From NPR: “Earlier this year, an NPR investigation with WAMU and Oregon Public Broadcasting found deep problems in how school districts report restraint and seclusion. Following that investigation, NPR reached out to educators about their experiences with these practices …
Many [educators] told NPR that using restraint and seclusion is one of the worst parts of their job; they say these methods can be mentally and physically painful for both them and their students.
‘I would lock myself in the bathroom at work and cry, and I know that I wasn’t the only one,’ says D, who spent a year working as a teaching assistant at a private school for students with autism …
‘Even though I received the training for [restraint], I just never felt fully comfortable or prepared to do that,’ they tell NPR. They say restraint crossed a physical boundary that they weren’t comfortable with. ‘It just seems strange to be so imposing on somebody else’s body.’
Ben Travis, a social and emotional learning specialist in Fort Worth, Texas, says, ‘There’s a tension within me of knowing that if I am to restrain a student, then I’m essentially putting forth a situation that’s going to create trauma for that student.’
… A 2009 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and even death when restraint and seclusion were used on school children.”
