Padded or Concrete: The Quiet Room
Sometimes I just have to wonder at what “educators”—especially those whose title is “school administrator”—are thinking. Or, if they’re thinking at all. Whose idea was it to have a padded room—-the “padding” being gym mats that, as parent Lisa Grams notes in an interview on CBS3News.com, smelled of urine—-in Russell Knight Elementary School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey? Gram has a 7-year-old autistic son who attends the school; parents did not know that the room existed until this past October.
Grams said her son, who is autistic, was never placed in the room. She wonders though about other children.A School District spokesperson tells CBS 3 the room was only used once for a student in crisis with prior parental consent. That student was supervised and there were no parental complaints.The spokesperson said the pads were added to the room this year and the room is no longer in use.
It all 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 “quiet room” because people are supposed to keep quiet about them?Fortunately, people don’t.
22 opinions for Padded or Concrete: The Quiet Room
ASDmomNC
Nov 28, 2007 at 2:29 pm
This is why, in my son’s first IEP, we addressed this issue in writing and at length verbally. We put it both in writing and stated verbally that we do not give consent for this type treatment, and made certain that the school he attends does not have such a room. It just kills me, one day I feel like we’ve come so far with disability and autism rights, then I read something like this and feel like we’re right back in the dark ages. Then again, if the Judge Rotenburg center is allowed to exist, why does stuff like this even surprise me any more?
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 28, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Am thinking that every parent needs to bring up the issue of restraints and “time out” rooms and spaces in IEP meetings—-rather than finding out after the fact.
ASDmomNC
Nov 28, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I agree, however, you and I have the benefit of higher education and being well informed parents. I fear for the parent who is not so well-educated and informed, who blindly follows the school district without question, because they simply don’t know better. I have met such parents before, and it is frightening how little they know about the “darker side” of the autism landscape when it comes to treatment and education. They love their kids just as much as anybody, but loving your child isn’t going to protect them from a school district with an agenda. I really really worry about autism families that can’t be self-advocates and have nobody around them to advocate for them.
KimJ
Nov 28, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I’m not trying to downplay the scale of abuse a “quiet room” may have but there is a “bigger picture” problem here besides locking up a child in plain, padded room. That is the lack of training teachers how to teach self-management to the students. I’ve never seen such a quiet room in the 3 states, 5 schools we’ve attended. However, all the schools and all the teachers lacked awareness of just how important it is to teach self-managment. They all opt for behavior management in varying degrees. The child does something “inappropriate”, they punish, remove, scold, warn and sometimes document.
It is very difficult to explain autism to professionals that should already be versed in it. They are in turn, explaining autism to other teachers, aides, parents and students. When they are grossly misinformed, the damage is pervasive.
I wouldn’t concentrate on whether or not there is such a room. I would focus on whether or not the teachers are willing to deal with “inappropriate” behaviors in a truly educational setting. Do they document triggers, patterns and environment? Are they adequately educated in teaching self-management? Are they adequately educated in autistic traits? Are IEP goals meaningful to the specific student?
The fact that these basic issues are always uphill battles for us (and others) is what’s really wrong with “the system”. My son’s “autism clinic” teacher just loaned me books by Michelle Garcia Winner about self-managing. She showed me these at the beginning of the school year and told me these were part of her curriculum. However, the other day she admitted to not having read them entirely and not being able to use them because no other teacher wants to. She also informed me that she has only been a special ed teacher for 2 years and she didn’t study special ed.
This is an expert.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 28, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Very good point——-especially how you differentiate between “behavior management” (which I think is often misconstrued as ABA) and teaching a child to self-manage (which I think is a start to self-advocacy). I can see the need for some children to need a quiet, peaceful place but it’s not as simply as just having a child go (or be put into) such a place. There needs to be a whole web of teaching around the use of such a room: The child needing to learn how to ask for it, to notice signs of anxiety in himself before he gets really upset, the child needing to tell the teacher when he would like to return to the classroom. And more.
Charlie’s teacher is getting her Masters in ABA but she does not (I think) consider herself an “expert”—that’s the behavior consultant who is also a professor and has lots and lots of experience.
Caroline L.
Nov 28, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Thank you everyone for these comments.
I consider myself somewhat educated in the IEP process but still come up against a huge wall of hostile indifference when requesting the most basic teaching strategies to help my child self-regulate.
Alas, the foundation for success starts with a positive, loving school environment with well-trained, well-supervised, patient teachers, as Kristina writes so eloquently about in her posts.
Treat a child with constant negativity, restraints, seclusion, and the results will be tragic.
p.s. the room here is luxurious compared to the one used constantly with my child.
p.p.s. in our experience, the ABA as it was delivered to my child was rigid, rote and physical restraints were used, the ‘behavior therapist’ taught my child how to self-advocate (e.g., argue verbally) and feel confident and independent. However, the ABA of Kristina’s experience sounds wonderful and I make lots of notes about it!
KimJ
Nov 28, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Yeah, my son’s current school has a “sensory room” which is a very small room with an incandescent light (w/ shade), a single person trampoline and various toys or noise makers that are meant to soothe and possibly distract or engage (depending on the reason for being there). There’s a chair for an adult to be in there and help the student. I think there is a mat for using like a tent/fort too.
Karen
Nov 28, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Man, I am so lucky. My son’s teacher does all the things KimJ suggested above. Any “behavior” he has is always looked at as a symptom to something and we work together to get to the bottom of it. Behaviors are not addressed as just something to stop because they are deemed inappropriate. I’m so grateful for this.
Pete has an “I need a break” icon on his schedule (and Pete has the verbal ability to ask for a break, but when he’s having trouble the icon is better for him - his teacher knows this kinda thing about him! woo!). He can ask for a break *before* he melts down (and sometimes he does) and then he just sits in a “quiet place” in the classroom, with everyone else, and reads or does a puzzle. A timer is set and the teacher checks in with him at the end of that 5 minutes. It’s worked well and I also use a timer at home in a similar way.
Sorry to babble … it just astounds me that people are still punishing children (and adults) for being autistic when there are so many other options to help children learn to self-regulate.
Elissa
Nov 29, 2007 at 12:08 am
Karen, I love the idea of the “I need a break” icon for the child to use!
My son starts school next year and I believe we have found the best place for him (staff and school fairly well educated and up to date with safe and effective practices for educating kids with autism).
However, with most schools, the concern is always as to whether or not theory follows through into practice (that is, do they always practice what they preach?).
The only way to ensure your child is in the appropriate educational environment is to really stay on top of things - ask and learn.
Coming from my own perspective as a teacher, people are only human, and good communication with the school and staff will do wonders for your child and their learning.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Nov 29, 2007 at 1:39 am
Charlie has an “I need a break” card on his desk—-he has one of those squishy pillows and he can request it to put his head or to fiddle with with his hands. He used to like those squishy inside and out balls but they seemed to be making him more agitated rather than less. When he first started in his school, he had lots of behaviors and often requested lying down on a matt with the blanket—not so much anymore.
I really agree with Caroline L—a positive learning environment, with lots of warmth communicated, has been key for Charlie. I try, too, to go out of my way to support the teachers; I email a lot and always note any difficulties, ask for suggestions, and sometimes just say, thanks so much.
Another Voice
Nov 29, 2007 at 8:46 am
I am always amazed at the difference a teacher with a positive attitude can make. When a family with a positive attitude meets the same attitude in a school there is always progress. It seems like such a win – win opportunity. I wish someone would come up with a required course on positive attitude and all school systems had to take an annual refresher in it.
Outrage in NJ and MN
Nov 30, 2007 at 12:30 pm
[…] a school board meeting on Tuesday night. Parents were concerned (if not, it seems, outraged) over a padded room at Russell Knight Elementary School in Cherry […]
Cherry Hill parent
Nov 30, 2007 at 9:27 pm
I’m going to cross post. I posted this under the topic “Padded Cells & Physical Restraints”:
I would also ask why the same school district (different school, but same district) would refuse (for several years) to do an FBA for a child on the spectrum with known diagnoses of OCD and anxiety, and allow that child’s issues to increase to a point where the compulsive skin picking and cutting of his arm and leg hair was so severe at school that they couldn’t stop him. Then, instead of calling an IEP meeting, doing an FBA or asking to speak with the child’s physicians, they called DYFS to investigate the family for the OCD behaviors that were occuring at school. How do the parents know it was them? Because they quoted e-mails from the parents, e-mails in which the parents and the teacher were working together to try to figure out what was causing the behaviors at school, if there was a particular subject or anything that was happening at school that was causing more stress, if it was occurring more at a particular time of day, and so on. It was happening at school, yet the parents didn’t call DYFS to report the school and accuse them of abuse or neglect. Yes, this occurred in October, too.
I would also ask why the administrators don’t think it’s appropriate to question them on these topics, nor to ask for an apology.
Regan
Nov 30, 2007 at 9:49 pm
“Then, instead of calling an IEP meeting, doing an FBA or asking to speak with the child’s physicians, they called DYFS to investigate the family for the OCD behaviors that were occuring at school.”
Wow, just wow.
This is a rhetorical question, because I don’t want anyone to void their rights, but is this family going to file a suit?
Cherry Hill parent
Nov 30, 2007 at 10:23 pm
This family can’t afford an attorney at this point in time. They hired an advocate and had an IEP meeting. They are giving the school district one final chance to do the right thing, do the necessary FBA, educational testing, and so on (which the school has finally agreed to do). If not, they will have no choice but to hire an attorney.
They aren’t happy with what the school did, but they have to wait to see if the school will finally come through. They aren’t holding their breath, but they are hoping.
They are also questioning if the DYFS referral may have been in retaliation for something that they and their advocate saw last school year (improper handling of a situation with a student by an aide or teacher). Their advocate addressed it at the time it occurred and when no one would do anything about it, he told the teachers that he’d hate to have to report the school to DYFS. The advocate pursued it further with the school principal after the meeting, when the parents had left. So, the parents are left wondering if the school reporting them to DYFS for their son’s OCD symptoms could have actually been retaliation for their advocate causing a stink with the school (and later the district) administration. I think anyone in the same situation would wonder the same thing.
They would love to see the school district implement proper training of staff in ASDs & their symptoms. They have asked for this and even told them about an assembly that can be brought to each of the schools in the district, free of charge, to teach the staff & students about ASDs.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 1, 2007 at 12:50 am
I understand if you don’t want to answer this in a public forum: Does the district send, or has it sent, a lot of autistic children to out of district placements?
Cherry Hill parent
Dec 1, 2007 at 9:59 am
All of the parents I know with kids in out-of-district schools had to go to court to get them there. I’m assuming that there would be cases where the district might want them out if there was a severe problem (i.e. violent behavior), but I don’t know anyone who has had cooperation. That doesn’t mean they aren’t out there, I just haven’t met them or heard of them.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 1, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Thanks—I was wondering because it, in previous districts that we were in, some of the kids who had more behavior issues were offered placement out of the district, without going to court—-that would have been the case for my won; the district said that his behaviors had gotten to the point that they could not handle them. But we were not in favor of this particular out of district placement.
spidermom
Dec 13, 2007 at 12:07 am
Cherry Hill Parent,
You should also post this story in Kathi Magee’s Autism Blog. Another one, it’s unbelievable. Believe me the Cherry Hill district has suddenly found some money to make changes - that is before authorities come to check on them. You can post it annonimously there.
Lisa Grams
Dec 18, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Hi this goes out to all concerned parties (we really appreciate everyones support) Our President of Special Education Alliance has posted a petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/cherry-hills-shame
I have had to remove my son from school due to retaliation, way to much to go into here, I had to call DYFS in over the situation. We had another meeting today demanding that it stop immediately. Cherry Hill NJ the world is watching you!
I agree with the post that directs people to Kathi Magee’s Autism blog on the Courier Post. She gives a very detailed account on what has transpired in our school district. http://www.courierpostonline.com/blogs/autism.html
Again Thank you for your support.
spidermom
Dec 21, 2007 at 12:02 am
Lisa,
I saw just how brave you were to take those pictures and talk to reporters about the padded closet on TV. I applaud you for it. Unfortunatelly, retalliation doesn’t surprise me at all and that is a problem through out the district. It is how they operate - something like a mob or a communist country would do. I hope things change in Cherry Hill, because right now it is just very, very sad, that parents who already have so much to deal with, now also have to endure a fight with their children’s schools. I just don’t get it at all.
Against Restraint and Seclusion
Jun 28, 2008 at 12:21 pm
[…] the form of restraints like the basket hold as well as isolating measures like timeout rooms and a concrete quiet room. It might seem like “just what should be done” to control a child who’s […]
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