Saturday, 16 June 2012
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Cutting the Special Education Cord
Shortly after spring break this year, my husband and I revoked our consent to enroll my son in special education courses. What this means is that a) my son will no longer receive services from the special school district, which partners with local districts to provide therapies and b) my son will no longer be protected under an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Although special education works well for many, and it did for us in the early years, we found that it was becoming more and more frustrating for all of us, and ineffective for our son. All of the classes I had taken in advocacy training and all of the hours I had spent cultivating relationships with special educators didn’t seem to help. I found myself constantly disappointed, out-of-control, frustrated and anxious about what was going on with Connor while he was in school. And the results were dismal. We have had far better luck with after-school tutoring and private language therapy than we have ever had with our so-called special educators.
The one exception was with a very talented special education teacher’s assistant who helped my son for 4 years. Why was she so successful? She was a former language TEACHER. That’s right. A real teacher, with real classroom experience, teaching children with many types of abilities. The sad state of special education in our district is that there are too many special education service providers, and not enough TEACHERS.
Our kids can learn, damn it. Let’s teach them in the way they learn, believe in what they can do, and recognize that the old special education modalities DO NOT WORK for all of our kiddos. Embrace technology, embrace the fact that kids can move around and still learn, and embrace the idea that computers can read to our kids if they have trouble doing so by themselves.
And above all, practice relevant inclusion. My son has always been in a general education classroom, but he has always felt alienated by the pull-outs for services and assessments. (Push-ins are supposed to cultivated; however, fitting those into the therapist’s schedule seem to be all but impossible).
What have I done by pulling my son out of school and away from special education the last quarter of fifth grade? Hmmm…let’s see…he received a 3.8 GPA, he is no longer anxious, and he has asked to go to camp where he can be just like any of the other kids. I suspect he’ll be ready to a smaller, private school this fall…and he’ll get his wish to be just like everyone else.
As I mentioned, special education is a wonderful thing…for MANY. For us, we found cutting the cord on something that did more harm than good has forced us to seek out other, more effective methods of delivering what our son needs to be a happier, more successful learner.
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About the Author
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- From: autismisnottheboss
- About Me: Hi, I’m Mae, a reluctant housewife, moderate mom, volunteer parent mentor and quiet advocate for people with disabilities. I have a son with a PDD-NOS diagnosis who is fully mainstreamed at his school and within our community. Learn more about me at http://www.autismisnottheboss.com
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Comments (15)
I cut my own cord when I entered HS. I forced them to give me an IQ test. I know all of the rules, and I happily followed them out the door. I made a 118 on it, and I actually had somewhat of a social life for the first time in my life. Of course, I had to let so many things go: name-calling, glowering from teachers, lunches all alone, but it was worth it. I graduated HS with a 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, which was great for someone with my educational background. I went to college and made all As and Bs.
Then Madonna came along with her "A Bedtime Story" and ruined everything. It was a lobotomy. Now I'm stuck with the basics again. I just got to a 7th grade reading level. Go me!
Not to spam you, but I don't think a lot of people know how to read, but they somehow get through. My sister can't read, and she's not in special ed. I can't recognize symbols. I know the word like I know what a printer is. It's weird.
I was put in regular school about the same age as your son. It was a hard transition but I made it. I had a personal aid that helped me with homework, and with my math classes. I was in resource English for a while but was able to be in a regular class when I got to the 11th grade. It all worked out in the end. I'm glad my mom moved me out of special ED. I am now in university without any aids or special classes. :)
I'm an English teacher. This past September, due to lack of jobs, I was convinced to accept a Special Education position. What a mistake. We were reading 3 pages a day with 9th graders and forcing them to run a scripted lesson everyday. There was very little "learning" going on. It was more of a yelling/fighting match to get them to sit down and follow Kindergarten-like directions. I left that job. I do not blame you for taking your son out of Special Ed. I would rather homeschool my children than let them into a Special Ed classroom. Of course there are exceptions out there, and some schools have exceptional programs, but you did the right thing. I am 100% behind you.
I think my mom TRIED to put me in Special Education, and I resisted SO much. I didn't think I needed the kind of help they provided in it. Basically, they just gave you the answers, OR they treated you like you were stupid. I have ASD and TS, and the 'assistants' as they called them in that Special Education thing were
nothelpful at ALL.
Although I am glad she never actually succeeded in homeschooling me (mostly because she doesn't really know much about education herself), I do wish I had some kind of actual help rather than counselors who turned out to be fake. (I have a very large/confusing/horrible/abusive/etc. background, thus causing me to now suffer from PTSD - which I have only recently learned about; I still believe that maybe I'm just crazy and that's why all these bad things happen to me.)
There's some special education school that beats mentally challenged/etc. kids and shocks them electrically. I petitioned to have it shut down on change.org... Can't remember the name of the cause. The class I was in in ~4th grade would have the assistants run it the majority of the time, and when we didn't look them in the eye/understand what they meant, they slapped our hands with a ruler. So no fidgeting, no asking questions... Nothing. I'm SO glad I learned how to appear "normal" quickly, because it helped me escape the torture.
I'm hoping things have changed now, though. Hopefully your son didn't have to go throw that. I'm not normally cheesy like this, but you're an awesome mom for not just trying to "fix" him and blaming his autism on him.
I'm probably not making any sense, though, and this is probably so random. :( Sorry if that's the case.
Very interesting post. At the last school I worked at, our special education providers were a bit of a die-roll. Of the three I worked with, one was completely uninterested in education (she took high-schoolers out of the classroom and painted their fingernails when they were supposed to be getting help with exams), one was trying hard, but out of her depth, and the last was a wonderful lady who made great progress with two struggling students, and gave them great instruction in a 1 v 1 manner that I simply can't achieve while dealing with my other 148 students. The last person was, just like in your example... a former language teacher.
I don't support special Ed. I don't think children need to be put in special classes or classrooms. They need to be treated equal like the other children. I mean it's bad enough they have whatever they have and then treating them different also? I think teachers nowadays need to be taught how to deal in all types of situations. Be patient etc. I don't know this is my opinion don't judge me on it.
@thornedbeauty1987@xanga - I teach at the college level and we get all sorts of "special" students and thankfully we have people to call and talk to for help. Most of the students who need extra help are wonderful, but I wonder what many of them are going to do once they leave school. Most companies or even freelance jobs are going to take the time to try to get someone to understand when they can find someone who already does.
@DraigStudio@xanga - that's a huge problem. My mother gets nursing students who she says are, "stupider than Kaela." I'm Kaela. It isn't as abusive as it sounds. She's just blunt. She still fails them. In school, we're like targets. The only way to make it fair is to send us to completely different schools and section off a place in society for us. Once we get out into the real world, it's a nightmare.
A good deal of us end up in poverty or government assistance, which I am now.
That's one of the reasons that I got out of special ed, but I ended up with schizophrenia as an adult too., which messed me up I was fairly abused growing up like a lot of us are, mostly by my stepmom. If one thing would have gone right growing up, but they made it impossible.
Most people want to hurt us.
@Liza - no, I understand what you're saying, Liza. It was bad for me too. A lot of people that end up in special ed could be helped in other ways...
After three years in the military, I support a military dictatorship. I'm sick of all the humanity. Oh, the humanity...
It's like, just shut up and do your job, right? I'm not referring to you.
@Endrath@xanga - They're stupid. I'll be blunt.
@thornedbeauty1987@xanga - If that is your only basis for not supporting special education, then I suggest you do some research.
A good special education teacher has to know not only the materials they need to teach, but also the variances in learning capacity between students, how their health affects their behavior/ability to learn, etc. They have to understand a lot of disorders to understand their students. They need patience, and they have to be able to discipline effectively. They also need to be physically strong; I have seen some kids who really take it out on the people in the room when they are frustrated.
Good special education programs exist, but it seems they are hard to find. The district I work for has a great department.
The fact of the matter is, children in special education programs usually need to be, because they can't keep up with the speed at which the teacher is teaching, or they don't have the ability to sit quietly in a classroom. Do you really think someone with the mental faculties of a young child should be in a regular high school classroom?
Kudos for being an advocate for your child. Many of the special ed students I have in my regular ed classroom either have completely uninterested parents or parents that are so over-involved that they are hindering their child's progress even more. This must have been a hard decision to make, but I hope it goes well for your family!
@Colorsofthenight@xanga - That's very upsetting. I try to be super supportive and yet honest to the students and let them know, if they can comprehend it (some can and some cannot) that there chances of working in the real world are slim most of the time. I want them to do the best that they can and be the best that they can, but most industries don't support a helping mentality.
I did the same thing, completely bagged the IEP in 9th grade, took him out of the school district, put him in a smaller school, with laptops. First time in 4 years, he was in a regular class, it was hard at first because he was 3 grades behind, we had to work so hard every day, I was not looking for good grades, I was looking for an education and I wanted to make sure he graduated knowing the basics, which is what I focused on. English completely sky rocketed for him, the school focused on writing in every subject, it was amazing to see the transformation. In the other school, he was secluded from his favorite subjects due to his verbal language arts deficiencies, in the new school he surpassed and dominated in language arts, why because he had to write a lot every day, it became better and better the more he was made to do it, so in turn avoiding something was not the answer, practicing and bringing someone up to the next level was the answer. I don't believe in special education anymore, I feel sorry each time I hear of someone's kids who were put through this system end up on drugs or settling for less. It is a disgrace in my eyes and should be banned. Technology solves a lot of these issues, we need to use it, not hurt these kids.