Restraint
This story infuriated me to no end. I realize it’s been a while since the story broke, but I’ve been a little busy. In any case, I know for a fact this kind of thing happens, because something like it was done to my own sister who has severe physical disabilities. We didn’t find out directly, though. It took a while before someone finally came forward and told us.
This all goes back to my own personal belief that integrating special needs students with a general population of high-school and/or middle school students is a bad idea. The schools simply have limited resources for providing the necessary level of care for those students. I don’t believe that they should be ostracized on principal, but there needs to be a common-sense approach to providing for these students. High-functioning individuals with simple disabilities don’t need to be put in with the students with severe disabilities.
For the most part, though, the people making these decisions have no direct experience with individuals with disabilities. Every school board member and every policy maker at the Department of Education should have to personally meet EACH and EVERY student that their decisions are affecting.
Bah. I’m very sensitive to this topic.