I was noticing articles both yesterday and today that a lawsuit trial is underway in Sioux Falls. And it’s one that’s just a little close to home for me, over the use of restraint with a child on the autism spectrum:
Holding a child with developmental disabilities to the ground should be a last-resort method of calming them down, say attorneys for a family suing a children’s hospital and school for its treatment of their autistic son.
But the school’s healthcare providers say the restrictions were necessary to protect the boy, other students and staff.
and..
In the lawsuit, Neil and Deb Graff say that staff harmfully used the prone restraint method of restraining their son, failed to properly inform them of when the restraint was used and violated restraint policies.
They say Ben was restrained more than 130 times while he was a resident from March to September 2010, sometimes multiple times per day or for hours at a time. Prone restraint involves bringing a person to the floor face-down and holding that person’s arms and legs until they calm down.
The restraints caused additional “fear, confusion, and physical and mental injury,” the lawsuit states.
Kids with autism run the spectrum from mild instances of autism related disorders, to having severe symptoms. My family is in a similar situation with the one involved in the lawsuit, where my daughter can be on the tougher end of things. She has had to be restrained.
Since the time of this lawsuit originated, the state has put rules in place on restraints. And from sitting in meetings, I know there are now certifications and trainings in place that people have to go through just to participate in the restraining.
Reading about a face-down restraint method is difficult to read, and I don’t think that technique is used today. But restraint most definitely is. I’ve heard about the seated type as well as prone, face-up with at least two, if not three people, retraining the subject until they are calmed. The techniques are constantly evolving as caregivers learn more.
It’s all actually designed around safety. Sometimes it’s the only way to keep an out-of control child or person safe until they are calm, and to keep others safe as well. They can be so blinded by the emotional storm that they will run into traffic, lash out, or worse.
Ultimately, families affected by a child with autism do the best they can with the tools and community supports they have available.
The biggest takeaway from the story should be that there’s not a lot of easy answers.
I give you a lot of crap, but you gained a lot of my respect with this article. Thanks for the nuanced description of a complicated issue.
It’s important for kids with severe disabilities to be around people who understand their behaviors. And it’s important for parents to understand that teachers are doing their best and often times are not operating under ideal circumstances.
Some of the kids with special needs might not know they are a danger to others but many other people perceive them as a danger because they are not familiar with their arm movements or anxieties.
We can all be more compassionate and understanding towards each others lack of understandings and situations.
Good post. Thanks for your honesty and courage. It’s a tough issue and a difficult matter to discuss. I’ve no opinion (and very little knowledge) regarding the lawsuit filed in Sioux Falls. I will say that child restraint is not *necessarily* hurtful or harmful.
From 2001 until 2004, I volunteered at the Monarch School & Institute in Houston, where I tutored high-functioning Autistic kids. I watched trained professionals use the treatments you describe. I recognize there’s a frightening potential for abuse if such techniques are employed sadistically & without compassion. Nevertheless, in my experience, it’s sometimes necessary and very often helpful for caregivers to restrain children afflicted with Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. The situation can be analogous to an extreme epileptic seizure. Prudent restraint safeguards the child, other patients, and nurses from injury. Of course, an ignorant/ cold-hearted/ wicked adult might employ the same technique indiscriminately or even with malice. Our community must ensure neurological treatment centers hire VERY carefully, establish sensible guidelines, and supervise staff closely.
Prayers for your family, sir.
I am curious about the legal arguments presented. If the child was in residential treatment it pretty much tells you the parents couldn’t handle him at home.
I have seen been on that end with elderly residents with dementia. The family can’t handle them, so they get them admitted to a care facility, and then complain because the staff can’t handle them either.
The sad fact is, nobody is going to take better care of your child than you will, and if you can’t do it anymore, you have a problem
I have family working in the field, in a neighboring state that started dealing with restraint techniques a while ago. You’re right, Pat, that safety is the main concern. I’d add that the individuals with autism and struggling with acting out, don’t act out the same way. Sometimes this means destruction of property, other times self harm, or lashing out at others, or maybe yelling or not talking at all. Frankly, whether restraints are necessary is still a person by person decision; autism doesn’t call for a universal response. In the neighboring state I’m familiar with, the bureaucratic oversight usually means failing to restrain even those who need it, until severe harm is nearly unavoidable.
But the sad thing bout this when Neil and Deb went up against Lifescape. Limescale said they banned the ‘prone’ restraint that’s a lie bc they r still using in kids under age 9 with disabilities this child has bruises all over. I know for a fact then they want to try seclusion on some of these kids does Lifescape not realize their damaging these kids worse than when they started there making scared and other things and if u think its the same story they were gonna hurt themselves bs bc these kids don’t go in there with this problem but while there they want to if I was in their shoes I would to being bound like an animal. Like said several times a day Ben was in restraints well techinally from what I’ve been reading they had to call a doc before this is done or during and depending on the year of child once every 24 hrs same as seclusion an HR every 24 hrs and it can’t be bc of the behavioral if so they broke the law