Category: Data
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When Helping Hurts: How Broken Systems Turn Compassion into Defense
We recently shared the link to a Seattle Times investigation that found staff in medical settings have used spit hoods over the past decade to subdue or control psychiatric patients and risk psychological distress, suffocation, and even death in the process. The comments poured in. Many came from healthcare workers describing being bitten, kicked, and…
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Providing Public Comment: Raising the Alarm on Restraint and Seclusion in Pennsylvania Schools
At the January 22 meeting of Pennsylvania’s Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP), which advises the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) on the education of children with disabilities, public comment highlighted the troubling rise in the use of restraint across the Commonwealth’s schools. The day before, PDE presented its 2024–25 annual report on physical restraint, revealing…
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Maryland Shows You Can End Seclusion in Public Schools—But There Is More Work Ahead
In the first year, Maryland reported statewide data (2017–2018), schools reported 18,222 incidents of physical restraint and 7,325 incidents of seclusion, a total of 25,547 restraint and seclusion incidents across public and nonpublic schools. The next year, the numbers increased to 19,713 restraints and 9,532 seclusions, reaching a peak total of 29,245. In the most…
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Comments on the Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection (ED-2024-SCC-0128)
The Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint (AASR) is grateful for the opportunity to respond to the request for information regarding mandatory civil rights data collection (ED-2024-SCC-0128). AASR is a national nonprofit organization and a community of over 30,000 parents, caregivers, self-advocates, educators, related professionals, and others working together to influence change in supporting children whose…
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Interpersonal Safety in the Age of Behaviorism
What do reasonable behavior expectations look like? Different types of behavior are appropriate in different circumstances. The circumstances include externally observable elements as well as things that can only be internally observed by the person exhibiting the behavior.
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Wisconsin Restraint and Seclusion Survey
Making Waves & Systems Change Advocacy is a group of Wisconsin lakeshore mothers working to improve systems for meaningful inclusion, support, and acceptance of people with disabilities. Currently, there aren’t enough efficient and accessible ways for families to share their stories to advocate for real change, and we intend to do our best to turn…
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A Literature Review Examining the Ineffectiveness of Punitive Discipline and Corporal Punishment
Punitive discipline and corporal punishment have long been widespread practices in schools to address stress behavior of students. Over the last two decades, a growing body of evidence has shown that such approaches are not effective in correcting stress behavior and are detrimental to students’ well-being. In fact, evidence-based data suggests that punitive discipline and corporal punishment have a…
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Neurodiversity, Behavior, and the Problem with PBIS
While no two nervous systems are identical, some characteristics are more common than others. People with these more common traits are called neurotypical. People with less common configurations are called neurodivergent. Autism, ADHD, epilepsy, Down syndrome, Tourette syndrome, depression, dyslexia, and dyspraxia are some common types of neurodivergence, though there are many more.
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Disabilities and Disparities: Why disabled students are disproportionately impacted by restraint and seclusion
Like many other harmful practices, restraint and seclusion in schools are not experienced equally by all students. Students with disabilities, Black and brown students, boys, and young children are disproportionately impacted by restraint and seclusion in schools. In this article, I will focus on the impacts on students with disabilities.
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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…