Gaithersburg School Tailors Teaching To Help Students Cope With Disorder

WaPo ^ | 6-16-08 | Daniel de Vise

[SoftballMominVA]

The first day of kindergarten found Alex Barth in the principal's office. The teacher had asked students to draw self-portraits. Alex had wanted to draw his in red crayon. There was no red crayon. Alex had melted down.

Alex was a capable child with superior intelligence -- and no end of eccentricities. He would flee noisy school assemblies. He couldn't bear the smell of the cafeteria. By the end of first grade, his mother was spending much of the day at Alex's side.

Robyne Barth soon learned her son had Asperger syndrome, a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum. Children with the disorder, known in shorthand as Asperger's, might have strong academic gifts but deficiencies in such social skills carrying on a conversation and playing with others at recess.

[SoftballMominVA]

Awesome program doing fabulous things for kids who can and will be great adults. Probably a cost saver for the county as opposed to paying for private schools. The class handles 15 kids with 2 teachers and 4 aides and places kids out into the general education setting so that eventually, these little guys need very little assistance.

But before someone types in aghast at that student-teacher ratio, remember that one child in a day placement program could easily run over $100k each.

[SoftballMominVA]

Public Education Ping

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[ClearCase_guy]

Kids like this need special care. It's not fair to them to try to mainstream them with other kids. In a plain vanilla classroom setting, these kids won't get what they need. I'm glad this kid was placed somewhere he could thrive.

Regular kids in plain vanilla classrooms should not have their whole day turned upside down by kids with problems. Disruptive children don't belong in that environment. It's not fair to the regular kids, who end up not getting what they need.

Special Needs and non-special needs can sometimes mix. But it seems like much of the Ed Sch doctrine today is that they ALWAYS need to mix. That's a recipe for disaster all around.

[SoftballMominVA]

I agree 100% with you about the "ALWAYS having to mix!" I have had more fights with administrators about forcing mainstreaming than I can count. An IEP is an INDIVIDUALIZED education plan, which means that we need to do what is best for the individual child, not the group or anything as a political statement or to fit in with some federal mandate.

What I like about this program is that when the kids are ready, they do go to mainstream classes and programs. It's not an 'all or nothing' program.

[sportutegrl]

I actually like this. Putting these children in a class tailor made for them seems much more effective and less disruptive than trying to mainstream them into a regular class.

[sportutegrl]

Perhaps some government entity should make a list of requirements or minimum behavior standards that a child must be able to meet before he or she is allowed to mainstream. Not every child is a candidate for mainstreaming, maybe that is a goal to work towards. I think having a list of well defined abilities that must be present before a child is mainstreamed would give schools something to work with to make this decision.

[ottbmare]

In general I detest life in MoCo, and have no use for its educational system for normal kids. But there are a couple of things here that are absolutely great, and one of them is the special ed program. I have never encountered such a fantastic group of intelligent, focused, committed, hard-working, patient, talented women in my life. They have done wonders for my child and I am on my knees to them.

[ClearCase_guy]

Sadly, I can say with some confidence that your hypothetical list will be found to be racist.

Personally, I would support a dispassionate assessment tool that would help direct children toward appropriate educational opportunities. But the Education establishment will try to torpedo any such effort and if the going gets tough, they will say the list is racist. Their trump card for anything they don't like.

[thulldud]

But it seems like much of the Ed Sch doctrine today is that they ALWAYS need to mix.

That's because, in education, "separate" is always "unequal". Can't allow that.

[Albion Wilde]

Ping

[SoftballMominVA]

Such a list does exist - and it is part of every IEP. The problem is, as with many laws, the regulations aren’t followed.

[Teacher317]

Unfortunately, the DSM IV on Asperger's is so vague that it can be (and likely is) over-diagnosed. By their guidelines, I have it as well.

(I) Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
(A) marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(B) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(C) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interest or achievements with other people, (e.g.. by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
(D) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

So a child that is shy and introverted (especially those who are ostracized bychildren for being different in some physical way), and doesn't want to share his interests with classmates, qualifies under section (I)...

(II) Restricted repetitive & stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
(A) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
(B) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
(C) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g. hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
(D) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

And a twitch and adherence to rituals (religious ones, perhaps, that are taught at home before schooling begins?) qualifies under section (II). Viola, Annie's can be diagnosed with Asperger's, because she has a cleft palate which kids ridiculed from birth and taught her to be withdrawn, her parents taught her to say a detailed prayer at each meal or snack, and because she has a nervous habit of cracking her knuckles.

[SoftballMominVA]

Unfortunately, the DSM IV on Asperger's is so vague that it can be (and likely is) over-diagnosed

It is - and Aspergers is currently the 'trendy' label. It is also an easier diagnosis to give to parents than one of mildly mentally retarded or emotionally disturbed, even though in some cases, those would be the correct label for the disability.

[MissEdie]

I work in a school district in South Carolina that had a similar program, but it was for kids with Autism. It was an ABT (Applied Behavior Therapy) program where each student had at least one full-time shadow (an adult who went with them everywhere) who would reinforce and help teach specific skills. The program got so good and had such outstanding results the community had people moving from all over the country to participate (one was a Lt. Colonel from the Pentagon who retired so she could bring her son here). Sad to say the district has drastically cut the program because the federal dollars that went to fund it were cut.

[GovernmentShrinker]

An IEP is an INDIVIDUALIZED education plan, which means that we need to do what is best for the individual child, not the group

Careful there. That's exactly the concept that ruins whole classrooms. A kid with an IEP, who experts have determined is "best" served in a mainstream classroom, is allowed to disrupt the educational experience of a whole classroom full of kids who don't have IEPs. The group is more important, because it consists of many individuals. If what's best for one "special" individual sucks for a couple dozen other normal individuals, then the "special" one needs to be put in some other setting even though it isn't "best" for him/her as an individual.

[EagleMamaMT]

Would you add me to your ping list, please? I’m glad to see some other people here who support public school education. Thanks!

[SoftballMominVA]

Will do :)

[SoftballMominVA]

An IEP committee is made up of a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, an administrator, the parents, and often the student. LRE or Least Restrictive Environment does allow for the removal of a student if they are disruptive and damaging to other students. What generally happens though is that defining "disruptive" can be tricky or simply ignored by inept administrators who yield to vocal pushy parents.

As in many cases, the laws are there to protect the other kids, they just aren't enforced

[GovernmentShrinker]

the laws are there to protect the other kids

Not really. The laws require that DISABLED children be provided with an education that best serves their needs, in most cases under an IEP. There is no law requiring that normal children, much less unusually intelligent children, be provided with an education that best serves THEIR needs. In fact, most of them are railroaded through a "teach to the government test" program, regardless of how much damage or lost potential this entails.

[SoftballMominVA]

Yes really....

From Wright's law question and answer page

9. To what extent is it permissible under IDEA for school districts to consider the impact of a regular classroom placement on those students in the classroom who do not have a disability?

ANSWER: IDEA regulations provide that in selecting the LRE, consideration is given to any potential harmful effect on the student or on the quality of services that the student needs.

If a student with a disability has behavioral problems that are so disruptive in a regular classroom that the education of other students is significantly impaired, the needs of the disabled student cannot be met in that environment.

However, before making such a determination, school districts must ensure that consideration has been given to the full range of supplementary aids and services that could be provided to the student in the regular educational environment to accommodate the unique needs of the disabled student. If the placement team determines that even with the provision of supplementary aids and services, that student's IEP could not be implemented satisfactorily in the regular educational environment, that placement would not be the LRE placement for that student at the particular time, because her or his unique educational needs could not be met in that setting.

Unfortunately, too many administrators don't have the stones to enforce the regulations and cave in to pushy parents.