Is there a name for non coercive SN therapy?

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That is so depressing and horrid.

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ITA. This is horrible. I'm shocked that this still happens. This further underscores to me that I will observe any classes that DD is to attend for a couple of days prior to enrolling her and then for a couple of days afterward and thoroughly interview the teacher. It is apparently still common in some schools to lock children inside a box as a part of supposedly teaching them to calm down.

To answer the original post, in addition to what the pp mentioned, the ABA-ish program I have DD in right now isn't really coercive either. The reinforcers are built into play (getting to do a preferred activity after asking for it correctly and that kind of thing) rather than being tokens or edible things or anything like that; the therapist tries to create learning situations in a natural play environment that then become led by DD rather than the therapist being overly directive. I am sure not all ABA programs are that child friendly though...the methods seem to vary heavily.

That's so strange about the Floortime site. What an odd choice for someone to hack for such a purpose.

Here's some more info about the method. I hope they'll be able to restore the site soon:
http://www.mindspring.com/~dgn/playther.htm

Books about Floortime and Pivotal Response Teaching...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/073...615823?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/020...615823?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067...lance&n=283155

This is the behavior mod method we use, it's a university study in my area. You can order the teaching manual if you'd like but it's expensive. It's similar to Pivotal Response Training, but leans heavily to Floortime and adapts and encourages parental attachment. I love it.

http://www.responsiveteaching.org/AboutRT/WhatIsRT.htm

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I had no idea things like this still happen. Oh my!

Yeah, that's why it's really important for parents to visit the special ed classes often and to make "surprise" visits. My DS's current preschool is fantastic in most ways, but there was one teacher who worried me with her tone of voice, her use of candy as a reward, and her frequent punishments/humiliations of her children. One of her students, whose mother is a friend of mine, recently came home from school with large, red swollen bruises under both arms (the bruises were oddly in the shape of adult handprints, surrounded by scratches), apparently due to an unauthorized restraint hold. The school wouldn't admit anything to the parents due to liability, but I haven't seen that teacher in the last 3 weeks. I think she's been permanently removed from the autism program.

We have to remain vigilant to protect our children, and we need to keep teachers informed of gentler approaches that actually work better than the outdated behavioral methods. My DS's teacher has tried the non-coercive approaches in the classroom, and she was very happy with the results; the parapros in her classroom were already practicing Gentle Discipline and play-based methods instinctively. All 6 of the children in that class have graduated to higher-functioning or mainstream classrooms for the next academic year, and some of these kids had severe anxiety or total apraxia when they started in the class.