A 14-year-old boy, diagnosed with autism and other learning disabilities, was improperly treated by the Portage Township School staff and also subjected to physical restraint and threats from law enforcement personnel, a federal lawsuit charges.
The parents of the child contend in their lawsuit, recently filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond, that the Portage Township Schools’ staff denied their son’s civil rights and violated federal laws regarding disabilities due to his treatment and a lack of understanding of the situation.
The boy is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He also has ADHD, borderline intellectual functioning, specific learning disorders, and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, along with auditory and visual hallucinations, the suit says.
As a result, the boy’s disabilities impair his ability for emotional regulation, sensory processing, impulse control, academic function and behavioral stability.
However, the Portage Township Schools have refused to recognize autism as an educational eligibility category and have denied the boy autism-specific services, sensory accommodations and the proper behavioral interventions, the suit says.
Although the boy was an eighth grader at Willowcreek Middle School in Portage, he was performing at a fourth- to sixth-grade level.
The situation came to a head during the fall, when the boy was continually removed from classroom instruction and placed in sensory rooms or isolated spaces without meaningful academic teaching, the suit says.
On Nov. 12, 2025, the boy was suspended for throwing objects and leaving the classroom without permission. The school district, though, failed to adjust the boy’s educational program or create a behavior intervention plan, the suit says.
Five days later, on Nov. 17, a School Resource Officer physically restrained the boy, forced his hands behind his back, and threatened arrest and juvenile detention. That officer didn’t have the proper training for disability-specific de-escalation, the suit says.
“No administrator with disciplinary authority conducted an investigation, no manifestation determination was timely performed, and no alternative educational services were provided,” the suit says.
As a result of the Nov. 17 incident, the boy was charged with juvenile counts of battery and disorderly conduct, and the principal sought expulsion. He was excluded from the school until Dec. 3, and the Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services became involved, the suit says.
Due to the school district’s “unsafe and discriminatory practices,” the parents transferred their son to Indiana Corrections Academy on Jan. 7 as a temporary placement.
This has resulted in “extraordinary financial, emotional and caregiving burdens” on the parents, the suit says. The suit asks for damages and appropriate accommodations for their son’s disabilities.
Melissa Deavers, director of communications & community engagement for Portage Township Schools, had no comment on the lawsuit.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
