Seclusion and Restraint in Schools

What it is: Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or space they cannot leave. Restraint includes physical holds — most dangerously, prone (face-down) restraint — mechanical devices like straps and handcuffs, and chemical restraint, meaning medication used to control behavior rather than treat a condition. These practices remain legal in many states, and there is currently no federal law governing their use in schools.

Why it matters to our community: Autistic students bear the brunt of these practices. According to the most recent federal Civil Rights Data Collection, roughly 105,700 public school students were restrained or secluded in a single school year — and students with disabilities, who make up about 14% of enrollment, accounted for 81% of students subjected to physical restraint. These practices are frequently triggered by behaviors that are communication, not aggression: a meltdown caused by sensory overload is a signal of distress, not a threat.

The stakes are life and death. In 2018, Max Benson, a 13-year-old autistic student in California, died after school staff held him in a prone restraint for more than 90 minutes — long after he had stopped resisting. His death led California to ban prone restraint in 2024 through Max Benson’s Law. But that protection stops at the state line. As long as restraint rules are a patchwork of state laws riddled with loopholes, what happened to Max can happen anywhere.

The policy landscape: A 2020 GAO investigation found that at least 2,000 school districts reported zero incidents of restraint or seclusion, with later findings that districts underreported or misreported data — meaning families and the public don’t know the true scope of the problem. Federal legislation like the bipartisan Keeping All Students Safe Act would establish a national floor, but no bill has yet become law.

Our position: Americans for Autism Advocacy opposes seclusion and dangerous restraint in schools. Specifically, we support:

1. A federal minimum standard governing restraint and seclusion in schools, so a child’s safety no longer depends on their zip code.
2. Closing every state-law loophole that still permits chemical, mechanical, or prone restraint in schools. Prone restraint killed Max Benson; no child should be subjected to it anywhere in America.
3. A National Student Safety Act requiring any school — public or private — that participates in the National School Lunch Program to prohibit seclusion and restraint. Federal food dollars reach nearly every school in the country, including private schools that other federal education laws miss.
4. Mandatory, transparent reporting of every restraint and seclusion incident, with real auditing — so districts can no longer report zero incidents while the practice continues behind closed doors.
5. Same-day parent notification whenever a student is restrained or secluded. No parent should learn about it weeks later, or never.
6. Converting seclusion rooms into sensory rooms. State budgets should fund transforming spaces built to isolate children into spaces that help them regulate. FIFA and the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles have shown what world-class sensory rooms look like — our schools should meet that standard.
7. Investment in evidence-based de-escalation training so educators have real tools instead of dangerous shortcuts.
8. A stronger enforcement role for the U.S. Department of Justice in investigating and holding accountable school districts that violate students’ rights through unlawful seclusion and restraint.