From CNN:

Jonathan King, a 13-year-old Georgia boy with ADHD, hanged himself in 2004 when his teachers punished him by locking him in a concrete room that was akin to a prison cell.

Seclusion rooms like the one where he died are used in schools around the country, generally to manage problem behavior by children with disabilities, CNN reports, but few states have laws that govern their use.

Researchers and critics say many children with intellectual disabilities and autism have been injured or traumatized by  them. Teachers say they are educating many more students with disabilities now than ever before, and are not equipped to handle the crush of demands on their time and attention.

“When you have an out-of-control student threatening your class — it’s not right and it can be very damaging — but seclusion is used as a ‘quick fix’ in many cases,” said Dr. Roger Pierangelo, executive director of the National Association of Special Education Teachers.

Earlier posts here and here and here and here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 2:37 pm and is filed under autism, behavior, intellectual/developmental disabilities, NOT2BEMISSED, restraints and seclusion, special education. 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.