Comments on: Education Secretary Asks School Chiefs For Seclusion, Restraint Policies http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/ Developmental Disability News Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:13:08 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Club 166 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-508 Club 166 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:37:49 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-508 If leaving the responsibility in the hands of the states was to have worked, it would have worked years ago. These problems are real, and merely having districts and states report their policies does nothing to prevent further abuse. Only a law with teeth in it will change ingrained practices that do nothing to support the individual students, and treat them worse than inmates at Guantanemo. If leaving the responsibility in the hands of the states was to have worked, it would have worked years ago.

These problems are real, and merely having districts and states report their policies does nothing to prevent further abuse. Only a law with teeth in it will change ingrained practices that do nothing to support the individual students, and treat them worse than inmates at Guantanemo.

]]> By: gamom http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-503 gamom Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:36:25 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-503 In my opinion the only thing that will rectify these problems is to have reform and legislation to nationally ban prone and supine restraints in schools and ban corporal punishment (yes that's legal in a lot of southern states if one can believe it). Restraints are dangerous and sometimes deadly. Policies are not going to cut it. Civil and criminal immunity issues must be revised as well and a clear and concise way to track educators that abuse students. Until then, I fear not much will change. I have written to my state lawmakers, no one seems to want to touch it. I hope Congressman Miller will do something and do so soon. In my opinion the only thing that will rectify these problems is to have reform and legislation to nationally ban prone and supine restraints in schools and ban corporal punishment (yes that’s legal in a lot of southern states if one can believe it). Restraints are dangerous and sometimes deadly. Policies are not going to cut it. Civil and criminal immunity issues must be revised as well and a clear and concise way to track educators that abuse students. Until then, I fear not much will change. I have written to my state lawmakers, no one seems to want to touch it. I hope Congressman Miller will do something and do so soon.

]]> By: AutismInRealLife.com http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-500 AutismInRealLife.com Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:54:19 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-500 Let's be very clear that seclusion at school is not at all the same as placing a child into timeout in a home environment. Time out in the family kitchen chair for one minute per the child's age is not even a comparison to what happens in school. What often happens in schools is that a teacher subjectively decides when a child is being disruptive enough to be secluded as a so-called "last resort". Then the child is forceably, against his will put into a room the size of a small closet and left there until a teacher subjectively decides when the child can leave. The child often has no access to a bathroom or a soft place to sit. Many times there are no state regulations about the time limits, how big the room has to be, what the room is made of, etc. Even if there are policies, the schools may not follow the policies. There is often little to no accountability. I always come back to the point that if parents built a concrete seclusion room in their home for their disabled child and did what some of these educators are doing with restraint and seclusion, they would be arrested for child abuse. So this "time out is argument" to justify seclusion does not hold water. In addition there are no studies that indicate that seclusion is an effective means to improve behavior in the long term. As a result of seclusion and restraint, the child's behavior often gets much worse. People who favor seclusion and restraint should talk with the children who are forever emotionally scarred from this inhumane practice. The children are out there - scared of closets, scared of teachers, scared of school. We have trusted the boards of education for far too long and look what has happened to these children who were abused while being restrained and secluded. We need to protect the children who cannot protect themselves or who lack the words to speak. Federal laws are needed to ensure the protection of our children. Let’s be very clear that seclusion at school is not at all the same as placing a child into timeout in a home environment. Time out in the family kitchen chair for one minute per the child’s age is not even a comparison to what happens in school.

What often happens in schools is that a teacher subjectively decides when a child is being disruptive enough to be secluded as a so-called “last resort”. Then the child is forceably, against his will put into a room the size of a small closet and left there until a teacher subjectively decides when the child can leave. The child often has no access to a bathroom or a soft place to sit. Many times there are no state regulations about the time limits, how big the room has to be, what the room is made of, etc. Even if there are policies, the schools may not follow the policies. There is often little to no accountability.

I always come back to the point that if parents built a concrete seclusion room in their home for their disabled child and did what some of these educators are doing with restraint and seclusion, they would be arrested for child abuse. So this “time out is argument” to justify seclusion does not hold water.

In addition there are no studies that indicate that seclusion is an effective means to improve behavior in the long term. As a result of seclusion and restraint, the child’s behavior often gets much worse.

People who favor seclusion and restraint should talk with the children who are forever emotionally scarred from this inhumane practice. The children are out there – scared of closets, scared of teachers, scared of school.

We have trusted the boards of education for far too long and look what has happened to these children who were abused while being restrained and secluded. We need to protect the children who cannot protect themselves or who lack the words to speak. Federal laws are needed to ensure the protection of our children.

]]> By: Theresa Edwards http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-499 Theresa Edwards Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:59:41 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-499 I am sorry about the fact that President Obama chose to put Sec. Arne Duncan in this position of authority. Sec. Duncan made the statement when he was testifying before Congressman Miller that he was troubled, surprised by the information that was presented about what was going on to our children. What part troubled him I wonder? Was it the part that while he was in a position in his own state, that these criminal acts were being perpetuated and he did nothing. Or, maybe he was troubled because the parents who have citizens of the United States were able to get Congress to listen to us about the atrocities being done to our babies. Now he is going to ask the states to submit policies. By allowing the states to submit something we will continue to have more of the same. My daughter was assualted, locked in a room called the "Jail Room", denied food, denied the right to use a restroom, subjected to verbal abuse and racial tormenting. These acts were reported to everyone in my state of Georgia. Even the Governors office knew so now we ask them to submit policies, which do nothing. The only way to fix what is going on to America's children is for the federal government to step up to the plate. I am just as much as anyone against big government but by letting the state's control this issue look at what it has cost us, many of our children are permanently scarred, and some of our children are dead. And the worst part is there is no accountability, no justice. How many more of our children must we watch slip away! I am sorry about the fact that President Obama chose to put Sec. Arne Duncan in this position of authority. Sec. Duncan made the statement when he was testifying before Congressman Miller that he was troubled, surprised by the information that was presented about what was going on to our children. What part troubled him I wonder? Was it the part that while he was in a position in his own state, that these criminal acts were being perpetuated and he did nothing. Or, maybe he was troubled because the parents who have citizens of the United States were able to get Congress to listen to us about the atrocities being done to our babies. Now he is going to ask the states to submit policies. By allowing the states to submit something we will continue to have more of the same. My daughter was assualted, locked in a room called the “Jail Room”, denied food, denied the right to use a restroom, subjected to verbal abuse and racial tormenting. These acts were reported to everyone in my state of Georgia. Even the Governors office knew so now we ask them to submit policies, which do nothing. The only way to fix what is going on to America’s children is for the federal government to step up to the plate. I am just as much as anyone against big government but by letting the state’s control this issue look at what it has cost us, many of our children are permanently scarred, and some of our children are dead. And the worst part is there is no accountability, no justice. How many more of our children must we watch slip away!

]]> By: nkarmali http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-498 nkarmali Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:52:10 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-498 This proposal as suggested by Secretary of Education is a welcome sign to prevent child abuse in schools in the name of Restraint and Seclusion. But this is short of federal oversight and as such federal has a makjor role to play since every state has failed to take action as reported in the news media. In this era with medical advancement and in the field of child psychology and communications it is imperative that our school teachers are well trained to deal with the children of every disability. And it is the responsibility of every individual of authority to make sure teachers are well tarined and children are well protected and educated with their individual strengths. I am sure something good will come out of this which will save the child's dignity, welfare and peace to the parents. This proposal as suggested by Secretary of Education is a welcome sign to prevent child abuse in schools in the name of Restraint and Seclusion. But this is short of federal oversight and as such federal has a makjor role to play since every state has failed to take action as reported in the news media. In this era with medical advancement and in the field of child psychology and communications it is imperative that our school teachers are well trained to deal with the children of every disability. And it is the responsibility of every individual of authority to make sure teachers are well tarined and children are well protected and educated with their individual strengths. I am sure something good will come out of this which will save the child’s dignity, welfare and peace to the parents.

]]> By: JPM http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-496 JPM Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:51:13 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-496 LibraryJim said: There has to be accountablity for this be resolved. The easiest and most inexpensive way to do this is to require video cameras in the class room. If school staff know what they are doing is being recorded they won’t do the wrong thing. My aon's school district has cameras; however, each and everytime I have requested to view such video upon learning of an incident of abuse or of failure to follow my son's behavior plan, I have been advised the cameras do not cover that particular area or the involved cameras were not working at that particular time. My experience is that video's will only exist if they exonerate the school staff. If the video should expose wrong on the part of school staff, they do not exist............and non existence may well be the case by the time the requesting party receieves a response. LibraryJim said:
There has to be accountablity for this be resolved. The easiest and most inexpensive way to do this is to require video cameras in the class room. If school staff know what they are doing is being recorded they won’t do the wrong thing.

My aon’s school district has cameras; however, each and everytime I have requested to view such video upon learning of an incident of abuse or of failure to follow my son’s behavior plan, I have been advised the cameras do not cover that particular area or the involved cameras were not working at that particular time.

My experience is that video’s will only exist if they exonerate the school staff. If the video should expose wrong on the part of school staff, they do not exist…………and non existence may well be the case by the time the requesting party receieves a response.

]]> By: JPM http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-495 JPM Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:41:44 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-495 Mr. Duncan: I am the father of a child, who at the age of 12, was repeatedly abused and endangered by multiple person prone restraints in a NYS Public Middle School. The prone restraint abuse was employed for punishment and for behavior modification. It was never used to prevent my son from being a danger to himself or others. The prone restraints were done by individuals who had been trained in CPI, the most widely employed crisis intervention and restraint program in American schools. CPI teaches that only its approved restraints are to be used by its trainees. My son's restrainers ignored their CPI training each and every time they restrained him. CPI has no prone restraints in its restraint options. The restraints happened repeatedly over a four month period of time. My wife and I were not apprised of the restraints as they happened. The school stated it did not keep physical intervention reports. By a fluke, I was able to obtain classroom logs written by my son’s special education teacher and teacher’s aide which indicated he was held in a prone position by multiple adults with an adult lying over my then 95 pound 12 year old child’s back for approximately five minutes until he “fell asleep”. My son did not “fall asleep” during a prone restraint. On other occasions he was, per the classroom logs, restrained in such prone manner for “approximately twenty minutes” until he was “calm”. On another occasion he was restrained “off and on for approximately one hour” until he was “calm”. I know my son did not fall asleep. I doubt he fainted as he had never fainted in his life, and had not fainted in 20 minutes of restraint or in one hour of restraint. I believe my son went unconscious due to asphyxiation from the prone restraint. I know prone restraints, because of inherent danger of “positional asphyxia” are banned in at least five states for use on developmentally disabled students. My son was not only exposed to danger of positional asphyxiation, but also had added risk of asphyxiation due to the weight of an adult teacher lying over a child’s back, interfering with chest cage and diaphragm expansion. Additionally, my son related his principal having pushed his face into the mat, making it difficult for him to breathe during restraints. Subsequent to the restraint in which my child “fell asleep”, my wife received a call from the special education teacher in which she advised he had fallen asleep and could not be aroused. The special education teacher neglected to mention my son had “fallen asleep” during any type of restraint. My son was thrown into a prone restrain for totally inappropriate reasons. One such reason was because he refused a command to stop biting his leg. My son was engaging in non injurious self-stimulating behavior, biting his leg with no bite marks, to block out the horrific prone restraint he had just endured……not a reason for a prone restraint by individuals who had no training in any type of prone restraint. I found out about the restraints when I came into possession of classroom logs, months after their occurrence. I tried to learn what I could about what had happened. The superintendent denied prone restraints had been done on my child. My request to speak with the restrainers was refused. My son, now four years later, continues to suffer from post traumatic stress issues. An Education Law impartial hearing officer stated in her decision regarding denied FAPE (which led to the abuse) that my son had been repeatedly restrained for inappropriate reasons by untrained individuals and that the evidence showed he had been endangered and had sustained psychological and emotional injury. She further stated “These same unrepentant individuals are capable of repetition”. The abuse my son endured was not from individuals acting in the moment. It was repetitious and continued, contrary to training of the educators, over four months. My son will never be the same. If I did what they did to my son, it would be criminalized. The abusers of my son and those administrators who whitewashed, stonewalled, covered-up, failed to report to parents or state education department have had zero accountability. The Impartial Hearing Officer’s decision was appealed to State Review Officer Paul Kelly, who was subject of a Wall Street Journal expose’ regarding his having an agenda to protect school districts at expense of our children, declared the matter of restraints moot because they had not happened since and because he was imposing a one year statute of limitations. Within two school months of Judge Kelly’s decision, my son was, again abused at his school……. So much for moot! I possess a due process advisory from my school district during the one year time frame after the restraints, stating I had a two year statute of limitations to bring an educational hearing. I also possess a NYSED produced copy (produced by NYSED and obtained by me within one year of the restraints) of the Education Commisioner’s regulations which state a two year statute of limitations. My son’s school district has perjured itself. It has fabricated false documents. There is no accountability for provable perjury or provable fabrication of false documents submitted to the court. My son and family are targets of retaliation by School District and Community for standing up against the abuse and for seeking due process to address denial of free and appropriate public education Secretary Duncan, The system is corrupt at the local and state levels. This nightmare must be dealt with at the federal level. Help us. Help our children. End the abuse. Mr. Duncan:
I am the father of a child, who at the age of 12, was repeatedly abused and endangered by multiple person prone restraints in a NYS Public Middle School. The prone restraint abuse was employed for punishment and for behavior modification. It was never used to prevent my son from being a danger to himself or others.
The prone restraints were done by individuals who had been trained in CPI, the most widely employed crisis intervention and restraint program in American schools. CPI teaches that only its approved restraints are to be used by its trainees. My son’s restrainers ignored their CPI training each and every time they restrained him. CPI has no prone restraints in its restraint options. The restraints happened repeatedly over a four month period of time. My wife and I were not apprised of the restraints as they happened.
The school stated it did not keep physical intervention reports. By a fluke, I was able to obtain classroom logs written by my son’s special education teacher and teacher’s aide which indicated he was held in a prone position by multiple adults with an adult lying over my then 95 pound 12 year old child’s back for approximately five minutes until he “fell asleep”.
My son did not “fall asleep” during a prone restraint.
On other occasions he was, per the classroom logs, restrained in such prone manner for “approximately twenty minutes” until he was “calm”. On another occasion he was restrained “off and on for approximately one hour” until he was “calm”.
I know my son did not fall asleep.
I doubt he fainted as he had never fainted in his life, and had not fainted in 20 minutes of restraint or in one hour of restraint.
I believe my son went unconscious due to asphyxiation from the prone restraint. I know prone restraints, because of inherent danger of “positional asphyxia” are banned in at least five states for use on developmentally disabled students. My son was not only exposed to danger of positional asphyxiation, but also had added risk of asphyxiation due to the weight of an adult teacher lying over a child’s back, interfering with chest cage and diaphragm expansion.
Additionally, my son related his principal having pushed his face into the mat, making it difficult for him to breathe during restraints.
Subsequent to the restraint in which my child “fell asleep”, my wife received a call from the special education teacher in which she advised he had fallen asleep and could not be aroused. The special education teacher neglected to mention my son had “fallen asleep” during any type of restraint.

My son was thrown into a prone restrain for totally inappropriate reasons. One such reason was because he refused a command to stop biting his leg. My son was engaging in non injurious self-stimulating behavior, biting his leg with no bite marks, to block out the horrific prone restraint he had just endured……not a reason for a prone restraint by individuals who had no training in any type of prone restraint.

I found out about the restraints when I came into possession of classroom logs, months after their occurrence. I tried to learn what I could about what had happened. The superintendent denied prone restraints had been done on my child. My request to speak with the restrainers was refused.

My son, now four years later, continues to suffer from post traumatic stress issues.

An Education Law impartial hearing officer stated in her decision regarding denied FAPE (which led to the abuse) that my son had been repeatedly restrained for inappropriate reasons by untrained individuals and that the evidence showed he had been endangered and had sustained psychological and emotional injury. She further stated “These same unrepentant individuals are capable of repetition”.

The abuse my son endured was not from individuals acting in the moment. It was repetitious and continued, contrary to training of the educators, over four months. My son will never be the same.
If I did what they did to my son, it would be criminalized.

The abusers of my son and those administrators who whitewashed, stonewalled, covered-up, failed to report to parents or state education department have had zero accountability.

The Impartial Hearing Officer’s decision was appealed to State Review Officer Paul Kelly, who was subject of a Wall Street Journal expose’ regarding his having an agenda to protect school districts at expense of our children, declared the matter of restraints moot because they had not happened since and because he was imposing a one year statute of limitations.

Within two school months of Judge Kelly’s decision, my son was, again abused at his school……. So much for moot!
I possess a due process advisory from my school district during the one year time frame after the restraints, stating I had a two year statute of limitations to bring an educational hearing.

I also possess a NYSED produced copy (produced by NYSED and obtained by me within one year of the restraints) of the Education Commisioner’s regulations which state a two year statute of limitations.

My son’s school district has perjured itself. It has fabricated false documents. There is no accountability for provable perjury or provable fabrication of false documents submitted to the court.

My son and family are targets of retaliation by School District and Community for standing up against the abuse and for seeking due process to address denial of free and appropriate public education

Secretary Duncan,
The system is corrupt at the local and state levels.
This nightmare must be dealt with at the federal level.

Help us. Help our children. End the abuse.

]]> By: LibraryJim http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-490 LibraryJim Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:13:46 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-490 There has to be accountablity for this be resolved. The easiest and most inexpensive way to do this is to require video cameras in the class room. If school staff know what they are doing is being recorded they won't do the wrong thing. There has to be accountablity for this be resolved. The easiest and most inexpensive way to do this is to require video cameras in the class room. If school staff know what they are doing is being recorded they won’t do the wrong thing.

]]> By: ange http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-489 ange Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:39:49 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-489 Policies without teeth---those not banning the most dangerous practices and including monitoring and accountability--do nothing but make the unthinkable lawful. That is unfortunately what Missouri did, and while I try to comfort myself that at least there is awareness now and parents know to question and observe (most had no idea these rooms and practices even existed), I know that realistically the policy does nothing but authorize this barbaric practice and give the those who have already failed (school districts and lop-sided IEP teams) complete control. Yes, parents may be part of the decision to use these practices, but often they are misled and misinformed, putting their trust completely in the hands of 'experts' only to find out that interventions promised aren't carried out and terms like "dangerous," "last resort," and "severly disruptive" are widely interpretted to justify seclusion and restraint. It doesn't make sense to justify the abuse, it makes sense to prevent it. Policies without teeth—those not banning the most dangerous practices and including monitoring and accountability–do nothing but make the unthinkable lawful. That is unfortunately what Missouri did, and while I try to comfort myself that at least there is awareness now and parents know to question and observe (most had no idea these rooms and practices even existed), I know that realistically the policy does nothing but authorize this barbaric practice and give the those who have already failed (school districts and lop-sided IEP teams) complete control. Yes, parents may be part of the decision to use these practices, but often they are misled and misinformed, putting their trust completely in the hands of ‘experts’ only to find out that interventions promised aren’t carried out and terms like “dangerous,” “last resort,” and “severly disruptive” are widely interpretted to justify seclusion and restraint.

It doesn’t make sense to justify the abuse, it makes sense to prevent it.

]]> By: Florida Dad http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/08/03/duncan-letter/4396/comment-page-1/#comment-487 Florida Dad Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:26:41 +0000 http://www.disabilityscoop.com/?p=4396#comment-487 It is paramount that Mr. Duncan does not transfer the decision making process to individual states as there is going to be lots of inconsistencies that will still fail the final cause for uniform action by the federal government. After actually having a GAO report it is still appalling that we want states to have policies in place before the next school year begins. What we need is immediate federal legislation to put a stop to abuse in the form of restraints and seclusion before the school year begins as abuse is still occurring with existing state policies without any form of accountability. We need a requirement for highly qualified trained educators and behavior specialists with implementation of penalties for not practicing positive behavior support and violating laws that protect our children from discrimination and abuse. The schools need to held accountable and need to be policed by an independent agency. Our children end up being the silent victims of the passing the buck game played by our bureaucratic process that simply requires a commonsensical approach to protect them by enacting federal legislation as soon as possible. There is absolutely no need to waste more time. We are in the 21st century and our children have civil rights and the right to be safely educated. Thank you It is paramount that Mr. Duncan does not transfer the decision making process to individual states as there is going to be lots of inconsistencies that will still fail the final cause for uniform action by the federal government. After actually having a GAO report it is still appalling that we want states to have policies in place before the next school year begins. What we need is immediate federal legislation to put a stop to abuse in the form of restraints and seclusion before the school year begins as abuse is still occurring with existing state policies without any form of accountability. We need a requirement for highly qualified trained educators and behavior specialists with implementation of penalties for not practicing positive behavior support and violating laws that protect our children from discrimination and abuse. The schools need to held accountable and need to be policed by an independent agency. Our children end up being the silent victims of the passing the buck game played by our bureaucratic process that simply requires a commonsensical approach to protect them by enacting federal legislation as soon as possible. There is absolutely no need to waste more time. We are in the 21st century and our children have civil rights and the right to be safely educated.

Thank you

]]>