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moggymania
Apr. 26th, 2004 02:30 amconulyhttp://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=wsj:2004:04:24:370080:OPINION
I found this link completely on my own.
The use of aversives in my brother's education turned him from a reserved child prone to tantrums, posturing, and noncommunication to a very well behaved, social boy who, granted, is incredibly odd but also quite charming.
Prone to posturing? I don't even know what that means. I do know that she has no idea if it was the aversives which did that or something else, and she almost certainly doesn't know how he feels about that.
BUT I do think that some restraint is, as one other put it, comforting to Autistic children.
When I was little, my mom used to hold me down when I was flipping out. Well, she had to or else risk life and limb because I threw things and hit people and bit. I had terrible aim, but I don't think this made my family feel any safer. I don't think anybody could reasonably say it's bad to hold somebody back from harming themselves or somebody else. The difference is when they hold on just to exert power. I once bit my mother so hard she may have bled (I don't remember, I know she still blames me for this). The way I saw it, she was covering my mouth, I couldn't breathe, and she then covered my nose. She swears her hand went nowhere near my nose and I'm wrong. Most likely, it was an accident. At any rate, I was panicked and bit down hard. Restraint calming? Since when? Even back then, if I was upset, I would hide in my closet or under my blankets, and this confinement was comforting. But I wasn't restrained. When I got tired of it, I could leave the closet, leave my bed, do something else. By contrast, if I was already throwing a fit and my mom held me down, I was panicked. I was already upset, and she scared me doing that. I was honestly fucking terrified. I didn't calm down. What happened is I eventually was unable to even move, something that still happens if I get that upset today. And then she'd let me go, but I wasn't calm, I was temporarily unable to move.
Now, of course, I don't think she had a choice. I was actually dangerous to people then. I suspect, though, that many of the restraints the first poster was talking about are not in the "have no choice" category but in the "this is easiest for me" category instead.
I found this link completely on my own.
The use of aversives in my brother's education turned him from a reserved child prone to tantrums, posturing, and noncommunication to a very well behaved, social boy who, granted, is incredibly odd but also quite charming.
Prone to posturing? I don't even know what that means. I do know that she has no idea if it was the aversives which did that or something else, and she almost certainly doesn't know how he feels about that.
BUT I do think that some restraint is, as one other put it, comforting to Autistic children.
When I was little, my mom used to hold me down when I was flipping out. Well, she had to or else risk life and limb because I threw things and hit people and bit. I had terrible aim, but I don't think this made my family feel any safer. I don't think anybody could reasonably say it's bad to hold somebody back from harming themselves or somebody else. The difference is when they hold on just to exert power. I once bit my mother so hard she may have bled (I don't remember, I know she still blames me for this). The way I saw it, she was covering my mouth, I couldn't breathe, and she then covered my nose. She swears her hand went nowhere near my nose and I'm wrong. Most likely, it was an accident. At any rate, I was panicked and bit down hard. Restraint calming? Since when? Even back then, if I was upset, I would hide in my closet or under my blankets, and this confinement was comforting. But I wasn't restrained. When I got tired of it, I could leave the closet, leave my bed, do something else. By contrast, if I was already throwing a fit and my mom held me down, I was panicked. I was already upset, and she scared me doing that. I was honestly fucking terrified. I didn't calm down. What happened is I eventually was unable to even move, something that still happens if I get that upset today. And then she'd let me go, but I wasn't calm, I was temporarily unable to move.
Now, of course, I don't think she had a choice. I was actually dangerous to people then. I suspect, though, that many of the restraints the first poster was talking about are not in the "have no choice" category but in the "this is easiest for me" category instead.
