Category: School
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An unsafe place for Jane
Growing up, I lived in a very unstable, violent home. I spent too many nights hiding in my bedroom as I listened to fighting in the other room. I know domestic violence and abuse. I know what it is like to have the police in my living room in the middle of the night to…
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An Avoidable Crisis: The Keeping All Students Safe Act (Part 3)
One shift in our mindset can mean the difference in appropriately meeting a child’s needs or potential harm to a child if we ask the question “why” and “why now” (Dr. Stuart Shanker). This curiosity means the difference between a child receiving empathy and support versus punishment and consequences. Again are these lucky or unlucky…
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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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Beyond Behaviorism: A New Lens for Assessing Behavior
Now is the time to do better. It is time for those of us in the field who conduct Functional Behavioral Assessments to move beyond behaviorism and to incorporate new learnings that welcome neurodiversity and focus on trauma-sensitive practices.
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What’s the problem with this functional behavioral assessment interview form?
A parent recently shared with me a functional behavior assessment student interview form that was sent home for her son to complete. The form, pictured below included five questions for the student to complete: So what is wrong with this form? Well, to begin with, the form assumes that all behaviors are intentional. The form…
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Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion
A common question from school staff, administrators, and members of local school boards is “if not restraint and seclusion then what?” In this article, we will address how the current approaches to behaviors of concern are failing and leading to the use of restraint and seclusion. We will also address some of the approaches that…
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Prone Restraint is Neither Safe nor is it Therapeutic
If we want to reduce and eliminate the use of restraint and seclusion we must stand up to misinformation. Recently an opinion letter was published in the Chicago Tribune related to legislative efforts to prohibit the use of prone restraint in schools in Illinois, a topic we have discussed in the past. The letter was…
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Elimination of restraint and seclusion in schools is not only possible, but it is also morally and ethically imperative
The use of restraint and seclusion in our nation’s schools has been debated for decades; these procedures continue to be used today despite reports of psychological and physical harm, including the deaths of students; and they are disproportionately used with disabled children and Black, brown, and indigenous children. Use of these procedures causes psychological harm…
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Regulation before Education
As many kids begin to head back to school in-person or start distance learning for the 2020-21 school year, there is a lot of attention and focus on what kids will need, and what will be important for them to be successful. Many teachers/educators are wondering how to create an environment that will best support…