The Use of Restraints

[Guest guest]

Let's remember that we are talking about using restraints only if the child is in danger of hurting others and/or himself rather than using it as a consequence for inappropriate behaviors. Obviously, restraints must be used to help protect the individual as well as others. Unfortunately, there is a serious issue in terms of appropriately trained staff and a suitable environments. Throwing a mat on a floor and wrestling the child to the ground is not correct procedure. We need to look at this situation and recognize that there are dangerous flaws. The fact is that our school system is not presently equipped to deal with aggressive and self-injurious individuals. This is an example of how institutions like the school system like to sweep problems under the rug and then, when they can no longer avoid the problem, try to apply a band-aid to a gaping wound. It's no different in terms of how the country is dealing with the issues of the adult individuals with special needs.

There are solutions here. Rather than make this a black or white issue, we need to look at several factors: When to use restraints, training staff to recognize when to use them and how to use them appropriately, constructing suitable rooms for the restraints to be implemented, utilizing professionals to help devise better behavioral interventions for behaviors that do not merit restraints, and as unpopular as this may sound, where to educate children with aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. I plan to try to be involved in the solution to this problem.

I am the mother of an adult son who is still in the school system. He is aggressive and self-injurious at times and has needed restraint to protect him and others. I spent hours going over procedures with the school. I was told the staff members were trained. However, when the first incident came up at the school, the protocol was not followed. It leads me to believe that the training that the school system is saying that they are implementing is not enough. I feel that my son's teacher and her staff are caring and well-meaning individuals-this is not the problem. The issue is in the training and the environment.

We all need to focus on the solution to the problems rather than pick sides. We can't be for or against restraints. We need to recognize that restraints are necessary in certain situations. We need to understand that they are often being used inappropriately. We should try to advocate for the schools to spend the money to properly train (and re-train) all staff members who are in the classroom as well as implement other behavioral interventions when appropriate. And we need to look at the environments in which aggressive and self-injurious children are being educated.

Herskowitz

Get ready to win! You could score awesome prizes all summer long on AOL.