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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Strapping a Child in a Chair.........
Unregistered 12:11 PM 12-12-2012
Okay, so i will try to make this as short as possible
Dcb 2.5y
Some developmental delays
Have been keeping him since he was 13m
Major speech delays

Speech therapist (or rather the assistant) comes once a week been coming for 6 months
Completed 6month review today

Yesterday dcb had regular therapy session. He was upset, crying, only wanted to be held.
Therapist doesnt want me to hold him, wants to seperate from group to calm him so they can do session. Goes to kitchen, dcb stops crying.......hmmm, i go to check on him, she is holding him. Go back to dc room, couple of minutes pass......t.v. Comes on. Holds him the entire session, gets ready to leave but dcb gets upset again about something, therapist wants to teach me a tecnique i should use to calm boy.
Straps child in his boster seat in kitchen, insists we stand in living room until he calms down, cries, cries, cries, screams, hits table, proceeds to gag himself, after about 5 min i am fed up, i want him out, i want him to stop crying, that is just not my style, i hold and i baby, that is just me.
Therapist insists that i let him calm himself down, i state that licensing rules are that you may only put a 2 year old in time out for 2 minutes. Well she syas that what she is doing is not time out, its just a cool down zone.........okay, well time out here is cool down time.........strapped to a chair really?? Am i the only one that finds this completely wrong.
Proceeds for about 20 min. Ive had it, inside im boiling, i understand what she is trying to do but i dont want to be a part of it, i state that i dont like it, i dont believe in it, and it will not be done in my home, that the parents shoud partake in any type of discipline of that kind, i just wont do it and remove the child from the chair.

Informed mom at pick up. She didnt like the method either,

Therapist and actual speech therapist here today, i stated my concerns, she still insists it is not time out, real speech therapist had no comment, therapist brougt paperwork about tecnique used as promised that she would, also gave paperwork to parents. She claims that it is done in our school district, preschool teachers do it...........WOW, SERIOUSLY! Errrr.
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Play Care 12:32 PM 12-12-2012
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Okay, so i will try to make this as short as possible
Dcb 2.5y
Some developmental delays
Have been keeping him since he was 13m
Major speech delays

Speech therapist (or rather the assistant) comes once a week been coming for 6 months
Completed 6month review today

Yesterday dcb had regular therapy session. He was upset, crying, only wanted to be held.
Therapist doesnt want me to hold him, wants to seperate from group to calm him so they can do session. Goes to kitchen, dcb stops crying.......hmmm, i go to check on him, she is holding him. Go back to dc room, couple of minutes pass......t.v. Comes on. Holds him the entire session, gets ready to leave but dcb gets upset again about something, therapist wants to teach me a tecnique i should use to calm boy.
Straps child in his boster seat in kitchen, insists we stand in living room until he calms down, cries, cries, cries, screams, hits table, proceeds to gag himself, after about 5 min i am fed up, i want him out, i want him to stop crying, that is just not my style, i hold and i baby, that is just me.
Therapist insists that i let him calm himself down, i state that licensing rules are that you may only put a 2 year old in time out for 2 minutes. Well she syas that what she is doing is not time out, its just a cool down zone.........okay, well time out here is cool down time.........strapped to a chair really?? Am i the only one that finds this completely wrong.
Proceeds for about 20 min. Ive had it, inside im boiling, i understand what she is trying to do but i dont want to be a part of it, i state that i dont like it, i dont believe in it, and it will not be done in my home, that the parents shoud partake in any type of discipline of that kind, i just wont do it and remove the child from the chair.

Informed mom at pick up. She didnt like the method either,

Therapist and actual speech therapist here today, i stated my concerns, she still insists it is not time out, real speech therapist had no comment, therapist brougt paperwork about tecnique used as promised that she would, also gave paperwork to parents. She claims that it is done in our school district, preschool teachers do it...........WOW, SERIOUSLY! Errrr.
I would look up your regs and check - some states say no high chairs or booster seats unless the child is actually eating. If your state is one of them I would let them know that this will not be happening at your dc as it's against regs. I would also call your licensor ASAP and let them know what is going on and see what they say.
Do they feel you are "babying" the child or enabling him in anyway? It just seems odd.
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Heidi 12:41 PM 12-12-2012
Please contact your licenser immediately and aprise her of the situation as camly and unemotionally as you can. Keep the "technique" paperwork to show her if she'd like.

In our state, restraining a child like that is also against licensing regs, and timeouts may not be used for children under 3.
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snips&snails 01:21 PM 12-12-2012
WOW.....just...WOW.
Just read an article last weeks about deaths & injuries due to restraints in elementary schools too...you would think people would get a clue...how sad that to this 'expert' this is a 'normal' treatment for any child but especially one with special needs. Good for you for resisting!
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laundrymom 01:26 PM 12-12-2012
I. Have. No. Words.

I'm. In. Shock.

Kudos to YOU for standing up for this baby!!

Had YOU strapped him to a chair and she walked in I wonder the reaction. I can't fathom why she feels the need to force his independence by abandoning him.

I'm pizzed. Period.
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e.j. 01:40 PM 12-12-2012
I'm thinking back to my own son at this age and the "technique" she is recommending would never have calmed him. It would have escalated any crying into a full blow meltdown.

If I learned nothing else from my experience raising a child with a developmental disorder, it's that you need to trust your gut. Just because her title says "therapist" and she's supposed to be an "expert", it doesn't mean she knows what she's talking about. Sounds as though the dcm feels the same way you do. Would it be possible for her to contact the agency this therapist works out of and request a different therapist to work with her child?
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Heidi 02:44 PM 12-12-2012
Originally Posted by Play Care:
I would look up your regs and check - some states say no high chairs or booster seats unless the child is actually eating. If your state is one of them I would let them know that this will not be happening at your dc as it's against regs. I would also call your licensor ASAP and let them know what is going on and see what they say.
Do they feel you are "babying" the child or enabling him in anyway? It just seems odd.
another thing...they use a TV as part of speech therapy for a two year old?
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daycarediva 03:33 PM 12-12-2012
Originally Posted by e.j.:
I'm thinking back to my own son at this age and the "technique" she is recommending would never have calmed him. It would have escalated any crying into a full blow meltdown.

If I learned nothing else from my experience raising a child with a developmental disorder, it's that you need to trust your gut. Just because her title says "therapist" and she's supposed to be an "expert", it doesn't mean she knows what she's talking about. Sounds as though the dcm feels the same way you do. Would it be possible for her to contact the agency this therapist works out of and request a different therapist to work with her child?
YES!

I have a son with autism who required YEARS of intense therapy. Never ONCE did they use any physical restraint, EV.ER.

I am soooo gad you handled it this way and put your foot down. You and Mom know him better than any therapist that has such limited contact with him.
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itlw8 01:08 PM 12-14-2012
Oh HE// NO no one will do that to a childin my care. Especially one with special needs. AND I am sure if I called my sister who is an administrator on the special needs preshool in our district and a adjunt professor at the local university would NEVER allow her staff you use that.

I would refuse and document your refusal by having the parents and therapist all sign it. If the parents to not agree they need to call and tell the school it will not be allowed to restrain their child like that.
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Unregistered 06:48 PM 12-14-2012
Hi!
I have never posted on here before but I have been reading for years! I worked as a play therapist for children on the autism spectrum for 5 years before taking a break to do daycare before my daughter starts school.
As for the booster seat, it absolutely has a place during a session. It is generally referred to as structured seating and it can help some children focus on tasks by supporting their bodies and giving firm sensory input, it is a pretty standard practice, especially if the child has any sensory issues.
That said, strapping a child to a chair and leaving the room while they cry is never appropriate, for any reason, during therapy. I would have been fired immediately! Sitting calmly with a distraught child, again has it's place during a therapy session, but leaving a child alone and upset is not.
It is well within your rights to tell the woman to find a new technique to use in your home!
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Tags:restraint, speech therapist, therapist
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