Trump Puts Autistic Kids in the Spotlight and Cuts Agencies Built To Protect Them

At Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, Florida, Josette Smith’s 9-year-old son, Ethan, gets to do what he loves most: crafts, math, and science. That is, when he isn’t being pulled out of class. Ethan has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten after displaying behavior that concerned his relatives: He paced, flapped his arms, and became consumed with highly specific interests, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and dachshunds. In a meeting with school administrators and the district to develop his individualized education program, a legal agreement that outlines the support Ethan requires, the team agreed he required a trained paraprofessional to help him regulate his emotions and remain in class, according to complaints Smith filed against the school. However, the complaints alleged, administrators were unwilling to provide the dedicated aide. Instead of implementing the supports her son needed, his school repeatedly removed him from instruction, suspended him, and even called police on him when he was in third grade, Smith wrote. Smith, a seventh grade science teacher, said she first filed complaints with the sc...