I spent almost 20 years married to a woman who had a terrible car accident that made her need the use of a power wheelchair very much like the one the boy was using in the photo. I can tell you from experience, a large power chair like that takes up a LOT of room, and will weigh between 200 and 350 pounds, and in virtually ALL cases, only the chair's owner will be capable of driving the thing. Many power chairs have been tuned to respond to very minute joystick movements, and "other people" can often not drive the chair without literally slamming it into nearby objects. The child is the person who drove his chair up to the side of the risers. The idea of removing the kid from his chair and sitting him there on the risers?? Uhhh, a seriously bad idea, on multiple levels I think. Depends on his actual condition. Who would assume liability if he were to be injured?
Unless the photographer had been trained in alternate posing strategies, and had different equipment, like short-length risers, apple boxes, etc., there's pretty much not much that could have been done if the idea was to go with the "traditional" kids-on-risers, teacher at the side kind of group shot. Building a group pose with that many people takes a lot of skill and understanding; on the opposite end of the skill level, simply having the kids stand in rows, on risers, is easy, and is what a typical Lifetouch shooter is going to do, day after day after day.
This whole incident is really bordering on ridiculous. I KNOW all about "wheelchair issues"; if the boy's parents had even a whiff of a clue, they would have addressed this issue and their concerns BEFORE the incident happened. If they are going to raise a kid who attends public school while in a wheelchair, they'd darned well better learn to be advocates for their child, rather than waiting for these kinds of issues to creep up, then raising a huge fuss. Again...they need to think ahead, and be proactive, and not reactive. Of course, the kid is seven years old; the entire family will continue to learn more and more about the trials and tribulations of wheelchair life among the larger able-bodied society at large.
Communication is the key; If a person has special needs, or concerns, then the parents NEED to make their concerns known, and not ***** and moan after the fact. They ought to feel very bad for their OWN part in this 'incident'. Seriously...they needed to take some responsibility, and look out for their child's special needs. If the kid had a peanut allergy, would they not speak up BEFORE he ate peanuts in the school cafeteria?