Special Education: Should Restraints or Seclusion Be Applied on Individuals with Disabilities

Solitary confinement is a mandated arrangement set up by courts or prisons which seek to punish inmates by the use of isolated confinement. Specifically, solitary confinement can be defined as confinement in which inmates that are held in a single cell for up to twenty-three hours a day without any contact with the exception of prison staff (Shalev, 2011). There are several other terms which refer to solitary confinement such as, administrative segregation, supermax facilities (this is due to the fact that supermax facilities only have solitary confinement), the hotbox, the hole, and the security housing unit (SHU). Solitary confinement is a place where most inmates would prefer not to go.

Some discipline issues that teachers and administrators face are; do we set the same rules for all students, and should the students with special needs have the same consequences as general education students. Students with emotional disabilities often have difficulties with behavior in the following areas: work refusal, outburst (real or perceived persecution). I believe each situation needs to evaluated to determine the consequence of each student. Discipline decisions and actions can vary, such as, if a special needs student is out of class due to discipline issues then the teacher should make sure it is documented for the time they are removed from the classroom, if they are out for more than ten days an ARD meeting needs to be scheduled to look at changes that need to be made and a plan of action needs to take place to help the student be more successful. Some techniques that can be used are, involve all of the students in the

My response to this DQ is a situation that actually happened at the school I work at. At that time our district used a Co-op to provide Special education services such as speech, physical, and occupational services. After the speech pathologist we had for years moved out of state, a replacement was hired to take her case load. In the classroom I worked in at the time only had one student in need of a speech pathologist, but there were other students in the building she would see also. After a few week we noticed the speech pathologist was not coming to work with our student. The teacher emailed her and was told she had been in meetings and would see us soon. After about two more weeks of not showing up, it was questioned again and the principal looked into it.

Solitary confinement has been used for centuries, but only recently has there been disputation centered around it. However, few people know exactly what it is. Solitary confinement, also called restrictive housing, is directly defined as, “the [incarceration] of a prisoner in a cell or other place in which he or she is completely isolated from others” (“Solitary-confinement”). Along with that, the United Nations believe that solitary confinement is considered torture. According to them, torture is anything that involves the act of “severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person” ("Solitary Confinement Facts"). In other terms, solitary confinement, a form of punishment, is the process of being locked

12% of the student population, but 58% of those placed in seclusion or involuntary confinement, and 75% of those physically restrained at school to immobilize them or reduce their ability to move freely” (CRDC, 2014). That is horrible to take your disabled child to school now they are in a safe environment, but instead of teaching them right from wrong they are just restraining and not helping the grow.

There is no universal definition for solitary confinement, but the United Nations describes it as any regime where an inmate is held in isolation from others, except guards for atleaset 22 hours a day. Solitary confinement is one of the oldest and most enduring prison practices. Bar the death penalty, it is also the most extreme penalty which can legally be impsed on prisoners. Simply put, Solitary confinement is a brutal form of imprisonment where the prisoner is isolated from any human communication. It is considered to be a form of psychological torture when the period of confinement is longer than a few weeks or is continued indefinitely.

Solitary confinement is the act of forcefully taking an individual and segregating the victim from

Students with special needs need deserve the same education general education students are presented with. The philosophy of “ Disability Inclusion” concentrates on creating a safe, loving, and effective learning environment for students who suffer from physical, learning, and behavioral disabilities. When a student with disabilities is placed in the same environment as a non-disabled student, the results show wonderful improvement. When we are able to discover the strength of the student we are able to see just how much the student can improve in an inclusion classroom. Disability Inclusion not only sets a new beginning for an equal education of special education students, but it allows for more interaction with the child, and a more hands-on assessment.

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an inmate is isolated from any human contact, often with the exception of members of prison staff. Inmates are placed in isolation for many reasons; as punishment, while they are under investigation, as a mechanism for behavior modification, when suspected of gang involvement, or as retribution for political activism (Crabapple Molly). To be in solitary confinement means being behind a solid steel door for 23 to 24 hours out of the day.

The use of restraints for psychiatric patients has been in existence for a long time. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the use of mechanical restraints was deemed acceptable and required in the asylum environment (Carr 2012). However, there has been ethical dilemma on the usage of any form of restraints in caring for patients. Hughes, Zammit and Cordina (2014) explained that there has been a long discussion about restraint methods in health care settings, the usage of both physical and chemical forms of restraint in clinical practice, and to whom such methods would be appropriate

Thanks for choosing this as your topic for your advocacy paper. I have never really considered these topics. If I were a member of a school board I would want to know the exact reasoning for the use of both restraints and seclusion in any situation. It is my own personal opinion that the use of restraints should only be used in case of an emergency. I agree with the Washington State Statute that says, Washington law (WAC 246-337-110) states, "both restraint and seclusion measures should only be used in emergency situations”

In 1994, representatives of 92 governments and 25 international organizations formed the World Conference on Special Needs Education and called on the international community to endorse the concept of change and inclusion through a new statement called ‘The Salamanca Statement’. As this was the first major international statement of what an inclusive approach to education needs to be, they formed practical strategies to ensure this positive inclusion would take place worldwide.

The idea of children with disabilities, whether they be mild or severe has been a very controversial and misunderstood topic. In the past inclusion has brought about huge changes for not only the students, but also the parents and families of these children, and staff at schools. Teachers and education professionals were the first to really feel the wrath and intimidation of this dramatic shift in education. There were several different factors that were coming about that made it very difficult for schools and teachers, the unorganized mandates were strict and didn’t allow much time for change. “President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) into law in 1975. Since the original passage of the EAHCA, the law has been amended four times and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)” (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010, para.1).

This paper will attempt to compare two systematic review articles on the topic of restraints and seclusion (S&R) and its implications within the child adolescent population and developmentally impaired persons. The articles should present evidence to address claims on reduction while the results of the studies provide evidence on rationales to these practices. Aggressive behaviors by both of these populations in inpatient psychiatric facilities at some point become a safety issue in terms of assault and injury for both. Both reviews focus on incidences of seclusion and restraints and ways to reduce usage. The articles aim to answer what the current state of evidence is supporting restraints and reduction methods. Nonetheless, interventions are needed to reduce restriction and restraint utilization in children and persons with developmental disabilities (Menon, Raghavendra, & Bernard 2010)

The importance of education for all children, especially for those with disability and with limited social and economic opportunities, is indisputable. Indeed, the special education system allowed children with disability increased access to public education. Apart from that, the special education system has provided for them an effective framework for their education, and for the institutions involved to identify children with disability sooner. In turn, this promotes greater inclusion of children with disability alongside their nondisabled peers. In spite of these advances however, many obstacles remain, including delays in providing services for children with disability, as well as regulatory and