update-illegal use of restraint for 5 year old

[Guest guest]

I posted back in December about my 5 year old son being strapped to a chair

with a slide on tray as a means of time out for: running around the

classroom and not completing fine motor tasks. Here is a photo of the chair:

http://www.kayeproducts.com/cc.html I just wanted to update you all. This

group was an incredible means of support for me...THANK YOU!

With out enumerating all the nasty details (mud slinging) of how things came

to be, I will just tell you what the results were for my son and for the

school thus far.

My son was moved from his mainstream Kindergarten (a.k.a. " The Torture

Chamber " ) to a mainstream Pre-K room. Guess what....my son no longer is

having raging fits at home, he has learned more in his 4 weeks in Pre-K than

in his 4 months in his kindergarten class, he is generally well-adjusted to

school. The pre-K teacher said he fits right in and seems just like all the

other kids. His new teacher greatly dislikes the old teacher (that was my

first clue that the new teacher was a good one!). We were able to get rid

of my son's behavioral intervention plan which we put into place just in

November. There have been no behavioral issues in class (except the regular

preschool-type behavior, of course). If any of you saw my son, he very much

seems like a typical child, just immature for his age. He no longer has

speech issues that any one notices. (He was non-verbal until about age 3

1/2). His sensory issues are so subtle that not even my husband notices

them anymore, just me. (When he was smaller, he would just run around and

was totally disorganized in everything he did. He couldn't explore toys,

etc)

I am sure part of the improvements in behavior, esteem, etc are because he

just wasn't ready for a full-day kindergarten program. I don't know who I

was kidding when I let the school talk me into doing kindergarten this year.

His fine motor skills, maturity, academic skills, and overall development

are much more in line with that of a preschooler. The teacher said that he

is towards the top of his class with his skills and maturity. Now he will

be able to start kindergarten next year at the top of his class -- oldest

kid, skills appropriate for the curriculum, etc.

He now takes pride in doing fine motor work at home (he used to refuse to do

it...now we know why), he has been readmitted into private OT (we had

stopped b/c he was laying on the floor and doing other things so that he

wouldn't have to do the work) and he is gaining by leaps and bounds

(coloring in the lines, writing his name, etc,etc,etc), and the list of

positive changes goes on. I had put him right into psycho-therapy which I

am sure if helping with all of this.

I took a few things up to the school:

1) info/research on positive discipline in schools.

2) regulations from IDEA on the use of restraint (when it is lawful, when

it is not). I also took interpretations of the law.

3) articles from autism experts who felt that the use of such devices

should RARELY be used.

Here is one article:

" Ruth Sullivan, a national expert on autism and the mother of the man on

whom Hoffman based his character in the movie " Rain Man, " was in

ton, West Virginia Wednesday to testify on behalf of Ronnie Lee

Spaulding. .....(omitted text)

Sullivan, a Huntington resident who runs a center for the mentally

handicapped and autistic, was on the stand in Judge Herman Canady's

courtroom to offer her expert opinion about the use of such a " mechanical

restraint " on an autistic child like Spaulding.

Her disgust with the use of such a device, especially if other options like

simply holding the child weren't at least attempted, was clearly evident

from the witness stand.

" You just wouldn't do it. I can think of very few, very rare, situations in

which it would be acceptable to restrain a child in that fashion, " Sullivan

said.

The defense team for the school system has claimed that Spaulding enjoyed

being bound to his chair, and that it was often used to help him feel

comfortable about not falling out of his chair.

Sullivan dismissed such applications of the harness, based on her own

experience and her interviews with Spaulding. "

http://www.wrightslaw.com/news/1999/news_WV_Jury_Verdict_99_0705.html

(entire article)

I am unaware if the teacher or the aide (personal aide for another student)

were punished for their acts. They both still teach there. I have heard

that the teacher has done a 180 in the way she conducts her class, at least

to the observer. I hope it is genuine and a permanent change. I am still

working on that one.

The school got rid of the chair completely (it used to be in another kid's

behavioral intervention plan). They also tore down their " time out " rooms

(enclosed padded rooms that are built off of some of the self-contained

classrooms) for all the Dept. Of Defense schools in the state of NC. I

heard this from a friend of mine whose child is in a different school in the

district who has an informant (who is part of the school management). He

said that it was for all the DOD schools in the state.

I am attempting to write an article for the paper about the need for

tolerance and understanding among educators and the rest of the population.

It is sad when an educator thinks that because a child has an IEP, that he

should be put in a restraint as a time out. Would the teacher have done

that to a student with out an IEP? No way! This was discrimination and total

lack of understanding of how to help disabled students. I brought her a boy

who was not a behavioral problem (just delays in fine motor and some

language issues) and she turned him into a behavioral problem. Luckily we

caught it in time before he was at the point of no-return.

There are a few things that I can't mention online that will help ensure the

safety of the kids at my son's school.

My husband has been gone on military duty this whole time which made this

infinitely harder for all of us. Luckily I could correspond with him via

email about all of this. I imagined him in his tent on the top of some

rickety bunk bed with sand blowing through his tent like it was made of

permeable material....laying in bed at night thinking about: his wife that

was on the verge of a mental breakdown, his son who was crying out for help,

and his son's immoral teacher who was sleeping soundly in her comfy

kind-size bed with not a care in the world, certainly not her freedom which

my husband was busy defending.

Thanks again for all the support, prayers and info you all passed my way.

What did parents do before the internet? What did parents do before LISA

GENG?

Tricia Morin

North Carolina

Mom to the toughest, most resilient 5 year old in the world!

[Guest guest]

Tricia,

THANK YOU for the update...I had read all the posts and had been

wondering what happened with you and your child. I am so happy that

you were able to help your son, and to help others. You have made a

difference in so many childrens lives.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Hi Tricia,

Just read your post and i must say i am glad i did( i dont usualy have time

to read the long ones) Your post brought tears to my eyes, the way you used

your anger in such a positive way should be an inspiration to us all. You

not only helped your child from a situation that was intolerable, but also

many more children who may have had the misfortune to be put in this class.

Well done doesn't seem strong enough praise. Jane

[Guest guest]

Tricia thank you for posting your update and for being so pro-active!

Our children need moms like you standing up to the system when a

wrong doing has occured. Your signature should include " Tricia one

tough GREAT mom! " . I hope that your husband is soon to return and

that you take time to be good to yourself.

[Guest guest]

Kudos to you Tricia!!! You took a grim situation, looked outside the

box and turned it into something very positive!! Thanks so much for

keeping us posted on this. Your issue and son's experience really

tugged at me and I've thought about it quite a bit since.

~The VIKING fan in Wisconsin!

> I posted back in December about my 5 year old son being strapped

to a chair

> with a slide on tray as a means of time out for: running around the

> classroom and not completing fine motor tasks. Here is a photo of

the chair:

> http://www.kayeproducts.com/cc.html I just wanted to update you

all. This

> group was an incredible means of support for me...THANK YOU!

>

> With out enumerating all the nasty details (mud slinging) of how

things came

> to be, I will just tell you what the results were for my son and

for the

> school thus far.

>

> My son was moved from his mainstream Kindergarten (a.k.a. " The

Torture

> Chamber " ) to a mainstream Pre-K room. Guess what....my son no

longer is

> having raging fits at home, he has learned more in his 4 weeks in

Pre-K than

> in his 4 months in his kindergarten class, he is generally well-

adjusted to

> school. The pre-K teacher said he fits right in and seems just

like all the

> other kids. His new teacher greatly dislikes the old teacher (that

was my

> first clue that the new teacher was a good one!). We were able to

get rid

> of my son's behavioral intervention plan which we put into place

just in

> November. There have been no behavioral issues in class (except

the regular

> preschool-type behavior, of course). If any of you saw my son, he

very much

> seems like a typical child, just immature for his age. He no

longer has

> speech issues that any one notices. (He was non-verbal until about

age 3

> 1/2). His sensory issues are so subtle that not even my husband

notices

> them anymore, just me. (When he was smaller, he would just run

around and

> was totally disorganized in everything he did. He couldn't explore

toys,

> etc)

>

> I am sure part of the improvements in behavior, esteem, etc are

because he

> just wasn't ready for a full-day kindergarten program. I don't

know who I

> was kidding when I let the school talk me into doing kindergarten

this year.

> His fine motor skills, maturity, academic skills, and overall

development

> are much more in line with that of a preschooler. The teacher said

that he

> is towards the top of his class with his skills and maturity. Now

he will

> be able to start kindergarten next year at the top of his class --

oldest

> kid, skills appropriate for the curriculum, etc.

>

> He now takes pride in doing fine motor work at home (he used to

refuse to do

> it...now we know why), he has been readmitted into private OT (we

had

> stopped b/c he was laying on the floor and doing other things so

that he

> wouldn't have to do the work) and he is gaining by leaps and bounds

> (coloring in the lines, writing his name, etc,etc,etc), and the

list of

> positive changes goes on. I had put him right into psycho-therapy

which I

> am sure if helping with all of this.

>

> I took a few things up to the school:

>

> 1) info/research on positive discipline in schools.

>

> 2) regulations from IDEA on the use of restraint (when it is

lawful, when

> it is not). I also took interpretations of the law.

>

> 3) articles from autism experts who felt that the use of such

devices

> should RARELY be used.

>

> Here is one article:

> " Ruth Sullivan, a national expert on autism and the mother of the

man on

> whom Hoffman based his character in the movie " Rain Man, "

was in

> ton, West Virginia Wednesday to testify on behalf of Ronnie

Lee

> Spaulding. .....(omitted text)

> Sullivan, a Huntington resident who runs a center for the mentally

> handicapped and autistic, was on the stand in Judge Herman Canady's

> courtroom to offer her expert opinion about the use of such

a " mechanical

> restraint " on an autistic child like Spaulding.

> Her disgust with the use of such a device, especially if other

options like

> simply holding the child weren't at least attempted, was clearly

evident

> from the witness stand.

> " You just wouldn't do it. I can think of very few, very rare,

situations in

> which it would be acceptable to restrain a child in that fashion, "

Sullivan

> said.

> The defense team for the school system has claimed that Spaulding

enjoyed

> being bound to his chair, and that it was often used to help him

feel

> comfortable about not falling out of his chair.

> Sullivan dismissed such applications of the harness, based on her

own

> experience and her interviews with Spaulding. "

>

http://www.wrightslaw.com/news/1999/news_WV_Jury_Verdict_99_0705.html

> (entire article)

>

> I am unaware if the teacher or the aide (personal aide for another

student)

> were punished for their acts. They both still teach there. I have

heard

> that the teacher has done a 180 in the way she conducts her class,

at least

> to the observer. I hope it is genuine and a permanent change. I am

still

> working on that one.

>

> The school got rid of the chair completely (it used to be in

another kid's

> behavioral intervention plan). They also tore down their " time

out " rooms

> (enclosed padded rooms that are built off of some of the self-

contained

> classrooms) for all the Dept. Of Defense schools in the state of

NC. I

> heard this from a friend of mine whose child is in a different

school in the

> district who has an informant (who is part of the school

management). He

> said that it was for all the DOD schools in the state.

>

> I am attempting to write an article for the paper about the need for

> tolerance and understanding among educators and the rest of the

population.

> It is sad when an educator thinks that because a child has an IEP,

that he

> should be put in a restraint as a time out. Would the teacher have

done

> that to a student with out an IEP? No way! This was discrimination

and total

> lack of understanding of how to help disabled students. I brought

her a boy

> who was not a behavioral problem (just delays in fine motor and some

> language issues) and she turned him into a behavioral problem.

Luckily we

> caught it in time before he was at the point of no-return.

>

> There are a few things that I can't mention online that will help

ensure the

> safety of the kids at my son's school.

>

> My husband has been gone on military duty this whole time which

made this

> infinitely harder for all of us. Luckily I could correspond with

him via

> email about all of this. I imagined him in his tent on the top of

some

> rickety bunk bed with sand blowing through his tent like it was

made of

> permeable material....laying in bed at night thinking about: his

wife that

> was on the verge of a mental breakdown, his son who was crying out

for help,

> and his son's immoral teacher who was sleeping soundly in her comfy

> kind-size bed with not a care in the world, certainly not her

freedom which

> my husband was busy defending.

>

> Thanks again for all the support, prayers and info you all passed

my way.

> What did parents do before the internet? What did parents do

before LISA

> GENG?

>

> Tricia Morin

> North Carolina

> Mom to the toughest, most resilient 5 year old in the world!

>

>

>