Restraints
I have not posted in a long,long time. Nothing bad has happened, I simply never get around to it I suppose. Today though, something touched a cord so I decided to share my thoughts on it. Oddly, I decided to share my thoughts on it with a group of people who have no idea what I'm talking about, how decidedly strange is that. However,I realize that as your lives progress if you don't already, you may decided to have children. Statistically it is likely that at least one of those children will be a special needs child. As such...this is my view on restraints.
I understand that many people are against restraints of any sort. They believe that their child can be talked down and de-escalated in any situation. This is probably true for most children, even special needs children. HOWEVER, before people rise in protest or sign laws forbidding the use of restraint it is important to note that your angelic child may not stay angelic forever. Many behavioral issues do not surface until the teen years. Autistic children in particular have a long history of being difficult to manage, particularly non-verbal ones. The reason for this would be fairly obvious. They cannot communicate their needs. It is likely that if you were my care-taker and responsible for my well-being I would get pretty upset too if no matter what effort I made I could not get through to you.
I work with people now (3 of them) that I Pushed our company to take on. I was the only one, and remain one of the only ones that is comfortable working with them. The reason? They have an extensive history of physical aggression and property destruction. The physical aggression included: Head butting, pulling hair,chasing and attacking teachers,biting, strangling, slapping, kicking, squeezing/grabbing hard enough to leave bruises and gouging people with their nails. All three of them at various times have hospitalized staff. One bit off someone's finger, one crushed someone's windpipe and one broke someone's jaw.
Much of the frustration and escalation that occurs even with these guys can be contained without the use of either restraint of seclusion. It is RARE that anyone needs to use these techniques. HOWEVER, should one of them launch themselves at me and attempt to throttle me (one of them has actually) you had better believe I will restrain him. If one of them reaches for another client he is entering a phase where he needs an immediate two person restraint. Why? Because nearly 100% of the time that gentle reach will progress rapidly to gouging, squeezing and biting. I will not allow that to happen when a simple, safe restraint can be utilized to keep everyone safe,including the one doing the biting.
In the end, if you have a special needs child, be very careful that you stay involved in their lives. It may well be that restraints/seclusion and other things are being used as punishment. THIS IS NEVER OKAY. However, listen carefully to others around you and if your child presents an immediate threat of danger to themselves or others, allow for the possibility that your angel may need to be restrained. I know it sounds horrible but in the end, sometimes safety is more important than politeness.
I love my clients. I do not restrain them every day.In fact, I have never restrained them at all. But I would if I needed too. I will not have them biting other clients and breaking out windows. They are some of the coolest people in the world, but even the coolest people in the world need help sometimes.
I understand that many people are against restraints of any sort. They believe that their child can be talked down and de-escalated in any situation. This is probably true for most children, even special needs children. HOWEVER, before people rise in protest or sign laws forbidding the use of restraint it is important to note that your angelic child may not stay angelic forever. Many behavioral issues do not surface until the teen years. Autistic children in particular have a long history of being difficult to manage, particularly non-verbal ones. The reason for this would be fairly obvious. They cannot communicate their needs. It is likely that if you were my care-taker and responsible for my well-being I would get pretty upset too if no matter what effort I made I could not get through to you.
I work with people now (3 of them) that I Pushed our company to take on. I was the only one, and remain one of the only ones that is comfortable working with them. The reason? They have an extensive history of physical aggression and property destruction. The physical aggression included: Head butting, pulling hair,chasing and attacking teachers,biting, strangling, slapping, kicking, squeezing/grabbing hard enough to leave bruises and gouging people with their nails. All three of them at various times have hospitalized staff. One bit off someone's finger, one crushed someone's windpipe and one broke someone's jaw.
Much of the frustration and escalation that occurs even with these guys can be contained without the use of either restraint of seclusion. It is RARE that anyone needs to use these techniques. HOWEVER, should one of them launch themselves at me and attempt to throttle me (one of them has actually) you had better believe I will restrain him. If one of them reaches for another client he is entering a phase where he needs an immediate two person restraint. Why? Because nearly 100% of the time that gentle reach will progress rapidly to gouging, squeezing and biting. I will not allow that to happen when a simple, safe restraint can be utilized to keep everyone safe,including the one doing the biting.
In the end, if you have a special needs child, be very careful that you stay involved in their lives. It may well be that restraints/seclusion and other things are being used as punishment. THIS IS NEVER OKAY. However, listen carefully to others around you and if your child presents an immediate threat of danger to themselves or others, allow for the possibility that your angel may need to be restrained. I know it sounds horrible but in the end, sometimes safety is more important than politeness.
I love my clients. I do not restrain them every day.In fact, I have never restrained them at all. But I would if I needed too. I will not have them biting other clients and breaking out windows. They are some of the coolest people in the world, but even the coolest people in the world need help sometimes.