School puts autistic child in duffel bag

[Sweet72947]

Schools need better training on how to handle children with disabilities.

My mom's friend was/is raising her grandchild and when he was younger he had problems to the point where he SHOULD have had an aid with him in classes, but his school refused to provide him with what should have been a RIGHT. So she had to pull him out of public school and place him in a special school where he did much better.

 

[sillysally]

These appear to be bag type products that are used in autism therapy: www.epinions.com/t-body-sock-autism

Maybe the school used the therapy tool incorrectly and should have informed the mother, but it doesn't look like they threw him in a random gym bag for fun.

 

[thehoundgirl]

Who cares if it's some sort of "therapy". It's stupid and should NOT be used without a parent's consent. EVEN then I would NOT want someone doing that to MY child. It's just pure ignorance. There are more "therapys" out there are more humane than throwing a CHILD into a freakin' duffel bag.

I'm not sure if austistic children understand normal discipline, but this is a method that should not be used. I'd like to throw those idiots into a duffel bag and see how they like it. It has no purpose but confusing the child and pissing off the parents. It just should not be acceptable in schools. That is like having a teacher spank the crap out of your child when it's unwarranted.

People who work with children should know how to handle children with disabillities when they misbehave. They could talk to the parents and see how THEY discipline them, don't just throw him in a duffel bag. They could actually learn from parents who deal with their kids on a daily basis.

I have a really good friend who has autistic children and if this ever happened to her child she would blow a casket. People are just mean to the disabled children and disabled adults and I am really sick of it.

 

[sillysally]

Who cares if it's some sort of "therapy". It's stupid and should NOT be used without a parent's consent. EVEN then I would NOT want someone doing that to MY child. It's just pure ignorance. There are more "therapys" out there are more humane than throwing a CHILD into a freakin' duffel bag.

I'm not sure if austistic children understand normal discipline, but this is a method that should not be used. I'd like to throw those idiots into a duffel bag and see how they like it. It has no purpose but confusing the child and pissing off the parents. It just should not be acceptable in schools. That is like having a teacher spank the crap out of your child when it's unwarranted.

People who work with children should know how to handle children with disabillities when they misbehave. They could talk to the parents and see how THEY discipline them, don't just throw him in a duffel bag. They could actually learn from parents who deal with their kids on a daily basis.

I have a really good friend who has autistic children and if this ever happened to her child she would blow a casket. People are just mean to the disabled children and disabled adults and I am really sick of it.

Do you know that it is actually inhumane? If the bag in question is like the ones in the link, it's not a duffel bag. A friend if mine is a special needs teacher and when I read the article to her she knew what kind a item was probably being described and said that it is sometimes used for autistic students but the kid can actually walk around in it and can see through it much like a horse fly mask. She also said that it is to be used with lots of positive reinforcement and not as a punishment, and should never be used without parental concent.

 

[thehoundgirl]

Well, no but it sounds inhumane so, yeah..

 

[Romy]

I think it's definitely inhumane to tie a kid in with a drawstring. Presumably the therapeutic body socks don't have drawstrings. And a kid could probably get himself out of one if he was too scared or asphyxiating or something, vs. being tied in.

If I found my child in that situation...

 

[Miakoda]

One of Cole's classmates LOVES his body sock.

But I don't believe even a blind man could mix up a body sock with a duffle bag. Not to mention that a child's head is completely out-free and clear-in a body sock. It sounds like this kid was inside a bag head and all.

I've seen some of the parents over the years, and I know that angry and spiteful parents in denial do exist.

But it's also quite evident that kids with special needs find themselves being treated like animals or outright abused all because they cannot fully understand, process, and communicate the issue(s) with their parents.

I've been to he'll and back with Cole this year. He's finally in a wonderful place, but he did suffer at the hands of an aide who choked him and a teacher that did nothing but demean him, criticize him, label him as stupid, and put him in time-out for hours on end......at times for things like him not nourishing in his journal and just scribbling instead. Ummmmm....they're 5! And he's got fine motor skill issues!

 

[Miakoda]

writing....not nourishing

 

[4dogs3cats]

We had bean bag chairs that we would kind of roll over the kids putting a bit of pressure. It helped them feel secure. We never put them in ANY kind of bag.

And I am sorry, but when I was a TA in a moderate level special needs classroom, a kid smirking and throwing a basketball across the room would not be considered misbehavior. Thats NORMAL behavior. I had a kid bite me and pee on me and we didn't have her mom come get here. You dont get a job in special needs if you cant handle the norm.

But regardless, any time we tried a new therapy, we did discuss it with the parents. Actually, we never did the therapy. The occupational therapist did. And they had regular meetings with the parents. It wasnt the teachers job to control the disability. It was the teachers job to impart wisdom.

Just my .02.

 

[sillysally]

Well, no but it sounds inhumane so, yeah..

Maybe it's just me, but I would have to see the bag in question, hear the teacher's side of the story, etc. Just because something looks/seems like something doesn't mean it is. Many people mistake Sally's head halter for a muzzle, and I cannot tell you how many times I have been accused if blindfolding horses when they had fly masks on, but that doesn't mean I muzzle my dog and blindfold horses.

Yes, the school should have told the mother about any therapy that was being done, and maybe they really did go to WalMart, buy a duffel bag, and stuff special needs kids in it when they were acting up. However, I'm not going to scream for the firing of teachers and staff on only the word of a mother and a very one sided news story.

 

[Dizzy]

I don't believe anything I read in the papers..... So, that's my opinion.

 

[Doberluv]

I think if I were making a choice as to what to do with the child, I would first try to put myself in his shoes. I couldn't entirely, of course. But I'd ask myself how would anyone (adult, a child without this disability, an animal....any living thing) feel trapped, alone and unable to get out of something like that, confused as to why he/she is in there, why no one is holding or comforting, frightened because of the confusion. And I'd have to come to the conclusion that it isn't a positive or helpful remedy, but instead creating all kinds of chaos in the subject's mind.

Surely, there's a more productive way to steady a child like this, to reduce the stress and frustration. I think this sounds like a solution to get the disruptive child out of the way while he figures out on his own how to calm down (or more likely, go into a state of learned helplessness) as he realizes he can't get out of the bag.