Treatment of autistic kids is PS...is this normal?

[Pretty in Pink]

I have an aquaintance with an autistic 8yo boy. He is in a special class for autistic children at his local public school. His mother is concerned that he keeps coming home with bruises on his extremeties because his teacher forcibly holds him down throughout nap time each day. Should she expect that type of treatment from the school? I'm thinking I'd be p*ssed but then again I've never worked with an autistic child.

[Ibbygirl]

That is very disturbing to me. My son is 8 years old and is in the Autism cluster at his public school as well. He has never taken a nap there and they don't force him to. To my knowledge none of the kids have nap time and if they should fall asleep the teacher covers them with a blanket and lets them sleep. They are very gentle with him and they use a weighted vest or tethers to keep him in his seat not physical contact. If I was that mom I would call an emergency meeting with the Autism coordinator of the school and bring someone from CARD with me to the meeting. http://www.centerforautism.com/About/CARD_Locations.asp I would have them draw up a new emergency IEP which she as the parent has the right to do at any time, and have them put it in writing in the IEP that they must not use physical contact to restrain the child and have them order him a weighted vest and or tethers. The school has to provide education to all children. It is mandatory. They will have to order whatever that child needs by law. No way should the aides be physically forcing him down like that. It would be traumatizing to him, poor thing!

[hsmamainva]

I would certainly recommend that she speak to the Principal of the school!

 

I'd also recommend that she find a local advocacy group. She could start with something like Wrightslaw (http://www.wrightslaw.com) and then see if there's a link to an advocacy organization in her state.

 

My youngest has a fairly significant form of autism and she attends public school. I would be livid if she came home with bruises! They have a behavior plan in place for her (which was worked out during our annual IEP meeting) with strategies to use if she's behaving in an inappropriate or disruptive manner.

 

For example, when my daughter's frustrated, she bites her hand. She has a reward chart at school for the times when she overcomes her frustration without biting and she's given a little prize or token when she's successful. They also provide her things like squishy toys and moon sand to play with to keep her hands busy and to give her a "sensory outlet".

 

Time out is not considered a truly effective technique with most autistic children, and restraint in any form is truly troubling to hear about.

[ChristusG]

What??!!! I'd be VERY upset. I do not have a child that is autistic, but no child should be treated that way.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I was a special ed teacher and the restraining techniques that they taught us were to only be used if a child was a danger to himself or others - the child was restrained until they calmed down. And those restraining techniques never left a bruise, even when the child was struggling, because of the way we were taught to do them.

[....]

In our school district, we had a teacher who called the police on a 5 year-old autistic girl and they handcuffed her. Needless to say, our school got sued. They obviously weren't trained very well if they're calling the cops...:glare:

[Dawn in OH]

No, the mother should not expect that kind of treatment for her child. However, instances like that are either becoming more and more common, or at least finding their way into the press. I've read articles or spoken to other parents whose children have been "stripped and locked in closet", one child had bleach thrown in his face by a teacher and an aid, and of course the stories about several children being killed during use of the weighted blanket has reached the media.

 

It's scary, and inhumane. If we, as parents, did these things to our own children we would have all of our own children taken away and we would be thrown in jail. Most of these teachers don't even lose their jobs or face criminal charges.

 

If I were your friend I would contact the school and demand answers to why my child has bruises and insist that the teacher not forcibly hold my child down. I might even consider getting an attorney. I would rather stop the situation now than have my child be the next injured child in the news.