How to Set Everyone Up to Avoid Restraint and Isolation Altogether
Being restraint-trained doesn’t make us heroes—it highlights a system that still needs fixing to protect our most vulnerable students. Let's not to normalize restraint. We can do better.
I recently worked with a Special Education classroom team who were doing their best to support a student having a tough day. When the student didn’t want to move to a new location, staff began physically prompting and escorting him, something they thought was expected in order to maintain order and follow the school schedule.
We paused and talked through what was happening. I explained that physically forcing movement or using restraint-like practices are actually against the law and can be traumatic for students and staff alike. Practices like these can quickly erode a student’s sense of safety and trust at school and I have even seen students refuse to come to school altogether after incidents like these.
What struck me most was that the staff genuinely didn’t know they had other options. They hadn’t been trained to recognize the early warning signs of escalation or how to respond in a way that prioritizes prevention, choice, and dignity.
That experience is not unique, and it’s exactly why we need to talk about how to set everyone up to avoid restraint and isolation altogether.
Start by Investing in Staff Training
Even the best plan will fail without the right training and support for the adults implementing it. Every educator and support staff member (i.e. teachers, paraeducators, specialists, and administrators) needs a strong foundation in positive behavior supports, de-escalation, and trauma-informed care.
When staff understand why behaviors occur and how to respond early, they can:
Stay calm and confident instead of reactive
Use consistent, preventative strategies across the team
Avoid unintentionally escalating situations
When staff feel supported and prepared, students feel safer. Training isn’t just compliance, it’s prevention.
Prioritize Prevention
The best crisis plan is the one that’s never used. Prevention starts with relationships, proactive planning, and creating environments where students can succeed.
This means:
Anticipating triggers and adjusting routines or expectations
Offering choices, breaks, and sensory supports
Checking in before frustration builds
Maintaining calm, consistent responses
Every preventative measure is a moment of protection—of a student’s dignity, trust, and ability to stay connected to learning.
Develop a High-Quality Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
To truly prevent restraint or isolation, teams must understand the function of the behavior—what the student is trying to communicate.
A high-quality FBA doesn’t just describe what happened; it analyzes why it happened. It should:
Identify patterns and triggers
Explore environmental and relational factors
Lead directly to meaningful, teachable goals
Without this depth, a plan becomes reactive instead of restorative.
Build a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) That Teaches Skills
Once we know why a behavior occurs, we can build a plan that focuses on teaching replacement skills—the skills a student needs to be successful instead.
An effective BIP:
Defines clear replacement behaviors based on function
Reinforces positive efforts and successes
Guides staff on consistent, supportive responses
Uses data to track progress and make adjustments
When a BIP teaches instead of controls, students learn to self-regulate and advocate for themselves—without needing adults to step in physically.
Families: Know Your Rights
If restraint or isolation is happening—especially more than once—it’s a sign the plan isn’t working as intended. Families have important rights and a voice in shaping safer, more supportive practices.
You have the right to:
Be notified within 24 hours each time restraint or isolation occurs
Review incident reports and request an IEP meeting
Ask for the student’s FBA or BIP to be revised
Expect that restraint and isolation are used only as a last resort
If these practices are being used frequently, or outside of what’s legally allowed, it’s time for a conversation about prevention, training, and accountability.
Final Thoughts
Preventing restraint and isolation isn’t about blame—it’s about unlearning what we were taught and rebuilding something better.
The classroom team I mentioned earlier didn’t need criticism; they needed knowledge, practice, and support. Once they understood how trauma and trust intersect, their entire approach shifted. They began offering choices, pausing instead of prompting, and celebrating small moments of regulation and connection. The student started to trust them again—and that’s where the real progress began.
When we know better, we can do better.
When we prioritize prevention, training, and communication, we create schools where restraint and isolation aren’t part of the day-to-day reality.
For families, that means understanding your rights and speaking up when something doesn’t feel right. For staff, it means pushing for training, collaboration, and systems that make proactive support possible.
We can build classrooms where every student feels safe, understood, and included—and where no one sees restraint training as a badge of honor, but as a reminder of why we must keep working toward something better.