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'You deserve dignity': Dozens rally against ableism, hidden camera in East High School care room

Wisconsin State Journal - 3/7/2021

Mar. 6—Parents and disability rights advocates Saturday decried a hidden camera placed in a room at Madison'sEast High School where students with disabilities receive personal care as a deep invasion of privacy fueled by ableism.

About three dozen people rallied against the recent discovery of the two hidden cameras, which were installed in 2019 against Madison School District policy in an attempt to catch a custodian suspected of sleeping on the job, while also drawing attention to ableism — discrimination in favor of able-bodied people — they say often denies students with disabilities the chance to receive a full education.

"It is never, ever OK to look at somebody and say, 'You can't talk, so you're not valid, you can't walk, so you're not valid," Anna Hauser, whose 15-year-old son attends East High School, told the crowd outside the state Capitol. "You deserve education, you deserve dignity, you are part of a community."

In January, the district found evidence of cameras in the high school.

According to a Madison Police Department investigative report last month, the cameras were placed inside smoke detectors in the fall of 2019 in two rooms: a coaches' office in the boys locker room and room 127, where students with disabilities are cared for, including having incontinence pads changed.

The cameras were active for about a two-week period and removed in June 2020. It does not appear the cameras were ever used to view students. Madison police found no crime had been committed, but an internal district investigation led by a local law firm continues.

Hauser said even the act of placing a camera in room 127 was a harmful violation against her son Xavier, who has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy making it impossible for him to walk or talk.

"My child had his dignity taken away from him," she said. "Ableism led to a decision that made that, and it is inappropriate. It is a systemic disease that is in our schools, that is in our community."

The rally was organized by Madtown Mommas, a grassroots parents group advocating for students with disabilities.

School Board member Nicki Vander Meulen, who said she was attending as an individual and not representing the board, said ableism affects the quality of life and ability to learn for students with disabilities.

"As an autistic adult I hear you," she told the crowd. "What happened should never have happened."

Patanne Coffey said she received a call from East's principal to personally inform her about the discovery. She recalled crying during the call as she thought about her 17-year-daughter, who has cerebral palsy and uses room 127.

"It's almost like they took something because it was so sneaky and privately done," Coffey said. "I'm hurt, we're hurt, we're disappointed in the administration."

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