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Dear Angie, When I used restraints on my son, there was no theories about it, I did it because it was like he had forgotten that arm existed, and it lay limp and lifeless, he would go to a PT but they only stretched nand manipulated the arm and hand. I didnt believe at the time, that my son"s brain was registering any of the activity, because he often stared off into space, never consentrating. and lets face it, your brain controls every move your body makes, I knew that there was a lot of damage done to his brain, but there was so much that he could do, especially with the right arm, and I guess I was ignorant as to why he couldnt move his other extremities. There was a period of time, shortly after he was diagnosed, that I truly felt sorry for him, and just filled him full of love, but I soon realized that I had given in to his disability, and my love wasnt going to teach him how to survive, He made no progress, and was wheelchair bound until he was 5. the summer before he started school, I realized what he was to be faced with, going to special classes in a wheelchair, with very little therapies, and I paniced. We worked, and concentrated, and worked, and the more I heard him say "I CANT" the more I made him work at it. He hated me I think, because I turned into a Drillsargeant of a mother.... But he started his first year of school walking, with a walker, in normal classes! He was so happy, that we decided NEVER to say "I CANT" ever again, and he never has. He's 14 now, and still needs the walker to get around, and hes had 4 surgeries on his hips and legs,(growth setbacks), but as hard as it is for him, if you were to ask him if he would rather sit(like in the wheelchair) he would tell you to get lost. If he falls, and people rush to help him, he tells them to leave him alone. He's as independent as I had only wished he would be. So I've become a great believer in the human spirit these days, I believe that anything can be accomplished if you want it bad enough! Something inside you will move that hand one day, and when it does, your brain will register that movement and wonderful things will happen! you watch. I'm sorry for such a long message. take care of you! Gena P.S I was told by one of my sons therapists, that the forceps used in his delivery were written up as the #1 cause of brain damage in children.