Timeout Rooms and Physical Restraints
May 20, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Put in a timeout room more than 90 times?
Coming home from school with cuts, bumps, and bruises?
Being held on the floor on his stomach by two adults?
All of these happened to 9-year-old Matthew Montgomery in Oldham County, Kentucky, WAVE 3 news reports. Some of them have happened to my son Charlie and maybe not everyone realizes this, but these kinds of physical restraints can have a long-lasting effect on an autistic child; on any child.
Matthew’s mother, Jeanie, took him out of school in March of 2008. She and her husband are now being charged with truancy by the school district “because missing that many classes violates the district’s policy.”
(Asperger Square 8 also comments on “this autism situation.”)
Our experience (again and again) is that the school waits until a crisis and then reacts (often in unbelievable ways) rather than believing the parents/students and providing support. And they then justify their actions because the student was “dangerous” etc… Nevermind the dangerous situation may have been prevented all together. In Missouri (http://nomoseclusion.blogspot.com/), I have SLOWLY started trying to promote change in this area… wish I was accomplishing more. Other people in other states are trying to do the same thing, some federally.
Thanks for noting your site—-especially of interest to me as we used to live in St. Louis. A teenage female student died at a school in the Special School district while we there, apparently after being restrained.
Will you please read my latest blog post about my son being locked in the closet and the repressive laws here in Missouri? I’m not trying to promote my “blog,” but just the issue. I can’t read stories like this without going through it again in my mind.
THESE THINGS STILL HAPPEN. I don’t know how to get that fact through to people in the “general public.”
http://homeschoolnetc.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-is-what-public-school-did-to-my.html
Hopefully that works and thanks.
Would the complexion on this question change if EVERY parent, not just those with special needs had to contemplate during the beginning of the year get-togethers,
“Welcome back to school. During the course of the year your child may be confined to a locked coat closet dozens of times, come home with bruises, possibly be mechanically or physically restrained. We may or may not tell you. He or she might die as a result of some of these methods.
Any questions?”
I put a lot of stock in education, but on the scale of things I might consider not being injured or dying as somewhat more important. I know in my district that if EVERY parent thought the above was a possibility, there would be a riot.
That’s kind of reactive, but it makes you wonder when a district does not evaluate well before 97 timeouts whether this is a behavior strategy that is going anywhere.
Nothing a good lawyer can’t fix. I’m sure if the parents had money (and a lawyer) the school district would be singing a different tune. There has to be at least 1 good lawyer out there looking for some national exposure willing to take this case pro bono for the parents and fight the school district on the grounds of disability discrimination, child abuse, maybe even force them to change their evil ways.
Apparently the family is going to due process, so there are lawyers involved.
Following up on Regan’s comment—-sounds like the district was not open to “external consultants.” We had this problem in a previous district; we were even paying for the consultant and they policed every step of the way.
the ABA providers that I spoke with included a disclosure regarding involuntary restraint, and a waiver. And I’ll be honest, as a newbie, that pretty much freaked me out.
@Mrs. C,
thank you for posting the link to your blog. I think my son still has something like PTSD from being restrained on an almost daily basis (for 45 minutes once) a couple of years ago.
@Laura,
I would have freaked out too!
In retrospect, I sure our former school district had informed us in advance of procedures that would be used.
When I was a teacher you never EVER laid one finger on any pupil.
The stories here of cuts and bruises if received by a teacher would warrant in the old days charges of grevious bodily harm and instant dismissal or suspension at least for the teachers concerned.
I just read about adding toxic chemicals to vaccines and assaults by adults on their charges and can’t help thinking
What a MAD MAD MAD MAD world we are in today.
It happened in our case, am in the midst of it now as some here know, and I will be writing about it in the near future. Never believe the glossy PR from those expensive private (ie NPS) schools again. Very Dickensian. So long Barbara Firestone and pals.
Dear Parents,
The only way we are going to be able to stop this abuse on our children is to get current laws changed and new laws created. Everyone of us has this power. Please contact your local legislatures for help in creating a bill in your state to reduce, control and track restraint and seclusion on children with disabilities. If we don’t change laws, nothing will improve to stop this abuse and keep our children safe.
There are many families from counties all over Florida who have children with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders that are being restrained and put in time-out and locked seclusion rooms in the public school system. Our children are being injured physically and mentally because of their disabilities and the lack of appropriate school programs and highly qualified teachers and aides available to educate them in the public school system. No laws, no regulations, no tracking system, no consent from parents and no parent notification in many cases. The trauma this has caused our children and the emotional drain to our families should never happen to any child or family.
Families Against Restraint and Seclusion
http://familiesagainstrestraintandseclusion.blogspot.com/
This kind of thing happened last year to a class in Colorado. It wasn’t just one child though…it was the whole classroom. I cried when I read the report. It was awful what they put those children through. I don’t see anyone can see these kids like they are less than human. They are such wonderful beings even with their challenges.
This has been an issue in New York. There was an interesting article in the New York Times in December that includes quotes from parent who actually defended a school’s use of electric shocks as a disciplinary measure for her daughter.
According to the article in January 2007, New York banned the use of such treatment beginning in 2009.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/nyregion/25shock.html?scp=1&sq=autism+electric+shock+Massachusetts&st=nyt
@Steven Roll,
Is there a school or district in particular where this has been an issue? I remember reading those quotes (wrote this about that NYT article). Thanks muc
Children with physical disabilities like cerabral palsey have 1 on 1 assistants for their classroom trained in their care and needs. Why is that not mandatory for a severely autistic child?
Check out these regulations that New York adopted regarding the use of “aversives.” Prior to the adoption of these rules, this area was “unregulated” by New York.
Here is the link:
http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/behavioral/home
Same thing happens here in Chesterfield, Virginia. I have started the process of working with my lawmakers to get things changed. My son has Down Syndrome and we fought very hard to get him in the general classroom to only have him carried down to the special education room to be restrained. All of this was done without parental notification or consent. I am not giving up.