In a bipartisan effort to protect children from dangerous restraint and seclusion in classrooms, new federal legislation will be introduced tomorrow by U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), who is the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) who is a member of that committee and is the Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference. Their press conference will be webcast live from the Education and Labor Committee website at http://edlabor.house.gov/ at 11:00 AM EST on Wednesday, December 9, 2009.
As shown in a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on the inappropriate use of restraint and seclusion in classrooms, many students, including a disproportionate number of children with disabilities, have been injured and in some cases killed by these harmful practices. The federal government has no existing policies to prevent the misuse of restraint and seclusion in schools, and many states also lack adequate regulation and oversight.
ASAN is currently looking for volunteers to help with our advocacy work supporting the passage of legislation to protect students against school abuse. To volunteer, please write to info@autisticadvocacy.org with the subject line "Restraint and seclusion" in your email.
Update, December 9: The Justice for All Action Network has issued a press release supporting the legislation.
Second update: ASAN President Ari Ne'eman was quoted in an Education Week article on the proposed legislation, stating that it "is the first of its kind, going far beyond previous efforts to protect students with disabilities."
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2 comments:
I would if it didn't involve any kind of face-to-face communication or "real-time" communication via the internet.
Stephanie, even if you don't feel comfortable calling or visiting your representative to show your support for the legislation, sending an e-mail to your representative would help too. Thanks for asking!
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