By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer 

When Judith Herb saw her 7 year-old-son restrained face down against a doormat by teachers last January at Pleasant Hill School, she said she was “horrified.” 

Zeke, who is autistic, became emotionally distressed after he was involved in a playground dispute and forcefully held by teachers until his mother arrived.

Although Herb admitted she knew little prior to the incident about the school’s policy for “therapeutic restraint,” she now is on a Maine Department of Education panel to review the policy on a statewide level.

Herb said she and others agree the practice should only be used as a last resort.

“We need to make sure restraints are only being used when everything else has failed,” Herb said. 

This Thursday, the Scarborough School Board was expected to make several changes to its policy on how teachers are allowed to physically hold a student if the need arises. 

The policy currently defines therapeutic restraint as physical restraint to prevent a student from injuring himself or others. The policy also states a restraint should be performed in accordance with an individualized, written plan that specifically calls for therapeutic restraint. 

Alison Marchese, director of special services, said individual plans are developed on a need by need basis if it becomes evident a student’s behavior requires that level of intervention. Teachers are allowed to use therapeutic restraint in any case where it is deemed a child may be at risk of endangering himself or another student.

Marchese said the School Board is updating its policy in response to a Sept. 10 letter from Education Commissioner Dr. Angela Faherty to school superintendents throughout Maine. 

Faherty wrote in the letter that the department supports a bill presented last year to the Joint Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs to “prohibit the physical restraint of a disabled student that results in the student lying face down on the floor while pressure is applied to the student’s back.”

Faherty said the department “would also broaden the prohibition to include all children and any position which restricts the free movement of the diaphragm or chest so as to interrupt normal breathing and speech.”

The letter states all schools throughout Maine must amend local policies and maintain a list of all personnel trained to perform therapeutic restraints and their specific qualifications.

Marchese said the letter was prompted by several incidents that occurred on a federal level regarding the safety of some restraints. The letter cited a report from the Child Welfare League of America conducted in 2002 that reported eight to 10 children die each year due to restraints and many others suffer a wide range of injuries. 

“If not done properly it can potentially cause injury and even sometimes when it is done properly it can cause injury because of the heightened situation,” Marchese said. 

Marchese said restraint of children in certain special education programs could pose a greater risk. Children who are obese or face breathing problems such as asthma are at particular risk if they’re restrained in a way that could restrict air flow to the lungs, she said. 

“Much of the training our staff goes through is how to de-escalate a situation before it gets to the point of using a hold,” Marchese said.

Marchese said although teachers in the school department have been taught the use of prone, or face-down restraints, the practice was discontinued in March when the department switched training programs. 

Although training is not mandatory for all teachers, Marchese said those likely to be involved with students at risk for harming themselves or others are trained in the proper way to perform a restraint.

“This is an issue of great concern for everybody. Although our hope is to never have a child feel that out of control to the point where there is a safety concern and a restraint is needed, if that situation does occur we do our best to minimize injury and harm for both teachers and students,” Marchese said. “We also engage parents immediately after (a restraint is performed) and work with them in developing other programs and resources to meet their child’s needs.” 

Herb said she would like to see more teachers trained in learning to identify and resolve problematic situations before a restraint is needed.

“There needs to be more training out there on how to recognize antecedents so that when a child is becoming irritated we can learn what set him off before and try and take a different approach the next time,” Herb said. 

Shortly after the incident involving Zeke, Herb transferred her son to the Collaborative School in New Gloucester, a day treatment service for students in grades K-12. She said he began having nightmares of the restraint and found it too difficult to return to Pleasant Hill School. 

The Collaborative School, which serves as both a comprehensive educational and mental health treatment setting licensed by the Department of Education and Human Services, employs a wide range of methods to control students’ behaviors.

Herb said she has seen a dramatic change in her son’s behavior since he entered the school.

“He is able now if he starts feeling agitated to go to an area and either sit down with a book or something else to help relax,” Herb said.

She said children with disabilities such as autism have a particularly hard time with change in social settings and need a stable environment to help control impulses.

“Kids who can’t read social skills well sometimes struggle. It’s just a different environment and the supports are there,” she said.

One of the alternative programs used at the school is a “click system,” Herb said. It rewards good behavior with points redeemable for prizes and takes away points for bad behavior.

She said one of the school’s goals is to help students recognize when they feel distressed. The school employs a technique called “therapeutic bouncing. It allows students to take a physical break by going to the water fountain or retrieving an item from another classroom to take their mind off what is frustrating them. 

“Nobody wants a kid spitting at a teacher or causing this type of thing or that type of thing. We don’t want our kids distracting anyone else’s education, but at the same time we don’t want our kids feeling so terrorized (by restraints) that they can’t go to school,” Herb said.

Although Scarborough’s policy allows the use of time-out rooms, a practice used in day treatment facilities such as the Collaborative School, there have yet to be any built in any of the town’s schools, Marchese said. 

“They’ve always been part of the policy and it’s not to say we won’t use them in the future,” Marchese said.

Marchese said the rooms require specific size requirements and that construction has not been an option due to insufficient space. Marchese said there has yet to be a need at other Scarborough schools. 

Marchese said the annual number of restraints in Scarborough schools is relatively low. The district reported 27 restraints last year compared to South Portland’s 63. 

“Obviously one is too many,” Marchese said.

Superintendent Jo-Ann Sizemore agreed that Scarborough has fewer incidents of restraints compared to other southern Maine schools.

After learning of the proposed changes in Scarborough, Herb said she eventually would like to see Zeke enrolled at a school in his own town. She said the Collaborative School’s goal is to get children to the point where they can learn in a mainstream classroom.

 Herb said she would like all teachers trained in how to properly perform restraints.

“It’s hard to hear what students have been through and teachers are saints for dealing with these things,” Herb said. “We just need to be doing everything in our power to control a situation before a restraint is used. If it is just a quick go-to to get students to stop, that is not how it is to be used.”

Herb said she realizes there is a time and place for restraints and wants to make sure the practice is used only when students are in danger of harming themselves or others.

“There is definitely a need for restraints, I mean, if a kid walks into a school with a submachine gun, throw him on the ground,” Herb said. 

School Board Member John Cole said although Scarborough doesn’t have many incidents involving restraints, he agrees the practice has its place.

“If you’ve got a kid who is going to hurt themselves or others, there is a case when you need to use it,” Cole said.

Cole said the school board had tabled revisions to the policy twice this year so several grammatical corrections could be made. 

Cole said the school board will continue to train teachers in how to restrain students and that providing a good exchange of dialogue with parents is one step toward improving public understanding of the matter. 

“We’re striving to be a bit more transparent and open so that folks understand what is going on,” Cole said. “It’s challenging for staff anytime they have to do these things and challenging for parents as well. Unfortunately these things are always going to happen and it’s no judgment on the kids or the parents or the family, it just happens.”

Herb agreed. 

“I just want people to really know and appreciate these children are special and they’re our future. We’re trying to do our best and hope Zeke will be able to achieve his hopes and dreams someday,” she said. “He’s an awesome kid and some people don’t understand how much of a struggle it is for them.”

“If they knew how to behave the right way they would do it. It’s not bad parenting, it’s just the way they’re wired.”

Staff Writer Dan Aceto can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237.