Category: Education
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An Avoidable Crisis: The Unlucky Ones (Part 2)
Dr. Ross Greene refers to kids with “lucky behaviors” and those with” unlucky behaviors.” Kids with lucky behaviors are often more capable of “using words” to describe their feelings. These kids often pout, cry, whine, withdraw, and these lucky behaviors usually get them empathy from the caregiver. This is why they are thought of as…
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An Avoidable Crisis: The Focus on Compliance (Part 1)
We hear from so many parents, caregivers, and teachers how “out of control” so many kids they work with are. They describe them as rude, disrespectful, disruptive, always touching things, and one of my favorites, can’t sit still. But what makes “these kids” so terrible?
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Don’t punish us for being autistic
Schools punishing students with autism for running (elopement) is sad. I was a runner when young. Please know that it is not to misbehave, but rather to escape the experience of autism’s confusing world. Your world is bearable, but ours is often jumpy or noisy or spinning. Running and feeling air swirling about can help…
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“There is no place in Maryland’s schools for the use of seclusion”
On Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022 there was a hearing in the Maryland Senate for SB 705, which would prohibit seclusion in all public schools in Maryland and significantly reduce the use of seclusion in nonpublic schools. I attended and provided testimony in support of the bill and was joined by several others including our State Superintendent Mohammad Choudhary.
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Action Alert: Tell the Maryland Senate to ban seclusion in all public schools
Great news – we have proposed legislation in the Maryland Senate that would ban seclusion in all public schools across the state and limit the use of seclusion in nonpublic schools (SB 0705). The legislation would also expand reporting requirements and require the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to develop an accountability system. This…
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Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, responds to a question about the use of restraint and seclusion
Recently Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, answered a question about the use of restraint and seclusion at the 5th Annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference. Unapologetic disrupter, Mathew Portell, asked the question.
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Time for change in Maryland: Legislation to reduce and eliminate restraint and seclusion
It’s time to ban seclusion in all public schools in Maryland (and everywhere) and have a higher level of accountability and oversight. While Maryland currently has some of the better laws in the nation, they are not enough. More must be done to protect the civil and human rights of children in Maryland schools. There…
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Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection request for comments
The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has asked for public comment on the mandatory civil rights data collection. The Department of Education is especially interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and used in…
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Submitting a public information request related to the use of restraint and seclusion
Suppose you are interested in learning information related to the use of restraint and seclusion in a school system in the United States. In that case, you might search the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) website. The CRDC includes a wide range of education data collected from our nation’s public…
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No laws in Nebraska, leads to abuse of seclusion and restraint
Our nation’s schools use seclusion rooms for students as young as five-years old. They don’t call them that of course. It doesn’t sound nice to call them what they are. They sometimes call them alternative learning rooms. Let me pose a question here – how much ‘learning’ can take place in a padded room with…