3 1/2 Hours in a Concrete Room
This article is about whether the use of a 3 1/2-hour timeout was an appropriate procedure for the Waukee Community School District (Iowa) to use with 8-year-old autistic Isabel Loeffler.
No, was my immediate response on reading the headline.
Then I read more—and I saw the video of Isabel in the room—and it got worse.
The August 5th Des Moines Register has photos of Isabel in the concrete “timeout” room and describes the use of restraints and physical prompting by teachers. The word “physical battle” is used to describe one occasion when three aides held Isabel in a chair and “a fourth teacher forced her hand to color.”
If that is not troubling enough, here is Kevin Took, a psychiatrist at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, commenting on the use of the timeout.
Took testified that he did not see anything traumatic about Isabel’s videotaped timeout, even though she wet her pants. Urination and defecation are fairly common issues with children with autism spectrum disorders, he said.
“Fairly common” meaning…………? Yes, it took some extra efforts to teach my son to use the bathroom (he was 3 years old) and there have been times when we have had to reteach. But just to say that these are “fairly common issues with children autism spectrum disorders” leaves open so many questions: All kinds of factors come into play, communicative, sensory, attention…….. The Des Moines Register article notes that Isabel asked to use the bathroom and was told “no”; school staff later “testified that students sometimes use the bathroom as an excuse to escape punishment.” I can see this but was it known and documented that the student in particular—-Isabel Loeffler—-used the bathroom as such an “excuse”?
That is only one question I have regarding the procedures used by the Waukee Community School District. “‘I had to go to the bathroom and I was sick,’” was Eva Loeffler’s comment about how she felt seeing the videotape of her daughter in timeout—-just reading about those 3 1/2 hours makes me feel the same.
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POSTED IN: Education, Legal Issues, Safety
14 opinions for 3 1/2 Hours in a Concrete Room
Rose
Aug 6, 2007 at 8:13 am
Why didn’t they just allow her a break? It was the psychologist who caused the trouble. I’m not sure I could sit for 5 minutes in “body basics”.
Joeymom
Aug 6, 2007 at 8:26 am
I’d like to see one of those teachers sit cross-legged on a concrete floor for five minutes- without their legs falling asleep. She had a cushion on her chair, so I bet that HURTS. And how would they like to put ina cold room for 3 1/2 hours with no access to the bathroom? No stimulation? NOTHING?
This is not only not understanding autism, it is complete ignorance of how to use “time out” even with neurotypical children. “Excessive” doesn’t even touch it.
Mekei
Aug 6, 2007 at 8:34 am
Thanks for this link Kristina.
Our district is getting ready to hear policies related to time out rooms after NY State aproved the use of these rooms for emergency and “inappropriate behaviors.” These are very vague descriptors by NY and have already led to disastrous consequences for some districts as you have already posted on re: school in downstate NY.
20 minutes is tremendous amount of time for that little girl to have worked! She should have been rewarded. What is this practice supposed to accomplish?
While some parents in our district approve of using time out for their child, the room lends itself to abuse by untrained staff and unsupported classroom teachers. Like NJ, NY has seen a push to decrease the number of aides for budget reasons, all the while our districts are absorbing many children who used to be placed privately and who have very severe disabilities.
Our district is thinking out-of-the-box by trying to call our little cement rooms, *planning rooms,* in an attempt to circumvent many of the new NY regulations meant to provide parents with documentation, restrictions on time spent in the rooms, etc.
Unfortunately, this type of story is being replayed throughout the country. Incidents such as these make me rethink the concept of “inclusion at all costs.”
Regan
Aug 6, 2007 at 8:45 am
Wow…just wow.
I have to thank Isabel’s parents for allowing the video to be released…because that told it clearer than words.
I am glad that the ruling went against the district. I hope that the initial ruling prevails on appeal and that this results in a substantive positive change in Iowa and beyond.
I felt terrible seeing Isabel trying to do the right thing–and pretty nicely at that, for “up to 4 minutes” and the mindless application of the 5 minute rule over and over. Apparently no one had the ability to process what was happening and amend the rule to meet the situation and conclude with a measure of success for this little girl.
Kristina, I agree with you that Mr. Took’s statement was a pretty demeaning generalization. (Actually, I heard a similar justification in our area to excuse “timeout gone bad” which had a similar scenario.) Access to a toileting facility is a basic human right, especially if the child explicitly requests permission– that’s pretty appropriate behavior. What would be the reaction if a typical child was directly refused access to a bathroom and wet his or her pants? I can imagine that it would be considered pretty appalling. Besides the label of a disability, what is the difference? Level of “traumatization” is irrelevant. No offense, but I wonder if he would feel the same if he were on the receiving end of the treatment?
I have used hand over hand to teach and I have even used time out as an opportunity to “chill”. But I never have, and never would use 4 (!) people to restrain a child for compliance, or time out for more minutes than the age of the child. There are better ways to build cooperation and motivation. My daughter is a severe learner and I have NEVER done or had to do anything as described in the story…and perhaps that is interrelated.
Again, I am glad of the ruling and hope it stands. Perhaps this can make a change to the positive by raising awareness of what responsible and ethical behavior is by the adults and professionals in these situations. It’s amazing how stupid we can be with the students who need the most intelligent and skilled instruction.
Julie
Aug 6, 2007 at 9:24 am
I can not believe the generalization that accidents are a problem for children for autism. My daughter was 5 before she was toilet trained but once she was we have had few accidents. She has been good about telling us when she needs to go. She has used any excuse to get out of trouble but I have found that intelligent adults can tell when a child needs to go to the bathroom and when they just say that they do. Her persistence should have been a sign. What happened to the rule that a child remains in time out for the same number of minutes as their developmental age. With rebekah the cue on how long that is comes from her and it sounds like 4 minutes would have worked. 3 1/2 hours is not just excessive but it is abusive. What could they possibly be teaching her in that situation sooooo sad.
Niksmom
Aug 6, 2007 at 9:36 am
OMG, this just makes me so incredibly sick to my stomach and terribly sad for the little girl and her family. I think I would be locked up for a very, very, very long time if someone did that to Nik; I am not sure I could control my outrage in such a case.
mommy~dearest
Aug 6, 2007 at 10:35 am
I shudder to think what Jaysen’s first school (the crappy one that denied services) would have done if they had a “time out room”. Guaranteed I would have been in court, if not jail.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 6, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I saw students give presentations about psychology, discipline and punishment this morning—references were made to totalitarian regimes—-but I kept thinking about Isabel Loeffler.
heidi
Aug 6, 2007 at 5:14 pm
That has to be the most awful video I have seen. For that to even be allowed is beyond my understanding. I do not feel that was in any means appropriate at all. To think that people who take care of our children would even feel that is appropriate. My thoughts will be on this for awhile. I do not know how i would react and my husband would be in JAIL with no doubts.
Eleanor
Aug 6, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Doesn’t 5 minutes seem like an extraordinarily long time for an autistic 8 year old to be expected to sit perfectly still? I’m not against the “time out” concept per se (my son gets sent to his room to chill out fairly often…) but that looks like some kind of torture system designed to break a child’s spirit. And not letting her go to the bathroom is atrocious. My son had an aide at school once who got into a power struggle with him about when he should be allowed to go to the bathroom, and by the time we found out she was trying to restrict his access, we ended up dealing with about two months of constipation that resulted from the trauma. What is wrong with these people?
kyra
Aug 7, 2007 at 12:12 am
I am outraged and sickened by this, physically sick.
Whitterer on Autism » Blog Archive » The art of disguise
Aug 11, 2007 at 1:54 am
[…] As “Kristina Chew” points out, this kind of behaviour permits people to think they can “incarcerate our children,” for their own well being and the safety of others. There are only a very few people, with whom I […]
Danielle
Sep 8, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Please home school your children if at all possible. Protect them from abuse.
Padded or Concrete: The Quiet Room
Nov 28, 2007 at 1:16 pm
[…] makes me wonder about what other schools have such padded—dirty gym matted—rooms, or concrete rooms where 8 year old Isabel Loeffler had to stay in for a 3 1/2 timeout? Are they sometimes called […]
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