Living Without Restraint: One Parent's Reflections and Recommendations for Supporting At-Risk Individuals With Developmental Disabilities.
A parent’s lived tips match the data: stop restraint by fixing the setting, not the person.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Beaudoin et al. (2018) tells one parent’s story. The parent looked back on years of watching staff restrain their child with a developmental disability.
They wrote down what helped and what hurt. The paper turns those memories into advice for agencies, schools, and clinics.
What they found
The parent says restraint often starts when small triggers pile up. Loud rooms, long waits, or new staff can spark crisis.
The fix is not more holds. The fix is front-loading choice, calm spaces, and trusted workers who know the child’s cues.
How this fits with other research
Tassé et al. (2013) crunched 14 studies and found restraint dropped 79% when programs used similar front-load ideas. The parent story lines up with the numbers.
Lambrechts et al. (2009) asked 13 mothers why formal help fails. They named the same gaps Wilfred lists: hard access, weak plans, and staff who lack know-how.
Luna et al. (2022) took the same anti-coercion stance into juvenile justice. Their lab shows even locked settings can swap holds for skill teaching.
Why it matters
You can copy the parent’s checklist today. Tour your space, cut noise, post visual cues, and give two clear choices before any demand. Train staff to spot early signs and to back off, not lean in. These low-cost moves lower risk, keep dignity, and keep kids safe.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In the past several years, there has been an important movement to reduce the utilization of restraint for individuals with developmental disabilities. Legislatures, local and national, are taking on the task of shaping the way that our culture supports people who, up until now, have been often treated in a punitive manner rather than truly supportive in a therapeutic way. Schools and systems of care struggle to identify strategies that offer more positive outcomes to all individuals, even those with challenging behaviors. This article represents the thoughts and recommendations of one parent who has lived with the damage done by restraint to his son. The recommendations are intended to speak to administrators, schools, and caregivers. The intent is not to assign blame, but rather to reflect on our experiences and share some strategies that have worked for us. Although much of what is recommended may not be new, the hope is that this article might provide a fresh way to understand some of the factors that contribute to the use of restraint, in addition to providing some suggestions to proactively address those factors.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-56.3.155