Category: Advocacy
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Volunteers Lead the Way to Change
What does volunteering mean to you? Giving your time to something that’s important to you can have tangible benefits – both for you and for the organization you serve. Over the last couple of years, AASR has seen an increase in the number of volunteers who get in touch with us and say they are ready to help. We feel that this…
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Meet Disability Advocate and AASR Volunteer Christopher Ripke
Christopher Ripke is an advocate for people with Developmental Disabilities in Nevada. Christopher is also against the use of restraints and seclusion. Christopher is a survivor of restraints and seclusion. As a person with a disability and an advocate, Christopher for the “Keeping All Students Safe Act.” Currently, Christopher works with a non-profit “People first…
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Making a Change: Getting Involved in Public Office to Improve Special Education and Stop the Abuse in our Schools
Getting involved in public office is scary, but it can also be a powerful way to drive positive change in the community. It can also be empowering as a parent or caregiver in your own recovery from the trauma your child may have experienced.
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Impact of Seclusion and Restraint on Post High School Outcomes
As an attorney practicing in the areas of education and discrimination, seclusion and restraint in schools are a particularly concerning problem. Data suggests that these tactics are often used in a discriminatory manner and negatively impact students’ legal right to access the educational environment. For these reasons, I have been searching for information on the…
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Support SB 483 Banning Dangerous Restraint Technique on Students
It is time to ban prone restraint in schools in California. SB 483 would prohibit the use of “prone restraint,” which physically or mechanically restrains students in a face-down position. We need your help to keep this legislation moving. The first stop is the Senate Education Committee. Please consider sending a letter to members of…
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Is Taylor Swift Trauma Informed?
Recently, Taylor Swift shared in an interview, “I respond to extreme pain with defiance.” This quote resonated with me in a way that felt profoundly personal—like it was meant for me. I’ve found that my response to generational family trauma, heartbreak, friendship betrayals, and, most recently, workplace abuse has mirrored Swift’s sentiment: complete and utter…
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In Alice’s Own Words
“I’m a female human child,” Alice proclaims as I strap her into her car seat after her first day of school. Seven and a half years into my parenting journey, I still don’t always fully comprehend the impact of Alice’s words when I hear them. She is minimally or unreliably speaking and often uses an…
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Can Religious Beliefs Protect Your Child from Restraint and Seclusion?
We have also introduced what we’re calling the “Student Rights Card,” a pocket-sized document that declares one’s deeply held belief in bodily inviolability and asserts one’s religious exemption from physical punishment. Students can carry this card in school and show it to any faculty member who threatens to violate their rights through corporal punishment, seclusion,…
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The Six C’s Approach to See Children Differently
Individuals with neurodivergent brains have different experiences. Neurodivergent brains learn differently, think differently, and exist in the world differently. These differences can challenge the neurodivergent individual when trying to learn, thrive, and live in an environment not designed for them and their unique needs. This different way of being in the world can create experiences…
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Restraint, Seclusion, and Corporal Punishment: A No Consent Letter
The use of restraint, seclusion, and corporal punishment has become more common practices when responding to disability-related behaviors within school settings. A “No Consent” letter is a written document that states you, as a parent or guardian, do not consent to the school’s use of restraint, seclusion, and corporal punishment in response to your child’s…