I find it a bit embarrassing to discover I have to read 56 posts in FR before I finally stumble onto an intelligent post. Many thanks.You're absolutely right about that. *Especially* at that age.
My mom was a special ed teacher, and she developed a reference standard curriculum for "special needs" students in my state. I lived through her many experiences with special students of many different sorts. She would never have been for "mainstreaming" kids into regular classrooms until they were fully prepared to do so. Sometimes they can, but many times they cannot.
Until then any "mainstreaming" attempt will merely be a failure. It will only disrupt the regular classroom and will fail to serve the special needs kid.
In fact, my mom may well have been totally against any mainstreaming. As I recall she was of the opinion that the special needs kid needs to work out a way to function in society ~given~ the fact that they're just not ever going to compete on an even level with everybody else. Mental retardation or severe autism are not conditions that somebody ever just "gets over". They're not going to be "cured". What they need is to develop the basic life skills to manage some level of independence, and THAT is something that they can do. She had many illumni of her program to show just that.
Of the many of them I've met, they are some of the happiest people I know.
It takes a special person to deal with the regular outbursts, the impossible attitudes, the cultivated dependence that happens with these kids. It is not for everybody. It is obviously not for the "teacher" in this story.
My .02
Good post! Thanks!
Excellent post. It also isn’t fair to the other students who are having their learning disrupted all the time by the special needs student.
I agree with you the child should never have been mainstreamed.
I have one problem with your statement — it was a teacher’s aide not a teacher, and fortunately, it was one of the other students.
I find it a bit embarrassing to discover I have to read 56 posts in FR before I finally stumble onto an intelligent post. Many thanks.Maybe it is because I havent finished my morning coffee, but I am having a hard time with alot of the responses posted here.
Obviously many do not understand Autism and thats a shame because its numbers are growing. Most disturbing to me is that it is the child who is going to be hurt by the actions of the supposed adults in this situation. They expect an autistic child who has a 3yr old capacity to behave appropriately and then over react themselves?
This child from the sounds of it may not be ready to be mainstreamed...or the school is not ready for mainstreaming special needs students. Either way it is NOT the childs fault but the fault of the adults who are supposed to be guiding his life.
My mom worked with autistic children and we finally talked her into retiring at age 70 largely because the children would act out on occasion and we were afraid for her. She would have never even entertained the idea of pressing charges against any of them. She loved these kids and did wonderful things with them. But at the end of the day they were still autistic and needed more than the usual classroom could offer. These children do not need to be institutionalized, many have the potential to live “normal” lives.
I am appalled at some of the comments made on here...shakes head. Who are the children?
I think you presented the most educated and informed response on this subject. It was stated in a clear and polite manner. Although I do not totally agree with your mom’s stance on mainstreaming I appreciate her efforts for a difficult situation for many families who are saddled with a lifetime of difficulties and challenges.