Autistic boy strapped to a chair at school

[Eldorado]

A five-year-old boy with autism was strapped to a chair at his waist and ankles at school, Belfast Live can reveal.

The little boy, the youngest of three children, attends a special school in Northern Ireland.

But photos sent to his parents as part of a class report revealed the youngster had been confined to the chair with straps at his waist and legs despite having no special physical needs.

Meanwhile, other pupils were able to sit and play freely.

Full shame: https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/autistic-boy-five-strapped-chair-15264644

[Piney]

Strap the bloody teacher to a chair.....for a week!

[stevewinn]

What if his special needs which is behavioural gave the teacher concern for other children's safety. Putting him in a chair which is specially designed to restrain children with special needs. The fact such a chair exists and is in use in the classroom tells us what type of disabilities and disorders the school is dealing with. 

Plus the teacher included a photo in a report and gave it to his parents, which highlights the teacher had no concern that the wrong action had taken place or tried to cover up the fact their autistic son with behavioural problems had to be restrained. 

 

[skrubby]

3 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

What if his special needs which is behavioural gave the teacher concern for other children's safety. Putting him in a chair which is specially designed to restrain children with special needs. The fact such a chair exists and is in use in the classroom tells us what type of disabilities and disorders the school is dealing with. 

Plus the teacher included a photo in a report and gave it to his parents, which highlights the teacher had no concern that the wrong action had taken place or tried to cover up the fact their autistic son with behavioural problems had to be restrained. 

 

im autistic and ive been restrained by the cops the worst people have done to me is..attempt to murder me while the teacher was watching...huh people these days... 3rd grade a group of kids smashed my face into a pole yes it hurt here is an idea not everyone with special needs needs to be restrained people just make fun and harass them for being different or mutated. yeah im getting sick of hearing this chances or the teacher is at fault unless the child had special medical needs not listed (anger issues included).

[acute]

Severely autistic children sometimes have to be temporarily restrained to prevent them from harming themselves or others. It's an uncomfortable truth that is never shown in TV documentaries or news reports.

Some have to wear head-guards to stop them banging their heads up the wall, or face-guards to stop them biting other children or themselves.

[skrubby]

2 minutes ago, acute said:

Severely autistic children sometimes have to be temporarily restrained to prevent them from harming themselves or others. It's an uncomfortable truth that is never shown in TV documentaries or news reports.

Some have to wear head-guards to stop them banging their heads up the wall, or face-guards to stop them biting other children or themselves.

it also comes to a morality issue when i switched schools i wasn't bullied and teachers were fin with me then they found out i was autistic and they and the students started to harass me to the point that sometimes the teacher would have the entire class make fun of me now that is a large problem and this isn't autistic children the children mentioned above usually have become homocidal or suicidal from verbal and mental abuse and it can be caused from varying mental illnesses. it seems there is a large misunderstanding that no one cares to fix

[Eldorado]

6 minutes ago, acute said:

Severely autistic children sometimes have to be temporarily restrained to prevent them from harming themselves or others. It's an uncomfortable truth that is never shown in TV documentaries or news reports.

Some have to wear head-guards to stop them banging their heads up the wall, or face-guards to stop them biting other children or themselves.

This child had no history of needing to be physically restrained.  (The Police are involved in this matter)

[acute]

2 minutes ago, Eldorado said:

This child had no history of needing to be physically restrained.  (The Police are involved in this matter)

Oh, that puts a different slant on it.

(I couldn't get the page to load properly)

[Piney]

16 minutes ago, acute said:

Severely autistic children sometimes have to be temporarily restrained to prevent them from harming themselves or others. It's an uncomfortable truth that is never shown in TV documentaries or news reports.

There are ways to calm them without physical restraints. I'm autistic and my youngest more so. When I was involved in child care with my Quaker Meeting I had some wild ones. But I always managed to calm them down.

Restraint actually makes things worse in many instances. 

[acute]

^ I was referring to severe autism, where they have no language skills and can't be reasoned with.

[stevewinn]

What's the schools side of the story? 

No one knows because there's an investigation. 

Hard to draw a conclusion with very little known. 

[Setton]

34 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

What if his special needs which is behavioural gave the teacher concern for other children's safety. Putting him in a chair which is specially designed to restrain children with special needs. The fact such a chair exists and is in use in the classroom tells us what type of disabilities and disorders the school is dealing with. 

Those chairs aren't designed to 'restrain' children at all. They're designed to position and angle children with little or no motor function to see what is happening in class. 

Add to that that the boy is not aggressive or violent and it doesn't look good for the school. 

I would also like to hear their side, however. 

There is so much misunderstanding about autism. People just think it means what they see in the news but it is called the autistic spectrum for a reason. You've probably met dozens of people with autism and never known it. 

[Piney]

8 minutes ago, acute said:

^ I was referring to severe autism, where they have no language skills and can't be reasoned with.

There are ways to calm them. I took care of a kid with Williams Syndrome. His I.Q was 20. I always kept him calm. 

[acute]

7 minutes ago, Setton said:

There is so much misunderstanding about autism. People just think it means what they see in the news but it is called the autistic spectrum for a reason. You've probably met dozens of people with autism and never known it. 

Only a part of the spectrum is ever shown on TV.  Severely autistic children and adults are hidden away, and the condition isn't discussed in the media, so it's no wonder that most people think of autistic kids as 'gifted' in some way.

[Piney]

9 minutes ago, acute said:

Only a part of the spectrum is ever shown on TV.  Severely autistic children and adults are hidden away, and the condition isn't discussed in the media, so it's no wonder that most people think of autistic kids as 'gifted' in some way.

That "indigo child" crap was the reason my heart and renal conditions weren't found until a military physical. 

[Setton]

14 minutes ago, acute said:

Only a part of the spectrum is ever shown on TV.  Severely autistic children and adults are hidden away, and the condition isn't discussed in the media, so it's no wonder that most people think of autistic kids as 'gifted' in some way.

Huh. I was thinking it from the other side. 

Plenty of autistic kids where you'd never know it. They're just like everyone else except in very specific circumstances. 

Bottom line is, most people probably only know about the middle group. 

[Grey Area]

6 hours ago, stevewinn said:

What if his special needs which is behavioural gave the teacher concern for other children's safety. Putting him in a chair which is specially designed to restrain children with special needs. The fact such a chair exists and is in use in the classroom tells us what type of disabilities and disorders the school is dealing with. 

Plus the teacher included a photo in a report and gave it to his parents, which highlights the teacher had no concern that the wrong action had taken place or tried to cover up the fact their autistic son with behavioural problems had to be restrained. 

 

If there was a situation where the kid had to be restrained, the parents should have been notified immediately, come to school and taken him home, a full report should have been made and pastoral support should have been liasing with the family as to how best to continue his education minimising the risk to him and others.

There is no legitimate circumstance that could emerge where a parent discovers use of restraint after the fact on a photo.

I have never seen a chair like that used for restraint and/or on physically able people, I would suggest it’s usage is for posture where it might be damaging to long term health or if an upright position cannot be maintained.

The teacher should suspended pending abuse inquiries, potentially the whole school should investigated and the children talked to by trained investigators.

[internetperson]

6 hours ago, Piney said:

There are ways to calm them without physical restraints. I'm autistic and my youngest more so. When I was involved in child care with my Quaker Meeting I had some wild ones. But I always managed to calm them down.

Restraint actually makes things worse in many instances. 

I think it goes without saying that I respect you but I'd have to see this to believe it. How many kids did you deal with? I had a friend that did this for a living, wish I could get his ass in here. 

I'll admit my vast wealth of knowledge (being sarcastic) comes from a louis theroux doc.

EDIT: Oh but I should point out I don't condone the teachers actions. That is messed up.

Edited October 11, 2018 by internetperson

[Piney]

15 minutes ago, internetperson said:

I think it goes without saying that I respect you but I'd have to see this to believe it. How many kids did you deal with?

I lost count. I just know I was "in demand" for uncontrollable kids.

Now I think about it. It might be a autistic "horse whisperer" type thing with me because I can handle the meanest dog, cat and horse too. I was just talking to @Hankenhunter  about a working ( not a house pet or friendly) dog that I was treating and hand feeding who had Lymes for damn near 2 weeks. The poor thing was snapping at everybody else. 

 

[internetperson]

@Piney Sounds like you'd be a great paramedic. I've serious issues with how paramedics/cops treat folks with epilepsy. The seizure isn't an issue its when you come to. You don't know up from down and people want to put their hands on you (check blood sugar, blood pressure) so you respond accordingly. Then the cops show up. Now you're in a situation with several tatted up 'tough guy' paramedics (some Outlaws) and a cop just waiting to put you down. WTF did I do wrong? In all their medical training they should've been taught to do this: chill, wait a minute for me to get my bearings strait. 

There's a video of a guy who wrecked his car in a lake and everything went down the way I just explained but he was shot a few times. 

[Farmer77]

3 minutes ago, internetperson said:

In all their medical training they should've been taught to do this: chill, wait a minute for me to get my bearings strait. 

They are taught that but there is a delicate balance between giving enough space for patients to get their bearings and enough space for patients to get up and attack you or sprint into traffic and get themselves killed. Even allowing you to get up too soon resulting in falling and sustaining further injury could lead to legal liability, or at least the appearance of, and all the accompanying hassles.

Conversely half of the people you see in an ambulance make near minimum wage so when it comes to first responders there is a decent amount of "you get what you pay for" on the local ground ambulance level.

[Piney]

22 minutes ago, internetperson said:

@Piney Sounds like you'd be a great paramedic. I've serious issues with how paramedics/cops treat folks with epilepsy. The seizure isn't an issue its when you come to. You don't know up from down and people want to put their hands on you (check blood sugar, blood pressure) so you respond accordingly. Then the cops show up. Now you're in a situation with several tatted up 'tough guy' paramedics (some Outlaws) and a cop just waiting to put you down. WTF did I do wrong? In all their medical training they should've been taught to do this: chill, wait a minute for me to get my bearings strait. 

There's a video of a guy who wrecked his car in a lake and everything went down the way I just explained but he was shot a few times. 

I was.

I was a full Forestry Service F.F. and ran with ARC in war zones. But the felony conviction took that away. 

[internetperson]

16 minutes ago, Farmer77 said:

They are taught that but there is a delicate balance between giving enough space for patients to get their bearings and enough space for patients to get up and attack you or sprint into traffic and get themselves killed. Even allowing you to get up too soon resulting in falling and sustaining further injury could lead to legal liability, or at least the appearance of, and all the accompanying hassles.

Conversely half of the people you see in an ambulance make near minimum wage so when it comes to first responders there is a decent amount of "you get what you pay for" on the local ground ambulance level.

Farmer I respect the hell outta you you're a smart guy but I have personal experience with this, they suck. Their training sucks or they ignore it. Not gonna debate it, not worried if folks think I'm 'wrong' or not. To each their own. 'Tough guys' need to be easy when they're in my house.

Edited October 12, 2018 by internetperson

[Duke Wellington]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 12:48 PM, skrubby said:

im autistic and ive been restrained by the cops the worst people have done to me is..attempt to murder me while the teacher was watching...huh people these days... 3rd grade a group of kids smashed my face into a pole yes it hurt here is an idea not everyone with special needs needs to be restrained people just make fun and harass them for being different or mutated. yeah im getting sick of hearing this chances or the teacher is at fault unless the child had special medical needs not listed (anger issues included).

I`m no expert on autism but with autistic people I have noticed they cause a negative reaction in others.

Sometimes it is genuine bullying from sadistic people getting off on making someone else feel bad. But most of it is caused by the way the autistic person relates to others. They either come across as being socially awkward or cause resentment with the way they interact with people. Its like autistic people cannot read emotions in other people so they never learned when they are making someone else feel bad. In essence, they have no emotional intelligence.

In fact its worse than that, its like they dont fully comprehend that other people exist. So they come across as selfish, self-centred, socially awkward, and lacking emotional intelligence, because they never went through a process of learning about other people. 

[Farmer77]

3 minutes ago, internetperson said:

Farmer I respect the hell outta you you're a smart guy but I have personal experience with this, they suck. Their training sucks or they ignore it. Not gonna debate it, not worried if folks think I'm 'wrong' or not. To each their own. 'Tough guys' need to be easy when they're in my house.

Oh I wasnt disputing your experiences at all man, sorry if it came across like that.

Im sure you're dead on with the "tough guy" thing too, there has definitely been a bunch of bleed over of the militarism that has infected law enforcement into EMS.