house at any time to tell me what was going on,” the boy’s mother, Louanne Haygood said.

In November of last year, John was suspended and homebound after an incident in which he became overly upset and kicked a paraprofessional. Instead of working out a plan to make sure this never happens again, the school called the cops and a warrant for felony battery on a school official was issued for the 10-year-old boy.

As WPTV reports, Haygood says her son kicked the teacher because he didn’t feel safe with that particular employee.

“It was because of his autism that spurred this incident. And he was arrested for that,” said Haygood.

Haygood admits her son has had several behavioral issues in the past but says it should have never resulted in an arrest, according to the report.
Read the rest at the Free Thought Project.