A Maryland School District filed for a restraining order in court against a young child with Downs Syndrome seeking to have him placed in a totally self contained school for children aged 3-21. While it is hard to discern the total facts of this case from the news story, it appears that the child has communication issues and was restrained in school. If his communication issues were not appropriately addressed, and staff did not have proper training or applied restraint when it was not needed, these factors certainly could have lead to the child’s behavioral escalation.
This unfortunate case illustrates the need to advocate early and often for a good FBA
and BIP,
when a child exhibits any sign of physical aggression . When it gets to this point, where the school can file
affidavits with words like "injury to staff" and "safety of other
children" it is likely the child is going to be moved to a more
restrictive setting, often over the parents’ objection. This case should
at least serve as an example for other parents, as we move into the Spring which
I find to be prime time for behaviors to increase in frequency and intensity.