Parents Criticize Restraints In
Schools : At Hearing, They Seek Changes In State Law
December 14, 2006
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
When Jill Ely's autistic son tried
to hit a high school aide one day last year, the aide pinned him to
the floor, leaving him bruised and shaken, Ely said.
That was just the beginning of his
troubles, Ely, of Wilton, told state officials Wednesday.
Wilton High School later developed
a behavior plan that included a "safe place" where her son, who also
is mentally retarded, could calm down when he became upset, she
said.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I
think that the safe place would be a room with a door that would be
held shut until [he] was completely quiet," Ely testified during a
hearing sponsored by the state Office of Protection and Advocacy for
Persons with Disabilities.
She was among several parents who
called Wednesday for safeguards to prevent or limit schools from
controlling behavioral outbursts by forcefully restraining children
or isolating them in holding rooms.
More than 100 people filled a
hearing room in Hartford as parents and children's advocates urged
state officials to impose tighter restrictions against what they
described as traumatic and dangerous techniques used in some
schools.
Although state law imposes strict
limits on the use of force or seclusion in programs operated by
various state agencies, the law does not apply to public schools,
said James D. McGaughey, executive director of the protection and
advocacy office.
"It's a major gap in the law," he
said.
Children's advocates asked for a
revision of the law and called for better training of educators and
public school staff members who deal with students with behavioral
problems.
"We'd like to have our children not
have anybody put their hands on them ... but the reality is that's
what occurs," said Faith Vos Winkel of the state child advocate's
office. "This is a critical issue."
In Connecticut, the settlement of a
lawsuit five years ago required the state to monitor compliance with
a federal law requiring schools to educate children with
disabilities in regular classrooms whenever possible. But advocates
say schools are unprepared to deal with the emotional and behavioral
problems that some of those children bring with them.
"The result of the settlement ...
is mixed," said Stacy Hultgren, co-director of the Connecticut
Autism Spectrum Resource Center. "The settlement did not enforce
training and supports to help kids succeed. Not all children with
autism should be included in typical settings - the sensory overload
of noise, movement, bombardment of language, complex social demands
... can make the classroom a hell on earth for some kids with
autism."
Ely said her autistic son "can
become frustrated, aggressive, raise his voice," but added that
Wilton High School's use of the safe room frightened her son and
caused him to try to escape.
Another parent, Maryann Lombardi,
also from Wilton, said her autistic son was routinely sent to what
she described as "a padded cell called the timeout room." She said
such rooms "are creating a culture within the public school system
where employees believe that if you have a disability label, locking
you up is OK."
Wilton Superintendent of Schools
Gary G. Richards said later Wednesday that privacy laws prevented
him from commenting on specific cases but that the school system's
behavioral procedures "are not based on punitive techniques."
"Any allegations and complaints
that individuals have put forth have been investigated thoroughly,
and there have been no findings against the district."
He said such cases stir deep
emotions and sometimes "inaccuracies are put forth, and we are made
to look like we're running some sort of penal colony."
He added, "We do the best we can
with kids who sometimes are very challenged and present real
behavioral problems."
Although parents have the right to
file complaints with the state over the handling of special
education students, there have been relatively few complaints citing
the issues of physical restraint or seclusion, Gail Mangs, a special
education official with the state Department of Education, said at
Wednesday's hearing.
Some parents testified that schools
did not always tell them when their children were restrained or
placed in seclusion.
State Sen. Edward Meyer,
D-Guilford, who attended the hearing, said later, "It's astonishing
that schools notify parents when their children get sick, but when
there's a highly invasive action like physical restraint, [parents]
are not notified."
Meyer, co-chairman of the
legislature's select committee on children, said he plans to prepare
legislation to provide better regulation of the use of force or
isolation to address behavioral problems in schools.
Most studies, he said, show that
"restraints and seclusion have not worked in most cases."
Contact Robert A. Frahm at rfrahm@courant.com.
A discussion of this story with
Courant Staff Writer Robert A. Frahm is scheduled to be shown on New
England Cable News each hour today between 9 a.m. and noon.
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