By Michelle Diament
January 19, 2010
A scathing
report released one year ago brought unprecedented attention to the use of
restraint and seclusion tactics in schools, documenting rampant examples of
abusive and even deadly practices primarily involving special education
students.
Now
Congress is set to consider legislation this year to institute the first-ever
federal oversight regulating these tactics. Meanwhile, a handful of states have
made changes in an effort to promote student safety.
(Read all of Disability Scoop's coverage of restraint and seclusion)
Yet, for
students who enter classrooms every day, the battle is far more personal.
Relatively few protections are in place in most states and consideration of the
pending federal legislation will take time. That means parents and students
themselves must be on the watch, says Curt Decker, executive director of the
National Disability Rights Network, which issued the initial report last
January and is currently preparing a follow up report.
Don't condone it
Most
importantly, Decker says, don't give schools a free pass.
"The IEP
should not contain any sanction of seclusion and restraint," he says. "It's not
proper programming when you have to accept a restraint or a seclusion
methodology in order to keep your kid in an integrated classroom."
Rather, it
is the purpose of the IEP meeting to establish appropriate programming and
positive behavior supports designed to avoid severe behavior problems, Decker
says.
If a
child's IEP currently includes provisions for restraint or seclusion, now is
the time to request that such tactics be stripped from the plan. Should the
federal legislation pass as it's currently proposed, such measures will not be
allowed in IEP plans anyway.
Watch for the signs
In most
cases, parents have no idea that their child is experiencing restraint or seclusion
at school. So, even if your child's IEP doesn't mention the techniques, that
doesn't mean school staff aren't employing them.
Keep a
keen eye for signs of disciplinary measures gone wrong, especially if you're
dealing with a child who can't tell you what's going on at school. Pay
attention if a child is nervous about school, refuses to go or is acting out in
any way.
"A lot of
parents realize that their child was restrained or secluded 85 times before
they even found out about it," Decker says. "If the parents walk into the
classroom and the kid is tied to a chair, then yeah, that's pretty obvious, but
too many parents just don't even know this is happening."
Look for assistance
If you do
suspect trouble, know your rights. The protection and advocacy system, or
P&A, in almost every state offers a brochure or manual on restraint and
seclusion rules, Decker says. Fellow parents, local parent training centers and
other advocacy organizations are also good places to turn for assistance.
(Find your state's P&A)
Currently,
17 states have no laws or policies regarding restraint and seclusion in
schools. And even in states where regulations exist, the level of restriction
varies.
(Find out where your state stands)
Use the IEP process
Present
any concerns to your child's teacher and other school staff. Then, request
records pertaining to your child and demand that school staff document any use
of restraint or seclusion, Decker says.
When you
are noticing problems, it's important to trigger the IEP process to examine
what's wrong with the child's program as a whole that's leading to behavior
issues.
"The whole
IEP process is built on the premise that if the child is not doing well -
either not meeting the goals or acting out - then it's a failure of the
program," Decker says. "Don't accept some kind of physical restraint as the
answer to the problem."
