From the Orlando Sentinel, TCPalm.com:

Parents in Florida’s Orange County public schools are complaining that students with disabilities are physically restrained too often. They want the state to curtail the practice of restraining students.

School officials said students with complex behavioral problems are restrained only to stop aggression or injury, but some parents say the practices are dangerous and can result in injury or death.

The parents of 12-year-old Claire Lester produced school records saying that their 80-pound autistic daughter was forced to the ground and held down 44 times during the 2006-07 school year. “You step back a step. You don’t engage her in a half nelson and put her on the ground,” said Steve Lester, her father, who is an oncologist. “In this day and age? Didn’t we quit treating the mentally disabled like that 60 or 70 years ago?

In an op-ed, teacher union leader Vicki Carr-Rodriguez said physical abuse from children in special education classes is a “very real job hazard” for teachers. She says efforts must be made to assure safety for both students and teachers. An excerpt:

What are the other children in the class learning when their teacher spends 50 percent or more of the time trying to redirect the behavior of the child who’s under the desk screaming or throwing a violent tantrum when asked to sharpen his pencil, or spitting and biting other children in the third grade? Who will explain to these children that while they must behave, we need to leave Johnny screaming under the table for 5 minutes because he is not supposed to be redirected according to his behavior plan?

… I’m constantly hearing about the “rights” of special-needs children, but I don’t hear about the rights of the rest of the students, the teachers, and other school personnel to work and learn in a safe environment.

See also:

• Iowa tightens up rules on restraints — Des Moines Register
• Mother sues over restraint of 9-year-old with autism — Knoxville News-Sentinel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 5:05 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, autism, law, restraints and seclusion, special education, violence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.