U.S. GAO: Schools using harsh discipline on Spec. Needs kids

Post Reply New Topic

National Public Radio (U.S.) has released information from a General Accountability Office (GAO) report indicating many schools in the U.S. are using harsh, even deadly, methods to discipline special needs kids. Here is a portion of what is in the article:

“. . . The Government Accountability Office report notes, children have died or been injured when they have been tied, taped, handcuffed or pinned down by adults or locked in secluded rooms, often to be left for hours at a time. . . . . . Many of the children have cognitive disabilities, mental health issues, autism, attention deficit disorder and other disabilities. . . . . . Some deaths have occurred when large adults pinned down agitated children to try to calm them but, instead, accidentally suffocated them. One 7-year old girl died that way in Wisconsin. She was restrained because she was fidgeting and blowing bubbles in her milk. In another case, a 13-year-old boy left alone in a seclusion room hanged himself and died. . .”

Here's the link to the NPR article:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104277070

This report angers me. I'd be interested in knowing what others think about this.

I am not surprised at all. I used to work for a contractor of a school district here and saw many times where the acts noted in the article were used as punishments. Many organizations have been trying to get the law changed here so that restraints and seclusion is only used by trained persons in the situation where the child is a danger to themselves or others and the situation is documented. To date, the powerful education lobby has been successful in stopping such legislation. Part of the reason IMHO is that the legislature really does not know what is going on (when I talked to my state rep about it, she was shocked at the stories I told her.)

Here's another good article.

No Autistics Allowed: Explorations in discrimination against autistics, by Michelle Dawson, http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/naa_02.html

Go to "The Misbehaviour of Behaviourists."
For the best part, scroll down to section 7, "Revisiting aversives."

"...Severe aversives included (and one assumes were not limited to) slap, pinch, electric shock, noxious odor, noxious liquid, and hair pull..."

"...They found that those applying severe aversives were happiest and reported less job-related stress and greater personal accomplishment. In fact, the longer they had been at it, the more personally accomplished they reported being. The study design could not answer the question why, but the authors made the behaviourist assumption that strong aversives applied to autistics produce the most satisfying results. This would be from the staff point of view. And the authors conclude that "allowing staff to use a wide range of interventions including strong aversives may diminish job stress and enhance one's sense of personal efficacy..."

====================

Lots of people here at WP can tell you about group homes and mental hospitals.

The biggest issue I have with behaviorists is that they always seem to bring up Skinner's research but any person who has passed Psych 101 should know that Skinner talked and approved of rewards more than punishments.