ECE 673 Advocacy, Policy, and Social Justice in Early Childhood Education

Jordan is an 8-year-old child with autism. Autism is a pervasive developmental disability and is considered to be a neurological impairment characterized by significant deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication, a tendency to engage in repetitive and stereotypical movements, and unusual reactions to changes in routines or environments. See 34 C. F. R. 300.7(c)(1). As more fully discussed below, Jordan manifests many of these symptoms. 

Defendant YMCA of Greater Toledo (“ YMCA”) operates licensed group daycare facilities at several sites in the Toledo, Ohio area. The facility at issue is located at the Calvary United Methodist Church (“ Calvary”).1 The license for this daycare facility requires a minimum ratio of one counselor to every 18 children. 

Jordan was admitted to the YMCA group child care program in January, 1999. Typically, Jordan spent two to two-and-one-half hours at Calvary after school.2 On days when school was cancelled, or during the summer school break, Jordan attended Calvary all day. 

The symptoms of Jordan’s autism that are relevant to Jordan’s experience at Calvary include repetitive activities, movements such as flapping his hands, pounding his chest, pounding his head, and running into walls. When noises or other stimuli overload Jordan, he may cry, run in circles, or run to hide from the noise. Finally, and perhaps most relevant to the present motion, Jordan has exhibited violent and destructive behavior on occasions when he has become extremely frustrated. Such behavior includes hitting himself or other children, hitting a counselor, biting other children, cursing, throwing objects, chasing children, and urinating on the floor. 

During the twenty months Jordan participated in the YMCA daycare program, plaintiff Melissa Burriola, Jordan’s mother, was made aware of several “incidents” involving the inappropriate behaviors described above. Melissa Burriola spoke with defendant Kathy Miley, the director of Family Services for the West Family YMCA, regarding Jordan’s autism. Melissa Burriola informed the Calvary staff that Jordan required some attention such as providing written activity schedules, offering explanations when Jordan was to transition from one activity to another, and providing him with a quiet place to “recoup” when he became frustrated. Also, Melissa Burriola told Miley that professionals from the M. O. D. E. L. Community School were available to help the YMCA daycare staff if the need arose. 

Melissa Burriola requested that Joan McCarthy, the M. O. D. E. L. Community School’s Education and Transition Coordinator, come observe Jordan at Calvary so that McCarthy could then assist the Calvary staff to work successfully with Jordan. McCarthy’s job at the M. O. D. E. L. Community School includes providing technical assistance to other agencies and persons regarding autism and ways to accommodate and modify activities for children with autism. McCarthy has worked with Jordan since he was enrolled at the M. O. D. E. L. Community School in the fall of 1998. 

After observing Jordan at Calvary, McCarthy made several recommendations to the Calvary staff that she believed would help make Jordan’s experience at Calvary, and the staff’s experience in working with him, successful. McCarthy also made free training available to all the YMCA employees who worked with Jordan. The training was not made mandatory for the employees, and only two Calvary counselors attended the training. 

The training focused on autism generally and on Jordan specifically, and taught techniques for working with autistic children. The two counselors who attended the training learned some simple techniques, such as using visual re-direction signs, for working successfully with Jordan. McCarthy and the counselors discussed modifications, or “supports,” that would work well for Jordan at Calvary, and could easily be implemented. Suggested modifications included a written schedule of daily activities, visuals (a signal for certain behavior, such as “sit quietly,” “self control,” or “check schedule,” used in place of auditory commands) to redirect Jordan, and use of a “break” card. 

It is clear that the supports were never implemented for Jordan at Calvary. According to one of the counselors who attended the training, former Calvary Site Director Jerry Kelly, Miley instructed the staff not to implement any of the supports. Kelly stated that he used a written schedule successfully for a brief period, but stopped using such schedules when he ran out of supplies to make them.3

Kelly and the other counselor who attended the training left Calvary shortly after the training occurred, and before any other supports were implemented. Thus, by late August, 2000, there were no counselors at Calvary who were trained in working with autistic children generally or Jordan specifically, and no counselors attempted to implement the suggested supports. 

McCarthy became concerned after learning that the two trained counselors would soon be leaving Calvary, and on August 8, 2000, sent a letter to Miley. In her letter, McCarthy stated that she was concerned that the two trained counselors were leaving. She outlined for Miley the suggested supports the counselors learned at the training. With regard to the written schedule, McCarthy suggested that in addition to certain activities available at Calvary, the schedule could include activities from Jordan’s school file folder. Jordan’s teacher would share these activities, and Jordan could work on them during scheduled homework time. Finally, McCarthy offered another training session, free of cost, to YMCA employees who would be working with Jordan.4 Miley never responded to the letter. None of the suggested supports were implemented, and no additional counselors were trained. 

When Kelly left Calvary, Jordan’s inappropriate behavior, and apparently the staff’s inability to help Jordan avoid such behavior, increased. Two weeks after Kelly left, Melissa Burriola received a letter from Miley informing her that Jordan was to be terminated from the daycare program. The letter was dated September 6, 2000; Jordan’s termination was effective September 8, 2000. 

After reading Burriola vs. Greater Toledo YMCA (Links to an external site.), use the following template to answer the guiding questions for each section.

Legal Case Summary Template

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