chiahead@verizon.net I am a Registered Nurse and my daughter was diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder a year ago. The school systems here have absolutely nothing to offer to the children in this town. There are several children in this town who have the same diagnoses and I feel it is time we educate the school systems to provide a special classroom for these amazing, talented, and gifted children. I am interested in any info for starting a program here in Danville, Va. 24540 to educate people out there regarding Aspergers. I live near the N.C. border and if there is any info regarding an Autistic Society close by please send a way of getting in touch with them. I would love to go across country and speak to school systems in the U.S.A. so people can be better educated regarding Aspie's Children on how they percieve their world. Most teachers in the school system as well as principals observe these SPECIAL GIFTED CHILDREN as alot of trouble to deal with. I feel it is only because of lack of them being EDUCATED regarding there disorders, et cete
ra.... If there is anyone out there I am ready to travel the U.S.A to educate the school systems!! I have never understood why they have special classes for " BEHAVIORAL " CHILDREN, AND ABSOLUTELY NO SPECIAL CLASSES FOR THESE CHILDREN!! Even President Bush and Barbara Bush are so heavily involved in the " NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. " I truly hope and pray that something can be done for these children in the EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT throughout the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We certainly need a WAKE UP CALL ON THIS MATTER to provided for these gifted children. I just read " Born ON A BLUE DAY" by Daniel Tammet and I highly recommend this book for everyone out there to read. Thanks and God Bless these Children. Jean Tamson
Hi Jean.
This is a long post but I think it will be worth your while to read it.
I'm in Canada. I don't know what it's like in the U.S., but I know that most of the time trends in education start in the States and then move to Canada.
About fifteen or twenty years ago there was a huge movement to move students with special needs into regular classrooms. The reasoning behind this was that these students need to be around their peers, need to be challenged, and need to be a part of the world the way everyone else is. It was also convincingly argued that with special needs students in regular classrooms, the rest of the students would better learn to understand and tolerate diversity.
It is now law in my province that special needs students must be integrated into regular classrooms and given any extra support they need individually in the form of personal nurses, tutors and teachers' assistants. This is an extremely expensive proposition and simply doesn't always happen.
In practice, this system has a lot of problems. Some parents report that their children love being a part of the general population, are learning to socialize better than they otherwise would, and feel less discriminated against. Other parents (like you) feel that their children would be much better off in a separate classroom where they would have customized lessons and more individual attention from teachers who specialize in educating children with special needs.
Furthermore, many children with special needs are extremely disruptive to their classrooms. Teachers are forced to neglect average and gifted students in their efforts to give the special needs students the support they urgently require. Their frustration with this is what leads to the appearance that they see children with Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, and other issues was "troublemakers."
Because qualified tutors and teaching assistants are so expensive, school districts have difficulty funding them. Children who need extra help often only actually have a teaching assistant available to them for a limited number of hours per week. The professionals who do this kind of work are expensive, so underqualified people are sometimes hired. Those who are hired, well-qualified or not, are extremely overworked. Worst of all, there are huge numbers of students who are simply never diagnosed; the school district cannot afford to identify them and would not be able to afford to support them if they were diagnosed.
Because of these problems, there have been political rumblings of late about pressuring the government to reverse the law requiring integrated classrooms.
Educators, as educated and experienced professionals, are well aware of the existence and diversity of special needs students. In both the U.S. and Canada, they are underfunded, underpaid, and underrespected. If you want their help to solve the problems you have identified (and you will need their help!), your best bet is to work with them instead of against them.
I suggest that you start by looking into the laws and policies governing special education where you live, and find out about the history that brought them into being. Then find out exactly what is actually happening in classrooms, because as we all know, policies do not always define practice.
When you have identified exactly what you feel needs to be changed, bring your argument to the appropriate body- probably your local Board of Education (I think that's what School Boards or Boards of School Trustees, who govern school districts, are currently called in the United States, but you will have to check on that.) If the changes you want can legally be made at the local level, then that is the best place to start. Once your local district has implemented the changes, you can use it as a model district to pressure other districts to change.
Change is a slow and difficult process, and you will face enormous frustrations, but you can do it. Remember: When someone tells you that a single person cannot change the world, remind them that individuals are the only thing that ever has.
