FLORIDA Families Against Restraint and Seclusion

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

'Pattern of abuse of autistic children in Florida schools'
08/22/2008 Miami, FL
There is a pattern of abuse, neglect and humiliation. That's what more than 100 parents of autistic children in Florida are telling the state attorney general's office and anyone who will listen.The parents and others claim children with autism are being mistreated — in some cases physically harmed — by teachers and staff who are supposed to be helping them. On the Treasure Coast alone, there are two potential lawsuits against the St. Lucie County School District by parents of autistic children."These aren't isolated incidents. This is an epidemic," said one Port St. Lucie parent, Anna Moore, who says her then-7-year-old autistic son was mistreated by staff at his school in 2007. "It's time it stopped."
Click on the link below to read the complete story.
http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?section=00010001&itemtype=news&id=6450

Welcome to FLORIDA Families Against Restraint and Seclusion

Welcome to FLORIDA Families Against Restraint and Seclusion. If you've clicked on this blog, most likely it's because you or someone you love has experienced the overuse or unnecesary use of restraint and seclusion in public schools. If that's the case, we're glad you've found us, but are sorry you've had need to. We're here to provide guidance and support to those who need it. For everyone else, we wish to inform you that restraint and seclusion are very real and could happen to anyone's children. Every day children with disabilities are restrained or put in seclusion against their will with no parental notification for "noncompliance" and "behavior issues."Children with Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders are at risk the most.

If you have any questions, please contact us at familiesagainstrestraint@yahoo.com

HELP STOP RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION IN OUR FLORIDA SCHOOLS!

Please Sign the petition below to BAN deadly prone restraints sign the Petition to ban the use of deadly face-down prone restraints. This form of restraint has killed children in public schools and residential treatment settings. There are safe, alternative approaches.

Sincerely,Isabelle ZehnderFounder and PresidentCoalition Against Institutionalized Child Abuse (CAICA) http://caica.org/index.

Comments or Questions?

If you have any comments or questions, please send us an email at familiesagainstrestraint@yahoo.com

Please also include your county so we can best address your concerns.

Thank You!

REPORT SCHOOL ABUSE

The Welfare of Children Act (HB 7173) amended the definition of "other person responsible for the child's welfare" to include school personnel, thus making it mandatory to report suspected abuse by school personnel.

Florida Child Abuse Hot Line 1-800-962-2873

New ABA/Family center opens in Northeast Broward Florida. Please visit our website at http://www.revlearning.org/

Some of our services include ABA/VB therapy, Social Skills classes, no cost parent Education/Advocacy training.

For more information please visit our website at http://www.revlearning.org/

We believe that evidence based positive behavior interventions, such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) when used properly, help to prevent the mis-use and over use of restraint and seclusion on children with autism and autism spectrum disorders.

Links to Other Sites

Parent to Parents http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Parent_to_Parents/

Families Against restraint and Seclusion http://familiesagainstrestraintandseclusion.blogspot.com/

APRAIS

http://aprais.tash.org/index.htm

TASH http://www.tash.org/index.html

National Disability Rights Network http://www.ndrn.org/index.htm

Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates http://www.copaa.net/