One of the biggest fears I had growing up was being physically restrained for behaviors that others found distressing. It happened to a friend of mine in elementary school. He was on the spectrum and experienced extreme surges of emotions, both good and bad. But the expression of these emotions would get him into trouble; teachers didn’t understand that these outbursts were attempts at easing the internal chaos and at expressing his feelings to those around him. One day, he was so agitated that he was uncontrollably swinging his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs. Instead of seeing this as a sign of distress and trying to calm him down, our teacher reacted out of fear and grabbed him and held him from moving. He only became more and more distressed, not knowing how to process the wave of sensory input that continued to flood him. It may seem scary at first, but the best thing to do for someone on the spectrum struggling to contain themselves physically would be to talk to them before trying to restrain them! Even though it may not be the way a neurotypical person would express agitation, the underlying emotion is the same no matter whether you are on the spectrum or not. Being there for one another is so important; just trying to sympathize and understand goes a long way.
~Anonymous Writer
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