Parents angry over school district's use of 'isolation booth'
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LONGVIEW, Wash. -- It's been called everything from "the box" to a prison cell for kids, but an isolation room in the Longview School District prompted an investigation into possible mistreatment and even potential violations of state law.
Supporters in the district and the state say the seclusion rooms can be helpful tools to help children deeply affected in the autism spectrum and that they can help kids calm down and not hurt themselves or others.
Parent Candace Dawson disagrees.
"This is a little prison cell they had at Mint Valley," she said.
Dawson is livid that Mint Valley Elementary School in Longview uses the isolation room for special education students.
"Looks like it's about a four by four cell with ventilation holes in the ceiling," she said.
State law allows Longview and other districts to have these padded rooms when students have outbursts. The state superintendent's office says kids are only put inside if parents sign wavers beforehand and have Individual Education Plans for the student. Dawson says her son didn't have an IEP, but he was put in there anyway.
"He wasn't supposed to ever be near this room. They didn't have authorization from me. They didn't have my permission," she said.
Dawson alleges her son was put in the room three years ago at Mint Valley against district and state policy. She says her son told her he was put into the room when he was in the fourth grade after misbehaving with food. He's now in seventh grade at a different school.
"He said it was 'the naughty room.' And we said, what do you mean 'the naughty room'? Well, it's the room if you misbehave you're sent to," Dawson said.
District spokesperson Sandy Catt defended the practice, but admitted the district launched an investigation after receiving allegations from another parent Wednesday.
"It is not for discipline for regular education students," Catt said.
The district promised consequences for teachers if the allegations are true.
"I understand clearly that this could be of great concern to families," Catt said.
Dawson says therapy for kids in need is one thing. To her this is something else entirely.
"Putting them in a box is treating them like an animal," she said.
Three years ago and she's just now complaining? Sounds like she is in some attorney's hip pocket. She should visit an adaptive support center sometime and spend the day.
 @LMD Sometimes it takes about that long for knowledge about a teacher's practice to surface.
I am facing a huge issue with the school district where I live innapropriately using seclusion with my son. This is NOT part of his plan and yet they placed him an what was nothing more than a cubicle and had 2 adult use mats to block him in while he struggled to get out. He was scared and basically traumatized afterwards.  I had no idea schools even did this. He has an IEP and plan and in their debriefing they did nothing on his plan but resorted to restraing and seclusion. Now we are fighting for alternative placement and they have told me we don't get to "shop around just because we don't like the program." They are not telling us any ways in how they are changing how they do things or acting like they did anything wrong. It is disgusting and I refuse to send my son back there. I feel sorry for other children in their program and hope to enlighten other parents in the near future.
"OMG I MY KID WERE PUT IN A BOX I WOULD [insert impotent threat]" - this device is intended for SPECIAL NEEDS children. Not general population students. Special needs children can have sensory issues where the best possible thing for them to calm down is to be isolated in a room that has very little sensory information, which reverses and soothes the overload.
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Instead of running off at the keyboard with your ignorance, how about actually reading the article? If the woman did not sign the waiver and have it written into her son's IEP - then yes, its a problem. However, that does not remove the validity of the device when used properly and with permission from the parents or guardians. As a former special ed educator, it sounds like this mother may even be refusing to acknowledge her son's needs due to her own ignorance or miseducation.
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If a special needs child is a danger to themselves, the other students, or myself - they need to be contained until they can calm down and be reasoned or worked with. So save all the "IF THAT WERE MY CHILD" rage, internet warriors.
 @_9 Given what 'time out' ACTUALLY means, I can't help thinking that - in cases where children are placed in such devices because of their behaviour having escalated out of control - the fault lies with the staff, since they are the adults in that situation and a responsible for overseeing the behaviour of all children in the class. The 'time out' box has nothing to do with the REAL psychological concept of time out from positive reinforcement. It replaces a positive reinforcement schedule with a punishment, and - as ANY good teacher knows - punishment is useless as a teaching process.'Time out' boxes are not a valid means of controlling behaviour, any more than smacking a child is. Both constitute the abuse of a child. You are wrong. Get over it.
your opinion makes sending our autistic children to schools, even more frightening. I am sure your former spec ed educator rank clearly over rides a mothers knowledge of her child.
 @JBhallock I agree with you. Had any special educator in my daughter's school used this sort of thing (she's autistic, and - despite the rather nice image that Finland likes to propagate around the world - many schools here still have this draconian and punitive practice), they would have experienced the box themselves. My daughter's mum and I are both qualified specialists in autism (I deal more with the psychology and statistical analysis and she deals more with educational techniques for special education professionals, and we both deal with the use of scientific method in the workplace). We make sure that the teachers know what is what, and especially what is not going to meet with our approval. To their credit, many teachers we have met in connection with our daughter have shown reasonable enthusiasm for what we say: seems they don't like the draconian ideas and would like to know better ways of working with autistic children.
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Which is why _9's assertion of being a 'former special education educator' worries me.
It is insane to me adults consider a padded room any form of therapy, we all should know better. "Regular" children or whatever they consider children like my son. This district should be ashamed of themselves and any other that uses this tactic on children. Gross...http://jb-ourtriptoparis.blogspot.com/2012/11/sould-be-fired-on-spot-just-for-talking.html
I think the phrase, "it is not used as disipline for regular education students" sends the clear message that it is used as disipline for children who have IEP's. The law is that these rooms should be used ONLY when there is a clear danger to self or others. Clearly this is not the case. Please view the Q 13 fox story featuring CEP of washington Autism Advocasy and Alliance detailing how this is supposed to look. Thank you to Arzu Forough for taking on this issue! If anyone reading these comments has a child or is a self advocate with autism please visit the WAAA webapage for any asssistance :)
yeah, they band prisons from doing this to real dangerous adults, why do this to a child when that child obviously need someones attention!
I've seen a meltdown escalate to the point of throwing chairs at other students so I can understand the need for the kids to calm down. These kids should go to a room, not a box like the one pictured above. It should be larger, one child at a time (so they don't hurt each other) and supervised. How exactly do they keep an eye on the child in this room if they lock the door? There is no window and a peep hole isn't adequate. Even a room two or three times bigger is better than this thing, especially since some children are claustrophobic.
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Now, if the teachers are misusing, adding student's whose parents did not give consent, or sticking in kids for minor behavior problems then those teachers need to be removed and disciplined.
 @queenofthenight A small space may work in conjunction with compression therapy which is specifically tailored to autism spectrum students, among other disabilities. Small spaces are comforting.
 @_9 Are you out of your mind?
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"Compression therapy" (as you call it) is - scientifically speaking - a very seriously discredited and dangerous practice that has its basis in psychoanalysis and as such isn't even within the remit of special education. There is no evidence at all that has been gained using any scientific research method to support its use.
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Incidentally, the same applies to locking kids in boxes as well as to hitting them.I do not know any autistic people that would find being forced to stay in 'small spaces' 'comforting'.
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Seems to me that you are an example of why a little learning is a dangerous thing.
The parents have given consent, it's written into the IEP, and it's documented when the room is used and for how long. What more do the critics need? This room is not used for 'Oh he won't sit as his desk-', it's for serious escalation (i.e. getting physically violent and hurling objects around at the teacher(s) and other children in the room.)
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I'd hope a parent would know thier child well enough to know if this would 'work' for thier child, and it sounds like some of the kids even go in on thier own when they feel themselves escalating.
 @WAbornnraised Yes sometimes they do feel themselves escalate and sometimes can be redirected before an outburst.  I think there should be a quiet area with a couch or a bean bag.  A soothing place with books, music, and other activities.  Activities that are not highly preferred but do calm them down (it could be different for every child).  Also I would have a trampoline or something else so the child can move in an appropriate way and help regulate their body.  If they throw things when upset, have a bucket of bean bags and a target on the wall.  Teach and reward throwing bean bags instead of other objects.  I write these kinds of places into my behavior plans.  I have never written anything about physically moving a person into a small room and locking the door.  I teach children to request to go there and when they are beginning to escalate or their body is getting out of control, I may redirect them there before they start showing challenging behaviors that are considered dangerous.  It is a safe place for them to calm. Â
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IF I were to use something like a "deescalation room,"  I would have the "save place" and the "deescalation room" be two different areas. Â
 @Teresa Excellent idea. Much more humane, and more in line with what we know in educational psychology. MY daughter is autistic. I would trust you with her. Some other commenters I would not.
Have suffered from claustrophobia since childhood, I am already having nightmares.
waiver not waver
As a para-ed I work with kids on the autism spectrum every day. We have one of these rooms and it is used only when absolutely necessary. You have to understand that sometimes this is the safest thing we can do for the student, staff and other students. When a student goes into a full-blown tantrum they can seriously hurt themselves, hit, kick or bite anyone near them, throw furniture or run from the school into the street with no real awareness of where they're going. The rules for using the room come from the state and are very strict. You can't just use it for any kid, there has to be documented reasons and approval before you can use it. The door does not lock on its own, a staff member must stand outside the door pressing a lever so that it remains locked. You must have line of sight on the student at all times. Any time the room is used it must be documented.
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We do everything we can to help students avoid full-blow tantrums, but they do happen. When they do, if we didn't have a calm down room the only alternatives would be physical restraint, which is much more traumatic to the student and runs the risk of hurting them, or just letting them hurt themselves, staff and other students.Â
This room is wrong on so many levels.Â
So, what if there is an earthquake or a fire? Who is responsible for the child then?
 @reallyruserious:Â
In the story posted yesterday, it state clearly that any time a student is there, there is a staff member there also.
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 @TruthinAdverts  @LocalLady  @reallyruserious: No. When a child is in there, the rules state a staff member is right on the other side of the door basically with his hand next to the latch. I have been in special ed room where kids asked to put themselves in there; they felt themselves escalating and wanted to go in for a while to get away - they were allowed to, with the door open. I have also been in there when a child needed ot go in there and the principal came up and escorted him in there and stood there himself on the other side of the door. It was not pleasant but the child was hurling desks.  These are kids with agressive personalities, behavior disorders, diagnosed issues who are also under the care of medical and mental health specialists. But those kids have a right to be in school and measures have to be in place to keep them and other children safe. This is not locking Johnny in a box for refusing to sit still.Â
So how is it that on Wednesday afternoon this article had close to 300 comments, most from parents, teachers and para's that work with these kids daily and yet now we're down to 26 comments?? How does that happen? KOMO not getting the feedback they wanted for "juicy news"?
 @swimmy:Â
Before jumping to conclusions, try reading az bit further. This is a new/updated story. The original story is further back on KOMO's sire - here's a link to make it easy for you:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Isolation-box-Abuse-or-therapy-for-Longview-school-kids-181195571.html
The problem with children that have autism isn't autism. It's people that are not tolerant. People that could have just as easily been born with autism or had a child that was born with autism. There are many gifts that come with autism but society chooses to lump together as a "problem" or something to be dealt with. What would make more sense is for these adults, those that fail to have compassion for those with special needs, to climb into this coffin and take a time out. Someday we will look back on this sort of thing with disdain as we do so many once commonly practiced procedures for helping those with unique needs.
 @makeadifference There is no lack of compassion, believe me, But sometimes some Special Ed students have extreme violent outbursts and this is the last measure taken to prevent other students of staff getting hurt. Some students are very violent at times, I have experienced this myself plenty of times and gotten hurt before. But they all have a IEP plan in place, parents are part of the plan and at no time these children are unsupervised of left, one person is always at the door doing visual observation and every few minutes there is a check with the student and most often it takes only a few minutes for them to calm and return to the classroom. I find your accuse of all of us school employees lacking compassion insulting.
 @Rica I didn't specifically call out school employees although my experiences in public school surely weren't compassionate towards my son. I have been part of extremely physical and escalated situations with children on the spectrum. They had a special ROOM, not box, that he could go to. If it was bad enough, the police were called. I get it that there are extreme situations on occasion. However, I"m going to bet that these boxes are used more often than just the extreme.
I stand corrected spank me I expected all the parent's to yelling at school staff. Parents you need to tell the school they can discipline your children but when the get home home bitching discipline them yourself not no TV but a spanking or other. Whether that is a spanking , no dinner, time out or other you need to back the schools up.
looks like an oversized gun safe. A place for ballistic kids.
I think this room is great I was spanked in school 1 time I remember why and it was justified I have never done it again. I was 9 years old and attacked my younger brother. I think being locked in a room where you can't hurt your self or other is easy I still Dr. Sock was right when he said he was wrong. We now have children shooting children and now I expect yours to be one. Children need rules and boundaries (by the way I adopted and I would fight to my death for my brothers) and he for me. I am so glad he sent me his best wishes were sent to me when 74 was passed I happen to gay my brother's a straight republican. His congrats were sincere and well intended as he knew my first partner who passed in 1996 and my present partner. Grow Up children are children and need to know their limits by the way my kid brother got in more trouble when he was 7 than I did.
 @troy_smith1962@yahoo.com Thats a nice story grandpa.
Welcome to modern times.
 @TJM  @troy_smith1962@yahoo.com Modern times  Where we allow children to do what ever they want, because if we don't it might traumatize them.  We do not hold them accountable, because they are children.  I look at how children interact with one another today and how they interact with adults and think, maybe this modern thinking is all wrong.  Of course, if you have never spent any time working with the youth of today, or if you happen to be one of them, then you have no idea what you are talking about.  Spend a couple of months working with they youth today and tell me that modern child rearing is working
I would be furious if my son was locked in a box without my knowledge, but if the parents of a few problem kids have given their consent I don't think anyone can really blame the school. I have no problem with the school system dsciplining my child, but if he is causing a problem, I sure as heck want to know about it before he gets shut in a box somewhere. It sounds like that is exactly what happened with these kids. If the parents approved and it solves the problem, I guess I don't think it's a huge deal.
You don't like it? Deal with your child yourself then. Problem solved.
 @HawkEye Really?! Have a child on the spectrum? How about one that's non-verbal? What about a child that has sensory issues? A child that you would sacrifice anything for. A child that you can't connect with regardless of the thousands of dollars in therapy, hours spent in the car shuttling the child back and forth to therapists that might help. What about the hours that parents spend reading, researching, planning and begging insurance companies to help their children? YOU DEAL WITH IT!
 @HawkEye If it was only that easyÂ
Looks like this room could have its uses both for therapy and for punishment. Â Having two symbolically different rooms would be better though. Â A lot of people today are more "Don't Touch My Perfect Little Johnny!" as they are raising hellions that will be either punished or "funded" by the state due to their lax perception of their responsibilities. Â If parents won't discipline their kids, all thumbs up for the ones that do it within reason.
 @SkagitPat and what about the children that don't have a voice? How about those that don't have stable parents at home... should they be thrown into a box because their parents don't parent properly and they are hellions?
It's a better option than the two-foot long wooden paddle with holes drilled through it (to lessen wind resistance, I presume) that my third grade PE teacher used on "unruly" students. But, then again, this was back in the early 1970's, and nobody (that I can recall) ever considered it abuse, or raised hell about it. Â Oh yeah, he was a very large, muscular black man, too. Â Still, nobody seemed to think what he was doing was wrong. Â We didn't have "safety rooms" or "isolation booths" or whatever you want to call them - people just dealt with the issue at hand, and life went on. Â
 @Michael Merry Well there is a difference in a child who acts out because of  a medical issue and one who is simply a brat, the paddle is not appropriate in any circumstance in my opinion, it is not up to a teacher who has a kid for a few hours a day to use a paddle on them, unrulely or not, it is a violent act and doesn't teach kids anything accept it is ok to strike someone, whatever happened to being sent to the principals office for a time out? as for the box, I do not agree with that either, a kid is in school to learn, and that means learning how to interact with others as well as the ABC's, not to be isolated, if a child has that much of a medical issue that he has to be isolated and locked in a padded room, perhaps he should be in another school or classroom that deals specifically with his problems, it is not only disruptive to the class, it takes a teacher away from what they are getting paid to do....Teach.
 @Michael Merry No, it's not a better option.
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A better option is to NOT hit my kid and to NOT lock them in a CELL.
 @TJM  @Michael Merry Then the system should state that the parent will be present to observe said child for X amount of time.Â
 @TJM  @Michael Merry The kids that are put that room have parental consent. Â
 @sleever  @Michael Merry Then those parents need to be slapped. Â
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I volunteer.
I'm not opposed to such rooms, provided there are strictly enforced rules for use and parental permission. Â I think a teacher should need administration approval before sending a kid into the room. Â
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 @opus8no5:Â
Actually, if you read the previous story, parental consent is required.
 @Opus8no5 Just because a parent is misguided does not mean this sort of punishment is suitable for a child.
Nowadays, with the lack of parental discipline at home, they should have one of these lovely boxes in every classroom. The way many of today's youth treat adults due to their parents being "new age" and not believing in a little "whuppin" when they're out of line, I'd have ZERO hesitation locking some little delinquent in one of these rooms until they shaped up.
 @Wolfen Yes, punish the kids because their parents suck. That will help. Hope you're not a teacher.
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 @makeadifference  @Wolfen So let's coddle them and not show them that the real world has consequences for actions since their parents won't do it.  Good choice.
@sleever @makeadifference @LocalLady @Wolfen
 @sleever  @makeadifference  @Wolfen If the child is being violent the school does not need the parents consent.
 @sleever  @Wolfen Do you know how many children are labeled "special needs" in today's world? The school gets special funding for children on IEP's so there's an incentive to label any child that isn't just so as special needs. My school insisted that my son had autism despite what top pediatric neurologists, psychologists, speech and language therapists and other teachers from previous schools had to say. Had enough and went to a private school where he is flourishing... this happens every day. So special needs isn't a magic label that suddenly makes this okay. Remember that the people using this box are not trained psychiatrists, they're union employed teachers.
 @makeadifference  @Wolfen Read the story.  The room is for special needs children.  It's not for a child that can be fixed with love, redirection, or whatever other special word you can come up with. Â
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True, we don't throw people in a room who can't fit the norm. Â We do however, isolate people who pose a threat to others. Â This room is used to calm the child down. Â If you have a problem with it.. Â I suggest taking it up with the kid's parents.. Â ya know, the one's who gave their consent to it's use.
 @sleever  @Wolfen Love, redirection, discipline and logic. Most of the kids requiring these rooms have serious emotional issues. Many of them have special needs. We don't just throw people into a room if they don't fit the norm.
 @WolfenÂ
I can remember when parents were summoned to school to meet with the teacher and principal for scholastic or behavior problems and that did not bode well for little Johnny or Joyce when the parents got back home. Â I suspect that still is common for private schools and good public schools.Â