Fw: N.Y. ok's aversive Interventions on Children

[Guest guest]

N.Y. ok's " aversive Interventions " on Children

I'm not sure how many of you subscribe to the slaw newsletter, but Pam

and Pete are an amazing team of advocates, Pete is an attorney who

handles many national level issues, they also speak around the country.

They'll be in North Penn in August !!! This article, although it speaks of New

York in particular is one we should all be panicked about - a school board -

making policy regarding special needs children without ANY community input - and

allowing the " behavior modification techniques " that remind us of things that

were considered abhorrent in the Dark Ages ! Please read, and disperse this

article to anyone you know that has anything to do with care and education of

children with special needs !

Thanks !

Barb

1. Call to Action! New York Allows Schools to Use Aversive Interventions on

Children ... Including Electric Shock

In June, the New York Board of Regents approved " emergency regulations " that

permit all public schools to use aversive behavioral interventions and time-out

rooms as consequences for behavior of disabled students. These regulations went

into effect on June 23, 2006.

What are " aversive behavioral interventions " ?

According to the New York regulations, " aversive behavioral interventions means:

* noxious, painful, intrusive stimuli or activities intended to induce pain such

as electric skin shock, ice applications, hitting, slapping, pinching, kicking,

hurling, strangling, shoving, deep muscle squeezes

* noxious, painful or intrusive spray, inhalant or tastes

* withholding sleep, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities or clothing;

withholding meals, limiting essential nutrition or hydration

* movement limitation used as a punishment, including but not limited to helmets

and mechanical restraint devices

* placing a child unsupervised or unobserved in a room from which the student

cannot exit without assistance

That's not all. The NY state department of education described " requirements for

staff supervision " and the need for " Humane and Dignified Treatment of the

Student. " Humane, dignified state sanctioned child abuse?

The fact that these regulations were enacted on an " emergency " basis, with no

public hearings or public comment, may be good news for parents. This gives

parents and child advocates some time to plan and implement a strategy to

persuade the policy-makers that these regulations are - inhumane.

If you are the parent of a child with a disability and live in New York, you

have work to do. Call to Action includes a detailed list of things to do.

Call to Action: New York Regs Allow Schools to Use " Aversive Interventions " on

Children, Including Electric Shock is available at

http://www.wrightslaw.com/news/06/abuse.nys.regs.htm

To learn more about these issues, download free publications, read cases, and

contact advocacy groups, please go to Restraints, Physical and Sexual Abuse in

Schools at http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/abuse.index.htm

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a

strong will, and the other from a strong won't.

-Henry Ward Beecher