HOUSTON – A mother, upset over what happened to her child at school, gave KPRC 2 News pictures to show the result of her son, who has autism, being handcuffed by campus police.
"It angered me," Carvelle Chappell said. "I'm very upset about it."
Chappell is talking about her 13-year-old son, Dakota, being handcuffed by school police last week.
Dakota has autism and goes to Sugar Grove Academy. His mother said on Friday, just before a field trip, her son became agitated after the school bus was delayed for more an hour.
"He doesn't handle situations like we do; his brain is not wired the same," Chappell said.
She said that unable to handle his anger or emotions, Dakota became physical.
"He threw a trash can at the teacher, and instead of the teacher giving him time to calm down from that situation, (the teacher) threw my son up against the wall," Chappell said.
She said the teacher then held her son on the ground until Houston Independent School District police arrived. They placed him in handcuffs for 45 minutes until a relative came to pick him up.
"That is absolutely unacceptable. It shouldn't get to that point," Chappell said.
HISD officials released a statement saying the district is reviewing the incident.
But the very upset mother said something needs to be done.
"I don't know if they're trained for children with autism, or for children in general with bad behavior. I think there needs to be better training," Chappell said.