|  Author | Topic: Restraint & Seclusion (Read 947 times) |
anna20
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|  | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #60 on Aug 31, 2009, 12:34pm » | |
FAMILY NETWORK ON DISABILITIES CALLS FOR MORATORIUM
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
CLEARWATER – Family Network on Disabilities of Florida (FND) issued a call today to Governor Crist and Commissioner of Education Eric Smith to impose an immediate statewide moratorium on the use of corporal punishment against students with disabilities in Florida’s public schools.
This action follows a report released recently by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) detailing a number of graphic instances of punishment of students with disabilities, several of which were from Florida. The ACLU/HRW report found that children with disabilities are punished at a higher rate than the student body as a whole. It also found that students with disabilities are often punished for behaviors that are the result of their disability and are many times beyond their control.
Rich La Belle, Executive Director of FND, said: “The time is now to end this practice. We’re calling on the Governor, the Commissioner, and Superintendents and school boards across the state to end corporal punishment of students with disabilities immediately. Once this happens, we can discuss where to go from here. We want to make sure that we start the new school year without students with disabilities being subjected to this type of punishment.”
The letter to the Governor and the Commissioner is attached to this release.
For more information, please contact Rich La Belle at 727 523 1130.
******************************************************************************
August 24, 2009
The Honorable Charlie Crist
Governor, State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399
The Honorable Dr. Eric J. Smith
Florida Commissioner of Education
Turlington Building, Suite 1514
325 West Gaines Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Re: Immediate Statewide Moratorium on Corporal Punishment for Students with Disabilities
Dear Governor Crist and Commissioner Smith:
I am writing today in my capacity as Executive Director of Family Network on Disabilities of Florida, Inc. (FND). FND is a statewide, grassroots, family-led and family-driven organization that serves all persons with disabilities and those who are at risk, as well as their families. On behalf of the FND Board of Directors, I am writing to urge you to impose an immediate statewide moratorium on the use of any form of corporal punishment against students with disabilities in Florida public schools. We will also be calling on District Superintendants and school boards across the state to take this action.
Throughout our 25 years of service to persons with disabilities, we at FND have heard concerns raised by students and their families about the use of corporal punishment against students with disabilities. However, the immediate trigger for us to call for this action are the graphic instances documented in the report by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch, “Impairing Education: Corporal Punishment of Students with Disabilities in U.S. Public Schools.” A link to the full report may be found on the ACLU web site, www.aclu.org.
The ACLU/HRW report contains several key findings: Twenty states allow corporal punishment of children with disabilities. Of those, many states use corporal punishment disproportionately against children with disabilities as compared to the student body as a whole. Of the top 10 states that use corporal punishment against students with disabilities disproportionately, Florida ranks ninth. Most telling, in my mind, is that students with disabilities are often being punished for manifestations of their disabilities – behaviors that are often beyond their control.
The incidents of corporal punishment described in the ACLU/HRW report go beyond anything officially sanctioned in policy, but they occur at all because corporal punishment of children with disabilities in some form is allowed under Florida law and policy. This example, quoting Anna M., a Florida mother of a seven year old boy who has autism, is representative of the instances cited:
“I’m in the front office … They bring [my son] into the room. His nose is beet red. He lifts up his shirt sleeve. I get a glimpse of scratches all up his arm. I got overwhelmed, I couldn’t focus … I wanted to get my son to the doctor, I get him home and I take off his clothes. He was marked, top of his arms, under his arms, down his torso. He had a busted lip, which I hadn’t notice at first. He said, ‘they made me wash the blood off before I saw you.’”
I want to make clear what we’re not calling for – we’re not calling for an end to corporal punishment for all students. We’re not dealing with the issue of proper seclusion and restraint – while related to corporal punishment for students with disabilities, that’s another issue for another day. Finally, we’re not calling for an end to discipline for students with disabilities – we’re saying, however, that such discipline needs to be appropriate and effective.
I want to make clear that we at FND know and recognize that many of our public schools get this right. They treat students with disabilities entrusted to their care with love and respect. We honor and salute them for their efforts. The Florida Department of Education has often led the way in our state in encouraging the use of inclusion and effective methods of educating our students with disabilities. We feel very grateful to be able to work with a dynamic, effective, and caring leader such as Bambi Lockman, Director of the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services. However, even with all of these efforts, we’re not reaching everybody. Some schools, administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals are still not getting it right and these are the ones who ended up on in the ACLU report and are ending up on the news.
For this reason, we feel the most effective step that can be taken is to immediately stop all corporal punishment in public schools across the state for all students with disabilities covered under IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. We feel that this is a necessary first step along the path of a road of discussion and change. This will make sure that, as we begin a new school year, students with disabilities in public school will not be subject to this type of discipline. We feel that this will absolutely insure that no punishment currently allowed in policy will occur, while also having a dramatic impact on reducing and, hopefully, eliminating that punishment that goes beyond what is allowed in policy.
We all know what works as an effective means of discipline for all students, with or without disabilities, and that is Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Many educators in Florida promote this and many schools implement this successfully. FND has long advocated use of these methods. We feel that an expanded statewide emphasis on these methods and training for all school personnel in such methods will result in tremendous benefits for Florida’s public school students with disabilities.
We would welcome a dialog with you on this issue. We look forward to you taking this action on behalf of Florida’s students with disabilities and their families. We at FND stand ready to assist you, the Department of Education, school districts, and individual schools in successfully implementing both this moratorium and PBIS.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Should you have any questions, or require any additional information, I may be reached at the numbers and address above.
Very truly yours,
Richard La Belle
Executive Director
RDL:tb
cc: FND Board of Directors
Bambi Lockman, Director, Florida Department of Education, BEESS
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jill
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| | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #61 on Sept 2, 2009, 10:38am » | |
Just to let you know I have put it in my son's IEP that Restraint & Seclusion or any other forceable method ( such as PCM, the the take down to the mat method )are to never be used on my son. Instead they are to remove him from the situation and teach him (know he does it himself) self-calming techniques. We had this plced in his IEP and in his FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment and Plan) attached to the IEP.
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anna20
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| | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #62 on Sept 5, 2009, 8:55am » | |
Jill,
I am so glad to hear that!!!!!!! I remember aprx 2 years ago in a post you made on this message board, you were ok with it. May I ask what changed your mindset? Was it the publicity? Was it actually seeing what restraint & seclusion really is from news clips? I am really interested to know & I think your post will help many other parents & children. I believe restraint & seclusion is explained to parents in a anner that seems exceptable or a good thing until you actually see it with your own eyes.
Anna M.
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anna20
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| | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #63 on Sept 5, 2009, 8:57am » | |
http://fndfl.org/Blog/post/2009/09/Stop-....-Education.aspx
Stop Hitting Our Kids: Response From the Department of Education
by tara 9/4/2009 6:37:00 AM
Stop Hitting Our Kids: Response From the Department of Education
Rich La Belle, Executive Director
Family Network on Disabilities of Florida
Time to take stock: Where do we stand on the call for an immediate moratorium on the use of corporal punishment against students with disabilities? The answer is that we’ve made progress, but we need more advocacy, please. I received a response this afternoon from Bambi Lockman, Chief of the Bureau for Exceptional Education and Student Services (BEESS), on behalf of the Governor and Commissioner of Education. The text of the response is here: Response from Bambi Lockman.pdf (18.63 kb)
Ms. Lockman takes a very positive approach in her response and I appreciate her responding to our concerns. Among many points, she makes two important ones for where we go next: (1) Decisions on the use of corporal punishment are up to individual school districts; and (2) a decision on the moratorium is being taken under advisement by, I’m assuming, the Department of Education and the Governor.
So, we need to step up our advocacy efforts. Many, many thanks to those who have already written the Governor, the Commissioner, and local school districts. However, we need more, please. We need to impress upon the Governor and the Commissioner that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed now. We also need to make sure that the Superintendents and school boards in each of Florida’s 67 counties address this issue – now.
Here are the addresses for the Governor and Commissioner:
The Honorable Charlie Crist, Governor
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
charlie.crist@myflorida.com
The Honorable Dr. Eric Smith, Commissioner
Florida Department of Education
Turlington Building, Suite 1514
325 West Gaines Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
commissioner@fldoe.org
Here’s the link to find the addresses for the Superintendents and school boards in your county: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/schoolmap/flash/district_list.asp
Copies of what you send would be helpful for us to be able to collect. Please send them to stophittingourkids@fndfl.org.
Here’s the link to the Cause page on Facebook – please invite as many people as possible to join (over 400 at this writing): http://apps.facebook.com/causes/341382/48640532?m=6fb2fd15
Here’s a link to keep up to date on the latest developments: http://fndfl.org/Blog/
We are making progress. We need to keep moving forward.
Working together, we can reach our simple goal – stop hitting our kids. Now.
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anna20
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| | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #64 on Sept 28, 2009, 9:09pm » | |
Dear Parent Advocates,
APRAIS, The Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion, is a coalition of 17 national disability advocacy organizations and Families Against Restraint and Seclusion is a member. We are conducting this survey of parents and guardians to establish the extent to which restraint, seclusion and aversive procedures have been used with students with disabilities and special needs (whether served under IDEA or under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act) in public or private schools or in residential facilities.
Please note: If you have completed any previous questionnaires on this topic or provided other information, the information you reported will not be included as a part of these results. You must complete this survey for your responses to be included.
The survey will be available for completion until October 12th, 2009. Approximately five to ten minutes will be required to complete the survey. You will find a link to the survey at the bottom of this email.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=KnCDtCkJDWAiaZRbNJ6BMA_3d_3d
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ashleysmom
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| | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #65 on Oct 2, 2009, 10:48am » | |
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ashleysmom
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| | Re: Restraint & Seclusion
« Reply #66 on Nov 4, 2009, 10:01pm » | |
Student restraints: How Texas school districts compare
http://www.texastribune.org/stories/2009....tricts-compare/
Texas school districts vary widely in how often they physically restrain students with disabilities – despite a shared state policy on when to use them. Use this interactive graphic to see how school districts (and some charter schools) compared during the 2007-08 school year, the most recent statewide data available. An explanation on why these rates differ follows the graphic.
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