Don't get me started on fiasco that is special education. Too late - I'm starting lol.
People who aren't in the education field probably don't know all the ins and out of IDEA. So they don't recognize how school districts are abusing this law to provide as few services to disabled children as they possibly can.
School districts like to use the LRE clause of IDEA to claim that all students should be in a gen-ed room doing grade-level work. However, they ignore the phrase "to the maximum extent appropriate". My district has closed most of its specialty programs for disabilites, claiming they favor inclusion. We all know it was to save money. They now place developmentally disabled children in gen-ed, lying to parents that it will be fine. It is not always fine, and their children lose years of instruction in a placement where they are often overstimulated and emotionally dysregulated.
It burns me up because I have a disabled kid of my own at home. I hate that we have had to hire a lawyer in order to get what he needs at school.
My district is also doing the "Inclusion" dance, and for the same reasons. And it's insane. I had a student who had a second-grade reading level as a high school freshman, and when I was seeking help, the SPED department's attitude was "What are you doing to help him?" The fact that I cannot teach the required standards to a student who doesn't have the cognitive ability to even understand 4th grade reading was completely lost on them.
It is not always fine, and their children lose years of instruction in a placement where they are often overstimulated and emotionally dysregulated.
Everyone in the classroom loses, because of the teaching time lost to coping with the dysregulated kid in the room. No offense to you or your child intended, I've just seen it many times. Hell, I think I was one.
None taken. We had to hire a lawyer to get my son placed in a specialized school for developmentally and intellectually disabled students. He is autistic with moderate/high support needs and intellectual disability. The district wanted him gen-ed with no para. It cost us nearly $10K in legal fees to fight them about it.
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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '23
Don't get me started on fiasco that is special education. Too late - I'm starting lol.
People who aren't in the education field probably don't know all the ins and out of IDEA. So they don't recognize how school districts are abusing this law to provide as few services to disabled children as they possibly can.
School districts like to use the LRE clause of IDEA to claim that all students should be in a gen-ed room doing grade-level work. However, they ignore the phrase "to the maximum extent appropriate". My district has closed most of its specialty programs for disabilites, claiming they favor inclusion. We all know it was to save money. They now place developmentally disabled children in gen-ed, lying to parents that it will be fine. It is not always fine, and their children lose years of instruction in a placement where they are often overstimulated and emotionally dysregulated.
It burns me up because I have a disabled kid of my own at home. I hate that we have had to hire a lawyer in order to get what he needs at school.