Here's the skinny...many parent[s] of special needs kids are personally ill equipped to deal with their needy kids. Public schools are by-and-large a free day-care situation for the parents. Few and far between are the parents *helicopter* as they should over their kids schooling.
The teachers and the aides get away with *murder* in these classrooms.... many do not follow the child's IEP [which is against the law] but they get away with it b/c no one is checking on them. No one. Frequently, things run amok, and parents are not informed until the horse is out of the barn, and damage has been done.
Not all autistic students are high functioning; costs are astronomical; as much as $200000 a year per student: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/education/13autism.html?pagewanted=all
We have 11 chileren, 9 still at home, and 8 that are still compulsory-attendance age. Three of those 8 are “special needs”, one of them being somewhat autistic.
We home school them *ALL*.
It can be done if you make the necessary “sacrifices”, which, if you examine the eternal value of the “sacrifices” you must make, are not really sacrifices at all. In fact, it’s a blessing to let go of of those things.
In my experience, the IEPs are a big joke in most (but not all) schools.
They create a great looking “plan” and then completely ignore it. Everybody is supposed to feel good about good intentions.
My daughter had one that was being ignored at her first school. We transfered her to a GT school, they took everything VERY seriously, and she worked through her issues. We also got her some help outside the classroom at our own $$$—now she’s a straight A student.
Colorado offers a few advantages for students and parents. School choice is supported within and between school districts and there are quite a few charter schools.
I’ve wondered what would happen if we had charter or magnet schools for special needs kids. They could bump the per/kid subsidy, provide a great experience that tailored to the kids and still probably come in under what they spend trying to mainstream kids that aren’t ready or able.