National Data Confirm Cases Of Restraint And Seclusion In Public Schools

[confused]

http://www.npr.org/2014/06/19/322915388/national-data-confirms-cases-of-restraint-and-seclusion-in-public-schools

 

"In most cases, the practice is used with students with disabilities — usually with those who have autism or are labeled emotionally disturbed. Sometimes the students will get upset; they might even get violent. To calm or control them, teachers and aides might isolate them in a separate room, which is a practice known as seclusion. Or they might restrain them by holding or hugging them, or pinning them to the ground, or by using mechanical restraints, such as a belt or even handcuffs."

 

 

 

 

My daughter would sometimes bang her head against the wall. Not hard but she would do it repeatedly. I had a tdoc tell me to hold her back and not let her. I would try but she would fight me off. She only did it at home. I don't know what the best thing to do was. 

 

Kids are being injured and there have been deaths. They have reduced the use of restraints in other areas. They should be able to reduce them in schools, too

Edited June 23, 2014 by confused

[San]

That's awful! Restraining and secluding kids at school.. there has to be a better way, that's barbaric. Most psychiatric wards around here don't even use restraints anymore, and I saw no one in seclusion while I was IP. Some people had one-to-ones, but doing stuff like that to differently-abled children is AWFUL.

 

That poor boy, whose hand got broken.. traumatizing.. I can't see anything good coming out of that!

 

I remember the article where a teacher got slammed for putting a child in a bag. Turns out it was a Bag o' Balls specifically designed for autistic children because of the sensory aspect to it (I've love to have a Bag o Balls, I'm not autistic, but I think it would really calm me down at times) and in the hospital we had a relaxation room with rocking chairs soft lights, music and even a slide, floors that would vibrate when turned on, and even a ball pit. I think things like that would be a better option. Here's a link to the BagoBalls: http://www.autism-products.com/BagOBalls_p/1014263.htm

 

They need to be protecting all of the children, not subjecting them to restraints and trauma. 

[Stickler]

In my mom's hospital, you cannot restrain a patient unless a doctor writes an order EVERY HOUR for it to be done. That's how seriously they take it.

NPR doesn't note if the teachers are properly taught how to do non-injurious takedowns...my suspicion is that they may or may not have any freaking idea how to safely apply restraints, and this probably varies wildly depending on the school district.

If the kids freaking DIE in restraints, what the hell is going on???

I mean, you are going to strap someone to the floor and walk away??? That is nuts! Even if someone needs to be restrained and you are part of the team to do the restraining, that person cannot be left unmonitored at any point.

I learned this in nurse aide school, and nurse aides make, like minimum wage, pretty much.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Stickler

[melissaw72]

 

But training can be expensive. A federal grant program that paid for a lot of the training was ended by Congress in 2009, and since then, he says, schools have struggled to find other funding.

 

I bet it is cheaper than a lawsuit!

[Wooster]

I am FLOORED that schools are applying mechanical restraints to kids. Absolutely floored. Those require a doctor's order and 15 minute (minimum) checks from a medical perspective.

I can understand how physical restraint, when done properly, is useful for a kid who otherwise is not able to control their body in the moment. But the lack of training and oversight makes physical restraint dangerous for the kid and the adults who are restraining them (note I said adultS plural... one person restraints are only safe for very small preschool type kids).

I think there are two things colliding that make this problem worse. One is that a lot of people really think kids with disruptive behavior are consciously choosing to act out, and could stop if they wanted to. The other is that funding for special needs students has not kept pace with increasing recognition of special needs. Add on top of that the threat of losing money if your school doesn't perform well enough on standardized tests and it gets to be real easy for schools to minimize, ignore, and look for the "easiest" possible solution... which is a recipe for the disaster we currently have.