Diana
12-31-2002, 10:30 AM
Those of us in Special Education in Texas have just been challenged with a whole new set of regulations re: restraint. It is very difficult because no matter what a child does you can't grab him and stop him. (Oh yes, I know the law says that if there is immanent serious danger to self, others, or property you can restrain. But if you do a long list of paperwork and phone calls ensues. If you fill out the paperwork enough times you get labelled.)
I'm not just writing this to gripe. The challenge is to develop a whole new set of classroom management techniques that do not involve touching the child. My brain is only capable of so much. I have some ideas which I would be glad to share but I need to communicate with likeminded teachers who also have ideas. The legislature has decided what we can't do. It is up to us to find things we can do. Idea # 1. I call this the curtain. (I work with little ones -- PPCD). Buy a large oval shaped embroidery hoop and about 1 yard of soft flannel. Separate the two rings of the hoop and sandwich one end of the flannel between them so the rest hangs down like a curtain. Your curtain should curve around at the sides. When little Johnny or Susie starts to hit somebody you grasp the hoop in one hand and dangle the curtain between assailant and victim. The hoop should not be placed around the child but held over his head. If it is placed around him that is mechanical restraint. Also he can grab it and get into a wrestling match with you and then you wind up restraining. Hopefully the legal people will not regard the insertion of the flannel as mechanical restraint. After all it is only a piece of cloth and the child can brush it aside easily. What usually happens is that when the child cannot see what he is doing he stops. Attacking someone or grabbing something you should not have is a sensory-motor activity. We can't interfere in the motor part but if we cut off visual input we disrupt the process. If you can't see what you're doing you can't do it. Quite honestly it works a lot but not every time. That's why we need more ideas. I suggested an oval hoop so that the long side could be used to block frontal vision and the side curvatures would cut off peripheral vision. If the child has grabbed something he should not have the use of the curtain should be coupled with the sharp, firm command, "Give to me!" You should not allow him to see his own hands (they should be outside the curtain) and you can touch his hand with yours so he knows where your hand is but don't grab on or that will be restraint. In order to avoid all appearance of mechanical restraint the curtain should not dangle down any lower than chest level. The object is not to obstruct movement but to cut off visual input.
Idea #2 Teacher buys a shrill, high pitched whistle worn on a chain or string around the neck for quick access. I have successfully interrupted an attack ( in this case the child was flailing away at his mother!) with a sudden blast on the whistle. It startles them and disrupts what they are doing and I never touch them. (Incidentally, Mom was delighted. She says she's getting herself a whistle too!)
I need more ideas. I can't do it alone. The only ones who are going to find solutions are us -- the teachers. Nobody is going to hand them to us and no one teacher is going to think of them all. We need to talk!
I'm not just writing this to gripe. The challenge is to develop a whole new set of classroom management techniques that do not involve touching the child. My brain is only capable of so much. I have some ideas which I would be glad to share but I need to communicate with likeminded teachers who also have ideas. The legislature has decided what we can't do. It is up to us to find things we can do. Idea # 1. I call this the curtain. (I work with little ones -- PPCD). Buy a large oval shaped embroidery hoop and about 1 yard of soft flannel. Separate the two rings of the hoop and sandwich one end of the flannel between them so the rest hangs down like a curtain. Your curtain should curve around at the sides. When little Johnny or Susie starts to hit somebody you grasp the hoop in one hand and dangle the curtain between assailant and victim. The hoop should not be placed around the child but held over his head. If it is placed around him that is mechanical restraint. Also he can grab it and get into a wrestling match with you and then you wind up restraining. Hopefully the legal people will not regard the insertion of the flannel as mechanical restraint. After all it is only a piece of cloth and the child can brush it aside easily. What usually happens is that when the child cannot see what he is doing he stops. Attacking someone or grabbing something you should not have is a sensory-motor activity. We can't interfere in the motor part but if we cut off visual input we disrupt the process. If you can't see what you're doing you can't do it. Quite honestly it works a lot but not every time. That's why we need more ideas. I suggested an oval hoop so that the long side could be used to block frontal vision and the side curvatures would cut off peripheral vision. If the child has grabbed something he should not have the use of the curtain should be coupled with the sharp, firm command, "Give to me!" You should not allow him to see his own hands (they should be outside the curtain) and you can touch his hand with yours so he knows where your hand is but don't grab on or that will be restraint. In order to avoid all appearance of mechanical restraint the curtain should not dangle down any lower than chest level. The object is not to obstruct movement but to cut off visual input.
Idea #2 Teacher buys a shrill, high pitched whistle worn on a chain or string around the neck for quick access. I have successfully interrupted an attack ( in this case the child was flailing away at his mother!) with a sudden blast on the whistle. It startles them and disrupts what they are doing and I never touch them. (Incidentally, Mom was delighted. She says she's getting herself a whistle too!)
I need more ideas. I can't do it alone. The only ones who are going to find solutions are us -- the teachers. Nobody is going to hand them to us and no one teacher is going to think of them all. We need to talk!