School Is Not Supposed to Hurt 3: Against Physical Restraints & Padded Rooms

Published February 19, 2009 @ 05:07PM PT

Update about Lexie Glover, whose body was found in a freezing creek early in January, two days after she had been reported missing by her mother, Alfreedia Gregg-Glover: Today's InsideNoVa reports that, according to a state medical examiner, Lexie died from "drowning and exposure to the cold after being dumped in a creek last month." Lexie's death was originally ruled a homicide; Gregg-Glover, her adoptive mother had been charged with felony child neglect and filing a false police report in her disappearance and will likely now face a murder charge.

Next Thursday would have been, should have been, Lexie's 14th birthday.

*************

Timeout room from Information Liberationr Sometimes I think that I will be saying this till I'm beyond blue in the face: Physical restraints and padded rooms---the use of force and of seclusion---are inappropriate and potentially dangerous when used to "manage" the "challenging behaviors" that a child on the autism spectrum may have. The February 18th St. Louis Today reports that parents of two children are accusing the Francis Howell School District of "abusing and neglecting" students with disabilities by using such padded "timeout" rooms:

Three parents spoke out Wednesday against the use of these rooms. Sharon and Ben VonHarz say their 11-year-old son, who has autism, suffered bruises and emotional trauma after he was repeatedly put in a seclusion room at Hollenbeck Middle School. Ange Hemmer said a seclusion room was used with her son, who has autism and is now 9, when he was in kindergarten at Fairmount Elementary School. They said other parents are afraid to step forward in fear of retaliation from the school district.

"The district had tried to make me believe my child was a monster and that this was the only way to educate my child," Hemmer said.

A padded room seems hardly the "only" way to educate a child and especially a child with disabilities who may not be able to readily explain themselves, or who may not be able to speak at all. My son has never been in a padded room (though there certainly are school districts in New Jersey that have been accused of using them, and of misusing them. When he was younger, special ed teachers used restraints like the basket hold when he head-banged. While they may have stopped this from continuing in the short term, the long-term effects have been deleterious: Let's just say that Charlie's got a lot of fight in him.

Education, not force, has helped Charlie most of all. It's often such a slow, slow process and often it seems that Charlie has to unlearn things as much as learn them. His teacher knows he more than has the capacity not only to learn, but to succeed and make his way in the world, but he needs to be taught.

And restraints and seclusion are not education.

For more information, go to Ange Hemmer's blog, Missouri: Families Against Seclusion and Restraint.

Image from Information Liberation.

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Comments (7)

I once saw two padded rooms where they forgot to add the padding... just cinderblocks and a large magnetic door. The therapist said a few years prior they would use the rooms upwards of 25 times a day, for a special education school that at most had 100 students. They suppositly changed their crisis intervention policies and had reduced their use, however they still used them. As far as I know they are still being used.

I've also seen time out rooms that were just places for kids to go voluntarily or as a consequence for a behavior. This school primarily worked with kids with nonviolent emotional disorders, as well as some students with aspergers syndrome. That was actually a school I went to for a while. They didn't have a door, and there was nothing physically keeping them in there. I'm not sure if they really worked as a consequence though. They did, however, work pretty well when I was on a medication that made me sleep from 9:30 a.m. until noon daily.

I do think there can be a place for physical holds, but they should always be a last resort and should always be regarded as a failure. I have heard a therapist talk about them as a "therapeutic break through" for kids at a school that teaches kids with autism and behavioral disorders. That's just BS though, and that school was perhaps more scary than the one with the locked cinderblock rooms.

Posted by Erin Monk on 02/19/2009 @ 06:26PM PT
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You can read more about the efforts in Missouri on one of Ange's web sites: http://nomoseclusion.blogspot.com/

Posted by Niksmom . on 02/19/2009 @ 07:24PM PT
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Here's a thought experiment.

Instead of thinking about this in terms of "disruptive children", think how you would feel if your workplace worked like this.

The workplace played loud obnoxious music and had strobe lights going off all the time. People shouted in your ear. The owners of the company told you you could take breaks when you were hired. You indicate (at first nicely) that you need to take a break. You're not allowed to. You can't quit (you're required to work here, otherwise you can go to jail).

You then yell to someone to turn it down, already. Three big musclemen then come to throw you in a room, in which you will stay as long as they deem necessary. Anytime you don't follow their rules you can be thrown in the room. You may be manhandled or bruised, and it's OK for them to terrorize you to the point that you wet your pants, but no one's letting you out. And tomorrow you get to do it all over again.

This is what we condone in our schools.

Thanks for blogging about this. It must end.

Joe

Posted by Joe Sark on 02/19/2009 @ 08:19PM PT
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I hold what may seem to be a contrarian view to the use of rooms and hold and even support their (appropriate) use. However, they should never be used as punishment, or part of the "educational process." The should be used for a single purpose: an emergency method to stabilze safety. Any other use is an indication that the school or the staff does not know what they are doing.

Any time a hold or a padded room is used, it should be viewed, as Nicole said in the first comment, as a failure. It's a failure to provide the appropriate environment in which a child can learn. It doesn't mean the school or teachers are cruel or evil. It just means that something needs to be changed. It only becomes cruel when all the expectations of change are placed on the child and the events repeat themselves at the child's expense.

The reality is that our kids are changing and growing in ways that we can't always predict. I view a room or a hold as a "safety net" for when all other steps to preserve safety fail. Once it is necessary to resort to these methods, the team needs to take a very close look at what precipated the behavior and work to prevent it. The causes could range from noise, frustration, another student's actions, changes in medication, or other reasons. Whatever the cause, the outcome should be viewed very seriously. Repeated occurrences indicate that dramatic change is needed.

One concern that I have about removing these rooms is that, for those times when other methods to ensure safety fail (and they will occasionally fail, no matter how hard we try), the only alternative will be calling emergency responders, who may even be less skilled in dealing with our children.

Posted by Shawn McFadden on 02/20/2009 @ 12:50PM PT
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More methedology that's as smart as a rock. We need a joint coalitoin to stop this.. all sides must join.. forget about cause/cure and every other indifference.. this is the future of our children and this doesn't just happen to them, i get cases regarding adults as well in similar circumstances.
If you need help.. or are interested.. visit me at
http://www.officeofautismadvocacy.com
We help with all cases and IEP/ARD Due Process situations.
We do not charge parents.. those who can help ..help others.
Do NOT hesitate to call if you're having any difficulties or emergencies.. my number is on my site above.

Take Care,

Michael E. Robinson, Sr.
The office of Autism Advocacy

Posted by Michael Robinson on 02/24/2009 @ 11:11PM PT
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Since this site is about changeHou--there is a possibility of some real change at the Federal level this legislative session due to the interest of Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education & Labor.

I received a notice from COPAA today (3/10/09) that the Government Accounting Office (GAO) is actively soliciting information for the purposes of the House Committee's investigations of restraint, seclusion and aversives use in "day schools" (non-residential settings). COPAA is also conducting a survey of cases that were not brought to hearing which it will forward to the Committee (perhaps the pledge here might be pointed out to the Committee as well while the matter is a focus for them).

I will post the entire forwarded notice and request, but I hope that those who
A) Have directly experienced these in a school setting, whether or not the incident was brought to formal hearing will take the time to read the request and act on on this opportunity.

Posted by Regina Claypool-Frey on 03/10/2009 @ 09:57PM PT
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The request from the GAO via COPAA,
Start of FWD/quote
------------------------
"The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress' investigative arm, is seeking information about the use of restraints, seclusion, and aversives in day school programs. The GAO will be developing a report in preparation for hearings to be held by House Education Committee Chairman George Miller on the issue. Day schools are schools that are not residential. The GAO is interested in all kinds of cases, civil and criminal, cases in court and cases in due process/other administrative hearings. In addition, COPAA is collecting information about situations that didn't involve court or hearings.

CATEGORY ONE: Cases, Hearings, Criminal and Civil
Please provide the following information to Christine A. Hodakievic, GAO Senior Special Agent, email: HodakievicC@gao.gov We would also appreciate a copy to us at jessica@copaa.org but that is not essential.

1. Information about any Court case, due process hearing or other administrative hearing involving restraints, seclusion, or aversives in a day school program. It does not have to be an IDEA case. It can be any kind of case, such as Constitutional, wrongful death or other tort action, 504, or any other kind of case/hearing. It can be a litigated case or a case that was filed and settled or otherwise concluded.

2 Information about any Criminal Matter involving restraint, seclusion, or aversives in a school. This can be a criminal case that went to a trial, a criminal case resolved without a trial, an indictment, an information, arrest, or any other kind of criminal matter. (Some of you have represented children who were witnesses in criminal cases against school staff who used aversive interventions. The GAO would be interested in these criminal cases, as well as others.)

3. Information about complaints filed with a State Department of Education about restraints, seclusion, or aversives in a day school program.
In your email to the GAO, it would be very helpful to describe the case, provide any identifying information such as a citation, describe what happened to the child, what happened in the case/hearing/ complaint, and any other pertinent information. If you know whether the case is still pending or whether civil litigation has ended, please add that. The GAO would also appreciate receiving copies of complaints, hearing notices, pleadings, briefs, and decisions/orders, if you would like to provide them (its optional). Obviously, if you have a big case file, choose the most important documents. If you filed a complaint with your State Department of Education, but didn't file a court case or due process, please be very clear about that in your email to the GAO. It helps them sort out what they are getting, since they will be receiving many many emails.

CATEGORY 2: Other Situations-- no filed case or hearing.
COPAA is also seeking information about any other situations in which children were subject to restraints, seclusion, or aversives but a case or due process/administrat ive hearing was not filed. We have set up a computerized survey form for you to report it. We will be sharing this information with the GAO and as otherwise explained in the survey. This computerized form simply allows us to collect all of the information together and sort it so that we can do this quickly. If you wish to complete the survey, click here
(If the link doesn't work, the full link is
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=kbizom_2bCU27wrYCCRv7R7w_3d_3d

IF YOU HAVE A SITUATION IN WHICH A COURT CASE, HEARING, CRIMINAL COMPLAINT, or other litigation, court filing, or case ensued, please report it directly to the GAO as stated in Category 1. Please use the COPAA survey form only for other situations in which restraints, seclusion, or aversives were used.

Thank you and feel free to contact us with any other questions. Again, please feel free to repost or otherwise share this information with others.

Jessica Butler
Congressional Affairs Co-Chair
Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc. (COPAA)
A National Voice for Special Education Rights and Advocacy
http://www.copaa.org
email: jessica@copaa.org "
-------------------
End of FWD/quote

Posted by Regina Claypool-Frey on 03/10/2009 @ 10:04PM PT
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Kristina is a Classics professor in Jersey City, New Jersey, a blogger (formerly at AutismVox), a translator (of Virgil), and an advocate every day for her son, Charlie.