A school psychologist hovered nearby to videotape the incident, in order to document the problems they were having with her autistic son. But when McGow watched the tape, she saw only one thing - downright abuse.

McGow was heartbroken after she discovered teachers had taken Jared "to the mat" 73 times that year for up to 70 minutes at a stretch.

It was the latest blow in an already difficult life. McGow lost her first husband to a car accident in 1982, and then lost their 10-year-old son to brain cancer two years later.

Blessed with two sons from her second marriage to David, McGow gradually realized that not one, but both were autistic. Now, she struggles to be the best mom she can to children with special needs; the task can be daunting.

While McGow doesn't always know how to handle her sons' behavior, she would never resort to using that type of restraint. If she treated her own children like that, or if teachers in a general education classroom used such procedures, it would be clear-cut abuse.

Why should this be any different?

"It was very difficult to sit there with the two teachers and the psychologist and contain myself, because I really wanted to tear that room up," McGow said. "I went to my car and sat there and cried because I felt so bad. I knew instantly why he hated school. For days I couldn't even speak about it because I didn't know who to talk to and what to say. I felt terrible."

Searching for justice

McGow didn't stay silent for long.

She pulled Jared out of school and with her friend and advocate Dawn Rice, she appealed to Hazel Park schools, the home district that "farms out" Jared's care. Then, Rice and McGow went to the Madison Heights Police Department and the child protective services department. No one acknowledged any wrongdoing.

Finally, they called the Michigan Department of Education, which launched an investigation into the way Oakland ISD and Hazel Park Schools handled Jared's education plan, and whether they informed McGow of her rights.

As they wait for results from that investigation, they're sharing their story with the public. Jared's video has been shown on TV news and his story has been on the radio and in newspapers.

Jared is now in a new classroom and doing well, McGow said, but she is still pursuing some kind of justice.

"My ultimate goal is to see that his doesn't happen to kids anymore. They have to come up with something better," McGow said. "I'm just a mom. I don't know what the answer is, I just know it needs to be addressed. We have a lot of autistic kids. I think everybody knows someone who has an autistic child. If they don't, they will."

Autism on the rise

There's no doubt that the number of children with autism is increasing. Past estimates suggested as few as 1 in 10,000 people suffered from the condition, but now it is said to occur in as many as one in 150 children under the age of 10, according to the Autism Society of America.

Those numbers are hitting home.

The Oakland Intermediate School District, which operates special education classrooms for children throughout the county, is scrambling to accommodate a spike in autistic children.

According to Kathy Golinski, director of special education at Oakland Schools, there were 391 autistic children identified in Oakland County's 28 school districts in 1997. In 2001, there were 696, she said. Reasons behind the sharp increase can be attributed to new definitions of autism that broaden the diagnosis, as well as Oakland Schools' far-reaching reputation that attracts families looking for quality care.

"I had a family from Tokyo call. They were being transferred to America and wanted to move to Oakland County because they heard about our program," Golinski said.

The Oakland ISD has appointed a task force to examine issues surrounding autism, and passed a special education tax last year to help defray expenses. It costs an average of $62,000 to educate an autistic child, compared to $6,000-$8,000 for a general education student, but budgeting isn't the only challenge.

There is an alarming shortage of teachers trained to deal with the special needs of autistic children, whose symptoms range from anti-social behavior to lashing out - sometimes violently - when confronted with change. Many of the children have impaired speech and are unable to express themselves. They also can suffer from an array of problems including sensory disturbances, intestinal problems, depression, obsessive compulsiveness, subclinical epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"When people hear how negative it can be, it certainly doesn't encourage people to go into the profession," Golinski said. "(The teachers) are people with good hearts trying to do the right thing."

No excuse

Golinski makes no excuses that the restraint techniques used on Jared were against all policy and training. The psychologist who prescribed the restraint, Viktor Brown, no longer works for Oakland schools, and the teacher and teacher's aide were placed on paid leave during an investigation, but were reinstated.

Golinski is disappointed that McGow made a formal complaint to the state because she thought the matter had been resolved.

McGow, however, doesn't think parents should have to fight so hard to learn their rights. She and Rice have had to collect and sift through 1,800 pages of documents and become experts on legalese to handle the problem.

Removing Jared from the class cost him educational time, and lost McGow a state subsidy of $222 a month that has been suspended since May.

She is also frustrated that Hazel Park school officials watched the video and deemed the restraint fit the situation.

She gives credit to special education teachers but hopes they receive the proper training.

"I understand you can't let these kids get away with murder because they will walk all over you, autistic or not," she said. "But the educators need to be educated."

Staff writer Wensdy White can be reached via e-mail at wensdy.white@dailytribune.com or 248-591-2558.