Restraint & Seclusion: Hear our Stories
Restraint and Seclusion: Hear Our Stories by Dan Habib, describes in-depth the restraint and seclusion these and other individuals experienced while attending public schools, and the devastating physical and emotional injuries they suffered as a result.
The film was produced through a partnership of the National Center on Trauma Informed Care, TASH and the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability. Support for this film comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Brianna Hammon
Brianna Hammon, 29, was first secluded and restrained at age 8, when she weighed just over 30 pounds.
“I was 8 years old when they put me in a room built with a wooden chair bolted to the floor,” Brianna says in the film.
Jino Medina
He was sometimes restrained two or three times a day, at times while in a seclusion room and with the use of a restraint harness. Jino suffered a brain injury during restraint at age 11, on October 27, 2011.
Peyton Goddard
During two decades in special education classrooms, Peyton Goddard experienced aversive restraints, punitive seclusion and physical, mental and sexual abuse.
Helena Stephenson
At one point, Helena says she spent 35 consecutive days in a small room in the basement of the school made of concrete, with a metal door padlocked from the outside.
Wil and Andre Beaudoin
At age 15, the state of Rhode Island placed Andre in another group home and affiliated school, where he endured dozens of restraints, including prone restraints, over a three-month period.
Dan habib
Dan Habib (pronounced ‘Habeeb’) is the creator of Including Samuel and Who Cares About Kelsey? Habib is the Filmmaker in Residence at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire.
Habib’s films have been screened at universities, national conferences and independent theatres and have been used a catalyst for inclusive education across the country and internationally.
Before joining UNH in April of 2008, Habib was the photography editor of the Concord (NH) Monitor. In 2006 and 2008, he was named the national Photography Editor of the Year and he has been a judge of the Pulitzer Prizes and the Best of Photojournalism.
Habib and his wife, Betsy, live in Concord, New Hampshire, with their sons Isaiah and Samuel.