NATIONAL AUTISM ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS NEW FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO END ABUSIVE RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION IN SCHOOLS

NIXA, MO – Today the National Autism Association announced its support of H.R. 4247, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act,
introduced Wednesday by Congressman George Miller (D-CA) and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA).
The federal bill is a much-anticipated solution to the issues of unregulated restraint and seclusion in schools.

In June, the National Autism Association (NAA) launched a campaign to spur letter writing and raise awareness about dangerous restraint and seclusion practices
following a May 2009 Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report that revealed no federal laws regulating restraint and seclusion in schools, no laws in 19 states,
and “widely divergent” laws in remaining states.

The report investigated hundreds of cases, including deaths from “mechanical compression to the chest,” or “smothering,” one schoolchild died from restraint following a seizure,
another died from hanging himself in a seclusion room.
Other cases included a four-year-old girl who was tied to a chair and abused, five children who were duct-taped to their desks,
and a ten-year-old boy who was put in a seclusion room “75 times over a 6-month period for hours at a time for offenses such as whistling, slouching and hand-waving.”

In a CNN OpEd Piece yesterday, representatives Miller and Rodgers wrote, “It's difficult to believe, but there are no federal laws to prevent this from happening.
Local newspapers recount bone-chilling stories of schoolchildren tied to chairs, or with their mouths taped shut, sometimes locked in dark closets,
or pinned to the floor for hours at a time. If parents treat their kids this way, it's considered a criminal offense.”

Research shows that aversive interventions, restraint, and seclusion carry no therapeutic value.
“Our children essentially regress when they are abused.
They lose progress and are traumatized,” stated NAA President Wendy Fournier.
“We need positive, effective interventions in place that prevent the need for restraint or seclusion.
We need proper training for our school personnel, better support, more tools and immediate solutions to this system-wide failure
that has caused so many of our children to either lose their lives or become victims of horrific abuse.
We applaud Representatives Miller and Rodgers for introducing this critical legislation.”

If signed into law, the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act would:

Prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools
Protect students from physical or mental abuse
Protect students from aversive behavioral interventions that compromise health and safety
Prohibit any physical restraint or seclusion imposed solely for purposes of discipline or convenience
Require parent notification within 24 hours
Assist States, local educational agencies and schools in the areas of establishing policy; gaining tools, proper training & support;
collecting and analyzing data; identifying and implementing effective evidence-based models to prevent and reduce physical restraint and seclusion in schools
“Withholding food and water, lemon spray to the eyes, force feeding, sensory exploitation, shaving cream to the mouth, peppers to the mouth– these are just some of the methods
that have been used on schoolchildren, many of whom have been diagnosed with autism,” states NAA Executive Director Rita Shreffler.
“This federal legislation marks the first step in ending abuse that should have never existed.”

In addition to the legislation, NAA feels surveillance cameras in special education classrooms are necessary.
“Many of our children are nonverbal and cannot communicate acts of abuse. Surveillance cameras will protect both schoolchildren and staff,” says Fournier.

Prone (facedown) restraint should be banned completely, says NAA.
And district, administrative, parent, and community support of special education staff is critical, as well as proper training.
“Training ‘don'ts' should be uniform among States to explicitly draw the line, but the ‘do's' of restraint and seclusion need to start with prevention utilizing de-escalation techniques
and then take into account an individual's size, medical history and medications – it's not one-size-fits-all,” Fournier says.

According to a January 2009 report by the Disability Rights Network, 41% of states have no laws, policies, or guidelines concerning restraint or seclusion use in schools,
almost 90% still allow prone restraints, and only 45% require or recommend that schools automatically notify parents.

“Because no federal laws are currently in place and most parents remain unaware of their child being restrained or secluded, parents should take steps now to protect their child,” says Shreffler.

NAA encourages parents to download a “no-consent” sample letter created by APRAIS to submit to their child's school. To download, visit www.nationalautismassociation.org/abuse.php.

The nonprofit is taking steps to help reduce acts of abuse in schools and pledges its full support of federal legislation. For more information about NAA and autism, visit www.nationalautismassociation.org.

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National Autism Association Urges Florida Governor’s Refusal of Flawed Restraint & Seclusion Bill
Gutted bill strips away ability to prevent abusive treatments of children in Florida classrooms

Tallahassee, FL – The National Autism Association (NAA) today is asking parents and advocates for children to contact Florida governor Charlie Crist,
urging that he not sign legislation that has been stripped of its original intent to protect children from harmful restraint and seclusion practices in Florida schools.
This alarming trend is on the rise nationwide.

A May, 2009 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) brought to light incidents of abusive classroom treatments of our nation’s schoolchildren
that have resulted in serious injury and death.
Often the children subjected to these practices have diagnoses of autism or related disorders.
The GAO report revealed deaths from “mechanical compression to the chest,” or “smothering.”
One schoolchild died from restraint following a seizure, another died from hanging himself in a seclusion room.
Other cases included a four-year-old girl who was tied to a chair and abused, five children who were duct-taped to their desks,
and a ten-year-old boy who was put in a seclusion room “75 times over a 6-month period for hours at a time for offenses such as whistling, slouching and hand-waving.”

The original Florida bill, SB 2118: Use of Seclusion and Restraint on Students with Disabilities, was written with significant parental input that no longer existed
in the version passed by the Florida state Senate last Thursday.
According to Port St. Lucie parent Anna Moore, whose son Isaiah was brutally restrained while at school in 2007, “This version of the bill is a disgrace.
I don't see the protections from the dangerous and even deadly restraint and seclusion practices that are being used on our most vulnerable children.
If anything, I am worried it will do more harm than good for children subjected to these inhumane treatments.”

Among the concerns of Mrs. Moore and other parents are that the bill:

Allows schools to wait 3 school days before mailing the incident report to parents.
If a child was restrained on Friday, it is likely a parent would not receive an incident report until the following Friday or Monday thereafter.
Does not afford parents any rights if they disagree with a practice used or believe a child was abused.
Allows school districts to self-monitor restraint/seclusion events with no independent oversight.
Data does not go to federal Department of Education and does not include information about prior complaints from parents regarding district's failure
to provide proper supports/services according to IDEA.
Does not require public reporting of data.
Allows school districts to decide their own policies on data collection, incident reporting, and monitoring with no independent oversight.
Does not adequately define or address the use of seclusion/solitary confinement which has resulted in severe abuse in numerous cases.
Fails to provide prohibition against the use of aversive interventions that compromise health and safety.
Fails to require that Applied Behavior Analysis or other Positive Behavior Interventions that are evidence-based be used to prevent behaviors or training for such interventions.
Fails to designate penalties for violations.
In addition to the investigation of abusive incidents, the GAO report revealed that there are no federal laws regulating restraint and seclusion in schools,
no laws in 19 states, and “widely divergent” laws in remaining states.
In response to these troubling revelations, the US House of Representatives passed a federal bill in March of this year to address classroom abuses.
The companion bill in the Senate, Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (S.B. 2860), is now being considered in the Senate Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

NAA is asking that parents and advocates also contact HELP committee members requesting their support of the federal bill.
“This is a human rights issue that demands immediate attention on a federal level,” said NAA President Wendy Fournier.
“Waiting for each state to get appropriate guidelines into place leaves our nation’s most vulnerable children unprotected from this type of horrific abuse in the classroom.”

To ask Florida Governor Charlie Crist not to sign SB 2118, visit NAA’s action center at http://naa.kintera.org/actioncenter

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Forwarded from our friends at Families Against Restraint and Seclusion:

Dear Advocates,

YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED FOR S.2860 - The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act.

In response to aggressive work by groups opposed to this legislation, there is growing concern on Capitol Hill that some students NEED restraint to prevent them from hurting themselves and others.

To counteract this, please tell your stories:

Please do the following as soon as possible:

Send your story to http://harkin.senate.gov/contact_opinion.cfm and to joe_caldwell@help.senate.gov.
Copy your email to Paul Galonsky pgalonsky@aucd.org at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities so he can compile them to share with all Senators.
Title it "PBS Works for All Students" (Positive Behavior Support)
Describe your situation; including age of child; any description you care to share about child's behavioral challenges; restraint or seclusion experience; any injury or trauma as a result;
and how positive approaches (such as attention to triggers for behavior, an understanding of child's needs and calming {de-escalation} strategies helped, etc.
Please send your story SOON to speed bill passage! Our goal is 200 stories by May 24th!!

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