Today in the New York Times:
Dr. Miller learned that Tim, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was being unusually confrontational in class, and that more than once teachers had held him down on the floor to “calm him down,” according to logs teachers kept to track his behavior; on at least one occasion, adults held Tim prone for 20 minutes until he stopped struggling. [Source, The New York Times,Calm Down or Else]
Wow! Do I ever remember those times. Of course, I don’t remember ever considering a lawsuit. The restraints are just something that had to happen at those times. Everyone was simply trying to figure out how to help the child. Granted, forcefully restraining a sensory sensitive person isn’t really going to help. We found distraction helped the best. In the case of child melting down, say tearing up a classroom, often removing the audience helped more than a basket hold. Restraint server a purpose of trying to keep the teachers and the children safe, but they aren’t therapeutic.