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Palm Beach County School Board Approves Limited Use of Prone Restraint on Special Needs Children

July 31st, 2011   No Comments   Advocacy, Special Needs

Putting aside the complaints of child advocates, a legal aid attorney, parents and two of its own members, the Palm Beach County School Board last week voted 4-2 to continue the practice prone restraint — albeit as a last resort — when for subduing special-needs children, the Sun-Sentinel wrote.

The paper also reported that “federal studies have linked the use of prone restraint in other parts of the country to injuries and deaths. A Palm Beach Post series last year noted hundreds of incidents where the technique was used and the complaints of some parents who called for a ban on prone restraint.”

Some wanted the practice banned. Barbara Briggs, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, cited the case of an autistic kindergarten student subdued using prone restraint 14 times last year, sometimes for as long as 30 to 35 minutes. Read the entire story here.

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