10 minute physical restraint!!

[lordhelpme]

i received a letter from the principle explaining how she had to restrain difficult child for 10 min last wk. he had climbed on a file cabinet and she had to drag him down and he was kicking and hitting and he hit her in the pelvic area(she said grabbed inappropiately but really he is 6 and it was just a lucky shot in my opinion as she is a tall lady).

anyway she wrote that he was restrained for 10 min cuz he wouldn't calm down. well helloooooo he was trying to get away. i have never had to restrain him for more than 3 min. at that point even if he is struggling he is fine to let go and allow him the chance to hide and calm down. this has been an ongoing issue that they still do not know how to restrain properly.

so my ? to you is do i revoke my permission for restraint especially seeing that when the priciple is involved it almost always escalates or do i only give permission for someone else to restrain. there are only 4 wks left of school and he is starting today with-another aid and will be in the resource room(Special Education help room for the school).

see they have pulled him from the classroom cuz of the 'educational needs of the students in the class'. hey you put him there i told you the regular classroom was too much and now she i making it as if it is all his fault! sorry this is turning into a rant cuz i am just so darn po'd right now.

the sd are the ones who checked regular classroom on the iep. they are the ones who insisted this new teacher would be better. well guess what that teacher does not want him in the classroom now either. so i have 2 teachers who have basically kicked him out of their rooms and i can't blame them after being kicked and hit and the other kids schooling being disrupted.

i feel so helpless!!!

 

[Sheila]

If they do not know how to restrain properly, you need to request training for difficult child's educators. Via Certified Mail sent to Sp Ed Director.

You may want to explain that the current method is causing escalation, and that difficult child needs to allowed to hide (but supervised discretely) and regain control because it's what works best for him.

 

[Mickey2255]

Your difficult child sounds a lot like my difficult child when he was that age. I never gave permission for restraint and they've never asked for it. I know for my kid, that's about the worst thing I can do to him and now that he's 9 he's close to overpowering me anyway (I'm not very big).

I can't offer much help but I liked Sheila's idea to allow him to "hide" with supervision. I even wrote it down I liked it so much! I might suggest this at our IEP meeting next week since difficult child "ran away" during part of his "event" that led to the week suspension recently. (I still can't help but giggle at the visual of this dorky administrator running around the building trying to find him as he slipped him time and time again!)

Michelle

 

[jannie]

I am sorry your child had to be in a ten minute restraint. I will say, however, that I am trained in restraint as a special educator and I have had to use it on a number of occasions over the years. A restraint is the most restrictive method of behavior management. It should only be used when the child is in serious danger of hurting self or others. When it is necessary that hands go onto a child it is necessary to wait until they are totally calm before releasing. If not, kids behavior often escalates and the anger cycle starts again. I am not saying that the school was properly trained nor am I saying it was the correct time to restrain, but I do believe that it is typical to have a 10 minute restraint. We do not relase until body is calm and voice is calm.

My focus is always at trying to recognize that a problem is brewing and try to diffuse the situation prior to escalation.

I do agree that restraints can cause increased agitation and anger, but I do know there are times when a child is totally out of control and safety is a big issue.