This is the first in a week-long series of columns written to coincide with National Newspaper Week. The columns highlight examples of high-impact reporting by our journalists and take you behind the scenes with reporters in a Q&A format.
Two of our Education Lab reporters, Anna B. Mitchell and Valerie Nava, collaborated on a special project last fall that focused on issues surrounding the needs of children with autism in schools.
We published in two parts. One story took an in-depth look at funding and staffing issues in South Carolina classrooms and sought to help readers gain a fuller understanding of autism, the challenges for teachers, aides, administrators and parents – and students’ special needs. The second story examined the use of restraints for kids in distress.
The work drew wide engagement and prompted new approaches and policy changes. I asked Valerie and Anna to share the background of the stories and more detail about the impact of their reporting. You’ll see their joint answers below.
Our Education Lab, which includes reporter Ian Grenier and editor Adam Parker, is supported by The Post and Courier’s Public Service and Investigative Fund, a nonprofit extension of our newsroom that helps sustain our commitment to in-depth watchdog reporting.
Here’s what Anna and Valerie had to say:
What led you to the stories?
Two things. We started having conversations in August 2024 about several lawsuits that parents of kids with autism were filing against the Charleston County School District, alleging physical abuse and neglect. Valerie thought: Should we be taking a deeper look into this? Then, in mid-September in Greenville County, we got the news of an 8-year-old child with autism running from his school and later drowning. This brought into focus possible gaps in the care and education of special needs students and especially those with autism.
How did you dig into the reporting and where did it take you?
We ended up dividing the story because there was a lot to dig into. Anna focused on the in-school therapies (Applied Behavior Analysis) that were being denied to families of children with autism across the state, and how that was one of the solutions to better serve these kids. Valerie dug into the restraint and seclusion side of the issue, which highlighted that South Carolina is only one of a handful of states where physical restraint and seclusion practices are not banned by law.
Anna’s reporting leaned heavily on conversations with families who were frightened by what happened to the boy in Greenville. They appeared at school board meetings, and Anna made arrangements to interview them off-site. She also spoke with experts on autism-related therapies and federal and state laws around those. She also walked the 1- to 2-mile route that the boy took when he ran from the school. This brought telling details to the story, such as how quickly a child can disappear into a field of tall grass. Anna also filed a FOIA request to the school and law enforcement to tease out what exactly happened.
Valerie spoke with education policy lawyers, autism experts, and advocates, including a local teacher with extensive training in the appropriate use of restraint, such as when emergencies arise. It became clear that, besides the lack of laws banning the practice, there is not enough teacher training on this extreme response to a child in distress.
What impact did the story have?
Third-party therapies for autistic children are now allowed in some public school classrooms across the state, including Charleston County, and this was not happening before. It was allowed, but school district officials were pushing back and raising obstacles. State lawmakers are also considering legislation requiring public schools to develop a policy to allow families to bring in these therapists. Greenville County is, meanwhile, overhauling its special education program. It launched an audit of its programs within six weeks of our stories publishing. This fall, the Upstate district hired more classroom aides for special ed and raised their wages.
Finally, what drove you to journalism? And how do you see your mission as a journalist?
Anna came to journalism at first because it matched her skill sets of research and writing. Grad school at the University of Missouri opened the door to an actual career. She quickly grew to understand, however, that this work must be a calling to stick with it as a career. She has been at it since 1999 and — aside from a break to teach for three years (another calling) — cannot think of anything she’d rather do. It’s making a difference and connecting people to each other.
Valerie has a lot in common with Anna. She was driven to journalism because writing is an outlet for her. The research piece emerged during her grad school years at Mizzou. She started as a journalist at age 21 in Venezuela and quickly learned the value of journalism as a public service. She had to step away from it for five years for reasons outside her control. She is grateful to have found her way back, which she credits to her experience at Mizzou. Having done other jobs during her journalism hiatus, she knows she wouldn’t rather do anything else.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
We recently launched The Post and Courier Journalism Preservation Society, a membership-driven, nonprofit extension of our Public Service and Investigative Fund. The goal with the society is to create an engaged community dedicated to safeguarding our watchdog reporting and the high quality of our overall reporting in South Carolina. There are different membership levels. You can find information at
www.postandcourierfund.com/journalism-preservation-society or by contacting Claire Linney at 843-925-0762 or by email at clinney@postandcourier.com.
The stories cited above are available here:
SC’s autism population is growing. Can understaffed and underfunded schools meet their needs?