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Dr Drew tonight
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<blockquote data-quote="soapbox" data-source="post: 498366" data-attributes="member: 13003"><p>The biggest problem with education is money.</p><p>There is either too little, or too much (in which case it is spent in all the wrong places).</p><p>And guaranteed, the FIRST area to feel the pinch is... special needs.</p><p></p><p>To make matters worse, the SECOND area to feel the pinch is... staff development. And the THIRD is class size.</p><p></p><p>Which means... </p><p>- there isn't money for detailed testing</p><p>- without detailed testing, the IEP either doesn't get written at all, or gets written incompletely</p><p>- without a solid IEP, nobody knows what to do with this kid</p><p>- with no IEP at all... the kid goes off the deep end, and its a "parenting problem" (of course) <NOT></p><p>- even with a solid IEP, the chances of particular staff actually having any training at all in the issues assigned to their class is... slim.</p><p>- turnover in the teaching field is high - so, those who have learned by experience, have already left (if they were good... the poor ones stick around or go into admin...)</p><p>- training for aides is limited, and definitely not specific to the issues of the students they deal with</p><p>- NOBODY is allowed to specialize in anything, so everybody knows next-to-nothing about everything.</p><p></p><p>Skip the discussion on whether or not Mainstreaming works.</p><p>SCHOOL isn't working. Its broken. Way too many kids are coming out with less than what they need for life... but because they "graduate", nobody is noticing.</p><p></p><p>Some parents are upset because "too many dollars go to the kids that will never accomplish anything anyway".</p><p>Other parents are upset because "smaller needs get swept under the carpet".</p><p>And the parents of special needs kids... are really really mad, because its easier to get the stuff that $$ can solve, than to get the simple, common-sense changes that cost nothing and make a huge difference.</p><p></p><p>I'm all for mainstreaming... to a point.</p><p></p><p>If the student is cognitively normal, every attempt should be made to mainstream. A quad who can't even talk but can communicate via alternate means, and who "thinks" at grade level... should be allowed to participate as fully as possible. The kid with MD who is only normal from the neck up - absolutely. Except for the exceptions (see below).</p><p></p><p>Or, if the student is not on the same playing field, but is "inclusion-friendly", that can make sense too. One of our kids had a Downs-syndrome classmate for years. His academic work was totally different, but he could participate in science experiments, art, music (played percussion), PE, etc. Most of the kids took him under their wing.</p><p></p><p>But... these only work with sufficient support. Cut that by too much, and... the student might as well not be in school at all.</p><p></p><p>The exceptions? Highly disruptive kids. There are SO many hidden disabilities and disorders out there. And the policy of "inclusion" (the term for it here) means that attempting to include these extreme kids is putting other kids at an even greater disadvantage. Imagine the kid with un-diagnosed Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) who is fighting to hear at the best of times... being stuck in a classroom with an included student who needs constant interaction with an aide. The backround noise level just went through the roof. This Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) kid... can't handle the situation, nobody believes that he "can't hear", its treated as attitude and... THIS kid, who SHOULD be able to function and move forward, is sent off the deep end. Yes, it actually happens.</p><p></p><p>There is no right answer. There is no easy fix. Special Education classrooms aren't the best answer either, because it isn't possible to customize the classroom environment for each of the special needs there... Even in a very large school division, its difficult to have specialized environments for more common needs like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or Downs (some try). Especially the highly-disruptive kids... don't need to be around each other. They need to see what "normal" is. </p><p></p><p>I don't have the answers. I don't believe we ever will. There never will be a perfect world.</p><p></p><p>But when MY kid is pushed over the edge because of somebody else's kid's needs... I guess sometimes I'm going to come across as anti-inclusion, even though in general I'm not.</p><p></p><p><sorry, better get off that soapbox></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="soapbox, post: 498366, member: 13003"] The biggest problem with education is money. There is either too little, or too much (in which case it is spent in all the wrong places). And guaranteed, the FIRST area to feel the pinch is... special needs. To make matters worse, the SECOND area to feel the pinch is... staff development. And the THIRD is class size. Which means... - there isn't money for detailed testing - without detailed testing, the IEP either doesn't get written at all, or gets written incompletely - without a solid IEP, nobody knows what to do with this kid - with no IEP at all... the kid goes off the deep end, and its a "parenting problem" (of course) <NOT> - even with a solid IEP, the chances of particular staff actually having any training at all in the issues assigned to their class is... slim. - turnover in the teaching field is high - so, those who have learned by experience, have already left (if they were good... the poor ones stick around or go into admin...) - training for aides is limited, and definitely not specific to the issues of the students they deal with - NOBODY is allowed to specialize in anything, so everybody knows next-to-nothing about everything. Skip the discussion on whether or not Mainstreaming works. SCHOOL isn't working. Its broken. Way too many kids are coming out with less than what they need for life... but because they "graduate", nobody is noticing. Some parents are upset because "too many dollars go to the kids that will never accomplish anything anyway". Other parents are upset because "smaller needs get swept under the carpet". And the parents of special needs kids... are really really mad, because its easier to get the stuff that $$ can solve, than to get the simple, common-sense changes that cost nothing and make a huge difference. I'm all for mainstreaming... to a point. If the student is cognitively normal, every attempt should be made to mainstream. A quad who can't even talk but can communicate via alternate means, and who "thinks" at grade level... should be allowed to participate as fully as possible. The kid with MD who is only normal from the neck up - absolutely. Except for the exceptions (see below). Or, if the student is not on the same playing field, but is "inclusion-friendly", that can make sense too. One of our kids had a Downs-syndrome classmate for years. His academic work was totally different, but he could participate in science experiments, art, music (played percussion), PE, etc. Most of the kids took him under their wing. But... these only work with sufficient support. Cut that by too much, and... the student might as well not be in school at all. The exceptions? Highly disruptive kids. There are SO many hidden disabilities and disorders out there. And the policy of "inclusion" (the term for it here) means that attempting to include these extreme kids is putting other kids at an even greater disadvantage. Imagine the kid with un-diagnosed Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) who is fighting to hear at the best of times... being stuck in a classroom with an included student who needs constant interaction with an aide. The backround noise level just went through the roof. This Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) kid... can't handle the situation, nobody believes that he "can't hear", its treated as attitude and... THIS kid, who SHOULD be able to function and move forward, is sent off the deep end. Yes, it actually happens. There is no right answer. There is no easy fix. Special Education classrooms aren't the best answer either, because it isn't possible to customize the classroom environment for each of the special needs there... Even in a very large school division, its difficult to have specialized environments for more common needs like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or Downs (some try). Especially the highly-disruptive kids... don't need to be around each other. They need to see what "normal" is. I don't have the answers. I don't believe we ever will. There never will be a perfect world. But when MY kid is pushed over the edge because of somebody else's kid's needs... I guess sometimes I'm going to come across as anti-inclusion, even though in general I'm not. <sorry, better get off that soapbox> [/QUOTE]
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