Category: Restraint
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What Happens After the Restraint? The Part We Rarely Talk About
I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happens before a restraint. What happened in the minutes leading up to it? What did the student signal? What changed in the environment? What demands were placed on them? What did the adults do? What warning signs did we miss? But the more I think…
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What Happens Before the Restraint? The 10 Minutes We Keep Ignoring
When a student is placed in a restraint or secluded, the incident report often begins at the moment the crisis becomes impossible for adults to ignore. The student “became aggressive.” The student “refused to comply.” The student “escalated.” The student “became a danger to self or others.” Then comes the intervention: staff responded, the student…
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New Federal Data Show More Than 400,000 Reported Incidents of Restraint and Seclusion in U.S. Schools
The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has released the latest available Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), covering the 2023–24 school year. The data show that public schools reported 406,794 incidents of physical restraint, mechanical restraint, and seclusion. That number is alarming. But it is also important to understand what it represents…
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The Rules Are Changing in Massachusetts. But Are We?
Massachusetts changed its regulations governing seclusion, time-out, and physical restraint in schools on August 17, 2026. The changes matter: the new regulations place tighter limits on seclusion, establish a clearer distinction between time-out and seclusion, and reinforce that physical restraint is an emergency procedure of last resort. Massachusetts has also stated an explicit goal of…
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A Difficult Truth: I May Never Know What Happened to My Daughter
When I read that three former employees from Greensburg Salem School District’s Nicely Elementary School pleaded guilty and received only probation for abusing disabled students, my heart sank. This wasn’t just another news story. One of those employees had been my daughter’s preschool teacher, and another had been her Therapeutic Staff Support (TSS). In this…
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Trends in Restraint and Seclusion Practices in U.S. Schools: A Civil Rights Data Analysis (2015–2021)
The current study investigates the prevalence of restraint and seclusion within U.S. public school systems at both the national and state levels, using CRDC data collected during the school years 2015-2016, 2017-2018, and 2020-2021. A descriptive analysis with a repeated cross-sectional study design was used to investigate changes in physical restraints, mechanical restraints, and seclusion…
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See the Child Behind the Story: Jojo’s Story
Our son, Jojo, is a bright, loving six-year-old with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), multiple vision disabilities, and a history of early childhood trauma. Like every child, he has unique strengths and challenges. With appropriate accommodations, supports, and trauma-informed care, we believed he could learn, grow, and thrive alongside his peers in…
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Tell Us Why You Support the Keeping All Students Safe Act and Why Others Should Too
We have an opportunity right now to protect children, support educators, and change the culture of our schools. The Keeping All Students Safe Act has strong support from disability, civil rights, and education organizations, but it will only become law if we build a loud, sustained public demand for action. Please take a few minutes…
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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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Approaching Seven Years of the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
April is a meaningful month for me and for the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. On April 23rd, it will be seven years since I started AASR. What began as a small effort to speak out against the harmful use of restraint and seclusion has grown into a national nonprofit and community working every day…