Category: Education
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Evaluating Disability‑Inclusive Education Frameworks Across Countries
This paper provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of inclusive education frameworks across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom, benchmarked against the United States’ Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Drawing exclusively from country‑specific policy documents and scholarly literature, the paper examines each nation’s legislative foundations, implementation structures, and conceptual approaches to disability.…
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My Students Understand. Why Don’t Some Adults Get It?
Of those things people recognize me by at this point, yesterday one of my 4th graders pointed at it and asked, “What do ALL those words mean?” Not just one—every single one. So instead of brushing it off, we sat down and talked about it, and honestly, it turned into one of the most meaningful…
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Initiating, Implementing, Influential Restorative Justice on Campus: A Service-Learning Project Proposal
This service-learning project, Initiating, Implementing, Influential Restorative Justice on Campus, is inspired by the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint to address the ongoing need for more inclusive and effective behavioral support systems within the public education system. Current disciplinary approaches, including zero-tolerance policies, school suspension, and reliance on school resource officers, have been shown to…
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Leveling the Playing Field in School Safety: National Data Reveal Who Is Most Harmed by Restraint, Seclusion, and Corporal Punishment
We want to share with you an honors thesis project by former Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint intern Lauren Sukhu. The thesis offers powerful, data‑driven evidence that restraint, seclusion, and corporal punishment in U.S. public schools are not used equally; they fall most heavily on students with disabilities, Black students, students of two or more…
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If Not Seclusion and Restraint, Then What? A Better Way Forward for Students and Educators
You are not alone if your first reaction to criticism of restraint and seclusion is, “You don’t understand the kids we support,” or, “What do you expect us to do when a child kicks us?” Many educators arrive at “If not seclusion and restraint, then what?” from a place of exhaustion, moral injury, and fear.…
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A Letter to the Board of Trustees of Lake Travis ISD: We Can Help
Families contact our organization every week because they are concerned about their children and uncertain about how to navigate concerns with their school districts. Recently, a family reached out with serious concerns about Lake Travis Independent School District (ISD) and the district’s response to a Texas Education Agency (TEA) special education complaint involving the use…
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Time to Stop Locking Disabled Children in Boxes: We Need Lawmakers to Pass the Keeping All Students Safe Act
In Salmon River, New York, horrific photos of wooden “timeout” boxes circulated on social media and quickly drew outrage from families, tribal leaders, and state officials. The district has now acknowledged using windowless wooden boxes as a “timeout” technique for children, including a nonspeaking autistic eight‑year‑old, and multiple administrators have been placed on leave while…
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Take Action Today: Help Protect Washington Students from Harmful Restraint and Isolation
Tomorrow, the Washington State Senate Early Learning & K‑12 Education Committee will hold a public hearing on ESHB 1795, a narrow but critical, cost‑neutral bill addressing restraint and isolation in public schools. This is a key moment for families, educators, students, and community members to make their voices heard.
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Minnesota, It Is Time to End the Use of Seclusion, Not Increase It
Minnesota’s Seclusion Working Group had an opportunity to move the state toward ending the involuntary seclusion of children in schools, and missed it. Instead of aligning Minnesota law with federal civil rights guidance and the lived experiences of students and families, the Seclusion Working Group Final Report to the Legislature preserves seclusion as a tool,…
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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…