Action urged for ‘kids in the middle’ Special needs students falling through the cracks
The Autism News | English
By Eva Ferguson, Calgary Herald
CALGARY – Jacob Duran’s preschool years were often a tough, confusing battle for mother Sabrina Isabelle, filled with tantrums that would see him hit himself, pinch himself, fall to the floor and throw his head back repeatedly.
Language never came easily, at times masked by screams of frustration with basic demands like sitting for supper or brushing teeth at bedtime.
Isabelle suspected developmental disabilities, although diagnoses are rarely made at a young age.
But support for Jacob’s special needs was completely available, free of charge, including classroom settings geared for special needs from preschool to Grade 2 alongside outreach support with behavioural and speech therapists in his own home.
“Jacob did very well. He made so many gains,” says Isabelle.
Then, when he finished Grade 2, his teacher said he was functioning too well to stay in her special needs classroom.
After several diagnoses, including autism, ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), Jacob has been forced into a regular classroom for three years, now in Grade 5 but only functioning at a Grade 3 level.
And while some schools provide special classrooms for kids with learning disabilities, Jacob cannot join them because his disabilities are defined as neurological.
Jacob is part of a rapidly-growing trend, experts say, as one of many kids that aren’t disabled enough to receive funding support and special classrooms settings, particularly as they grow older.But at the same time, because of mild or moderate disabilities, they are unable to find success in a regular classroom setting.
As a result, teachers are stuck trying to balance the needs of regular kids with those that have special needs in one classroom — and no one wins, says Isabelle.
The special needs kids “are kids in the middle, that fall through the cracks,” she adds. “And I know we are not the only ones.The system is messed up because it doesn’t provide for kids that aren’t severe, but also aren’t perfect.
“Integration might work in the regular classroom if teachers were educated to deal with their special needs. But they’re not and the kids fall severely behind.”
School boards and provincial education officials agree — as diagnoses for moderate developmental disabilities, like autism and ADHD, continue to grow–changes need to be made to provide more funding support to special needs kids.
According to the Autism Society of Canada, autism is now recognized as the most common neurological disorder affecting children.
Recent studies show approximately one in 165 children are autistic. Ten years ago, that number hovered around one in 10,000.
A two-year, provincewide review, Setting the Direction for Special Education in Alberta, included consultations with more than 6,000 parents, educators, and experts involved with specials needs kids, from severely disabled, mild and moderate to gifted and talented students.
Zoe Cooper, spokeswoman for Alberta Education and member of the Setting the Direction project team, says many discussions throughout the province revealed a particular need for better funding to kids with moderate disabilities.
“We talked to Albertans across the province and heard a variety of concerns,” she says. “There was a need recognized at the moderate level, a need for more flexibility to offer services at those levels.”
Recommendations from the review, particularly around funding changes, will be announced today, with a goal of setting policy over the 2009-10 school year and then implementation by the fall of 2010.
Judy MacKay, a superintendent with the Catholic School Board, argues part of the problem exists in the labelling of kids who aren’t severely disabled, but still have some”mild or moderate” disabilities–language that suggests the needs of such a child are not as important as someone with “severe” difficulties.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of students in all categories, mild, moderate and severe,” she says. “And we’ve advocated for years with the government indicating there’s a whole range of supports for special needs kids where funding is needed to be increased.”
MacKay explains that schools need more teachers aids, more staff training surrounding special needs and more support from speech, occupational and behavioural therapists. MacKay adds that teachers do their best to work alongside parents, developing individualized program planning for special needs kids.
But Isabelle says staff at her son’s Catholic elementary school aren’t doing nearly enough to support his learning, even though he’s been placed on an individualized program planning.
Teachers’ aids to work with special needs students are provided only at random, she says.
And this year, just the librarian has been available haphazardly.
Isabelle says Jacob still has serious problems with printing, reading and math. She can’t read her son’s agenda most days.His memory can’t recall what he wrote, because of his autism, leaving Isabelle unclear about homework expectations.
“His teacher says he’s lazy, and needs to learn responsibility,” Isabelle says, adding such comments raise questions in her mind about the teacher’s knowledge of developmental disabilities.
Making friends has also been difficult since Jacob’s autism can make it difficult to read other children’s’ social cues, Isabelle adds.
“At recess he kind of just gravitates from group to group. The other kids know he’s different but they don’t know why.”
Isabelle is inviting calls from other parents, hoping to start an advocacy group of her own.
“Somebody has to start advocating for kids in the middle, to start something, some sort of group or organization to change the way the government sees this.”
Source: http://www.canada.com/Health/Action+urged+kids+middle/1673846/story.html
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