There's no Such Thing as a Safe Restraint.

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morning_after, you are so right. I have a wonderful school system! Today I got a call from the SENCO to say my youngest had been a bit of a handful. He is a cheeky monkey AddER with epilepsy, the one who was restrained by the headteacher of primary! Anyway apparently bless him he had been collecting detentions right left and centre! Getting all a bit out of hand so the SENCO took control and quietly removed him from class!

At first he was very agitated, defensive, kicky feet, crossed arms head down and grunts! But with some calm low toned talking from the SENCO he gradually uncurled and relaxed. It was described as a flower blooming! Aaaaah, so a few words later and a bit of reassurance he was returned to the class. The detentions still stay BUT he does not know they are detentions as they will be informal lunches in the Learning Support Unit!

I am sooooo lucky it is not funny BUT I have worked hard at it. I am always on standby for any advice as to how to handle a situation and I communicate regularly by email to the SENCO. She is our chief lifeguard and keeps my kids safe in the big swimming pool of school! Trouble is with the swimming pool is that there are sharks and jellyfish! Oooh we just have to show these kids who NOT to swim with!

The secret is I think forming a PROFESSIONAL FRIENDSHIP with the SENCO or someone at the school with whom you trust. If you trust a teacher then be sure your child will too.

oOOOH dear do I sound as though I am giving a lecture, I do hope not. There is loads I could ramble on about but lucky for all of you it is bed time here in the UK. A Brrrrrr UK at the moment! Roll on SUMMER! If we ever get one in this God forsaken country! Don't any of you think the UK is the land of milk and honey because it certainly is not! We are in as much of a mess as the rest of the world.............................

But hey we plod on and try to do our best with what we have. As long as we can keep these children safe then we are doing well. Goodnight everyone and stay safe wherever you are.x

Thank you! Glad I was not going on and on!!

I am sooo sorry you had that dreadful experience too. How tactful you say they failed to accomodate you....................abandoned and abused you more like? Oohh dear, it stays for ever doesn't it. I can still remember Miss Schaeffer my German Teacher she was HORRID to me and yet I had to be NICE to her when she was admitted to my hospital with a broken neck of femur! That taught her a lesson. Her legacy to ME was abuse. I will never forget it.

Sad how something like that can be carried all through a lifetime. For any teachers who shout at their kids it is a salutory lesson.....................kid grow up and REMEMBER!

Lets make school safe for everyone, it can be done with a little passion and effort!

To be honest, I still haven't really learned how to live independently.

Straining with restraints topic

Morning_after, your topic title says it all. Any restraint is a restriction on physical freedom and must be monitored constantly. If the child had been in a very violent meltdown paramedics should have been contacted in order to have the child sent to a medical facility for observation. The parents should have been contacted immediately.

Note: There was a grammatical error on my last post when I reread it. The words anti-psychotic should have preceded the word 'medication', which was inadvertently omitted. I apologize for any confusion this omission may have caused.

Excellent and topical topic, what with that it is Autism Awareness month and a staffer at JRC has been charged.

Who will deny the necessity of restraints? Not just in schools, but in every situation?

If, in any situation, you have to restrain a child, especially in a special ed setting, you have failed as a teacher. There are other alternatives. Restraints are always dangerous to the child, and to the staff who do it. There is no training that can overcome emotion in this situation. If you work in a mental institution, the first thing you are told is "if you get hurt during a restraint, remember you are dealing with a sick person. Never get mad."

I agree with the poster who said charges are probably in order. I don't care what the school made the parents sign.

When you have to restrain, you have failed. And it's usually a fairly complicated chain of events that leads to the restraint.

They killed someone, they should be prosecuted.

btdt