The Wrightslaw Way

Updated May 2013! How Safe Is The Schoolhouse? An Analysis of State Seclusion and Restraint Laws and Policies by Jessica Butler. This Report has been updated to include changes made in 2012 and early 2013 to state restraint and seclusion laws and policies and more fully discusses laws applicable to all children. Get a bullet […]

I have a 10 year old son who has Down syndrome. He is significantly developmentally delayed and does not speak. His teacher decided to make a storage closet in his classroom his timeout room.  She put a chair in the closet facing the wall, several times a day she sat him in there and made […]

A Washington school placed D.P., an autistic child, in a locked isolation room pursuant to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that allowed him to be placed in a “safe room” for “timeouts.” The child’s mother sued the school district for “negligence, outrage, and § 1983 violations.” These claims were based on D.P.’s constitutional rights and […]

Federal minimum standards are needed so that school children are protected from abusive seclusion and restraint practices, regardless of where they live. On February 2, 2010,The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) released a follow-up to its January 2009 report School is not Supposed to Hurt. The report, a shocking investigation chronicling the abusive use of […]

The House Committee on Education and Labor will mark up the Congressional restraint/seclusion bill this Thursday, February 4.  During mark-up, the Congressional Committee will consider the bill and any proposed changes, and vote on a bill to send to the House Floor. Live Webcast: If you would like to hear the discussion about the bill, […]

Today is the day! Thursday, January 21st, tell your members of Congress to support the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247/S.2860) introduced last month by Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA) and by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). This legislation would provide students with and without disabilities vital protections against […]

A Wisconsin school district has decided to use federal stimulus dollars to construct “seclusion areas” in its schools.  The decision is opposed by those working to end such practices for students with disabilities. The School Board voted in favor of using the funds for this purpose on December 14,  the vote coming just after Congressman […]

A 14-year old student in a special education classroom in Texas, Cedric lived with a foster family because of a history of neglect, including malnutrition. One day in 2002, his teacher tried to punish him by withholding food, despite the abuse he had suffered as a young child. Cedric’s teacher delayed his lunch for hours […]