My last post pointed out a few techniques designed to manage the EDS.  More specifically, how to get the student who is destined to break furniture, harm the teacher, other students, and/or himself into a seated position, and how to keep him/her in that position.

 

Security is not always readily available.  Often, by the time they arrive, things have gone pretty medieval.  Often, unless they are well trained, security is about to amp up the situation before they slow it down or stop it.  Hell, by then you could be on your way to eating Thanksgiving turkey through a straw.

 

So, Bad News, Teach.  More often than not, it’s going to be up to you to keep your poise (Mirror Calm), use reductive language (De-escalation Techniques), and, despite often being smaller and weaker than the adrenalized EDS, do what you can physically to protect yourself, others and the student who no longer has the physical, mental and emotional resources to understand the consequences of his or her behavior.

 

Many teachers and even more security personnel have asked about how to keep their Special Education kids and their EDS seated (which I answered in the last post), and, in some cases, their out of control autistic and mentally retarded children and teenagers in a supine or prone position.

 

MAINTAINING A STUDENT IN A PRONE OR SUPINE POSITION

 

Is a simple matter of preventing the EDS’ center of gravity (C.O.G.) from moving to the hips.  As your student tries to move from the prone to the sitting position, the child or teenager must first roll his or her weight forward starting at his or her head.  Simply put, the student’s head must raise first, with the upper body following.  Therefore, securing an EDS in a safe, prone position is a simple matter of applying gentle pressure on his or her forehead (or, in some cases, the back of the head), which will prevent the center of gravity from moving forward.

 

Of course, as always, reduce the student’s fear, anxiety and confusion from boiling over into rage by constantly reassuring him or her (“Sam, everything is going to be fine, believe me—“), asking the other students, who will probably be surrounding the emotionally distraught students, to please step away from the scene.

 

There are other techniques or tricks to take a child or teen to the ground (safely) and to keep him or her there.  There are ways to put an EDS into a seated position and to keep him/her there, besides what I went into in this and the last blog.  The techniques are simple, easy to do under stress and very safe.  They might, however, be best learned in a Disruptive Student Management Training Program.

 

In the meantime, stay safe.

 

Hammer

 

 

 

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Posted on August 14th, 2008 by Harry A Widger
Filed under: Fighting, High School, K-6, People Involved, School Grade Level, School Safety Issues, Students, Violence