As many readers know, we homeschool our son with PDD-NOS. It's a good choice for us, but recently we've considered the possibility of sending our son to a private school.
One local school caters specifically to children with autism spectrum disorders and related diagnoses. It's a fine school, not far from our home, with a terrific reputation. The tuition per student per year: $50,000+. A bit rich for our blood.
When I raised financial concerns, the admissions officer reminded us that "many parents are able to get their school districts to fund private school for their children with autism." And of course, this is true. In fact, few private schools for children with autism would be in business without district funding. Districts also fund 1:1 aides (at up to $40,000 per year with benefits); outside evaluations (sometimes as much as $5,000 a pop); consultants (at $1,000/day); and more.
Of course, few districts are shelling out this kind of money for every child on the autism spectrum. But even so, it's easy enough for just a few dozen children to rack up a million dollars in annual expenses.
In today's economy, that million dollars isn't chicken feed. And while the federal and state governments theoretically provide funding for special needs children, the reality is that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has never been fully funded.
For districts to support the costs of special education based on individualized educational programs (IEP's) during a deep recession, something has to give. That something, in many districts, winds up being physical education, music, art, athletics, faculty, and support staff.
Like many of you, in addition to having a child with autism I also have a child with no special needs. She plays the trumpet - and the district has already threatened to cut back on band. She enjoys athletics - and the district is worried about funding PE. She learns a great deal from field trips - and the district wonders how many it can offer next year with a budget that's cut to the bone.
Given all these potential cuts for kids and teachers across the board, I can't say I liked the idea of turning to my district for $50K in support of a private school for my son with autism. Legally, though, the school could be forced to find the funds.
If you were in charge of the school district in your area, how would you manage to serve both autistic and typically developing children? Vote in the poll (you can check more than one box) - or just add your comment!
This is a very touchy subject.
You cant give people the idea it’s just that easy to walk into the school and get them to legally pay for private schools.
The school would only be forced to pay for a private school if via due process it was shown the school could not provide an appropriate education, appropriate programs and services for the child with a disability. After home schooling, you’d have to enroll your child into the school district, then prove how the district failed your child’s educationally. This also takes funding for attorneys for both parent and school, I have yet to hear of a district willingly shelling out funds for a private school w/o a court battle. Parents often loose these battles when the school has provided programs appropriate. Parents have to determine there’s a difference between appropriate and best, and you’ll never get best from any school district.
Regardless of special ed or not, many schools around the USA are having budget issues due to higher fuel costs and so on. Unlike speial ed children, regular ed kids are probably the ones getting the short end of the stick since they hardly have any laws for them other than NCLB. Most activities like music and phy-ed/ sports now has a large fee to the child. Way back it used to have no cost. Schools need to prioritize IMO. If a child doesn’t learn the basics what good is music or sports or a tar parking lot?
The thing you hear from the general public and it’s said often, is taxes going up for those with disabilities. IMO People suing the districts to get private schools is a tax payers bill and I certainly don’t want my taxes paying for that. There’s a case out there which the child never even entered the school, yet the family sued for a private school stating they didn’t offer a program suitable for their child. This blows my mind, the parents didn’t even try the school yet want tax payers to foot the bill. To me that would be a slap in the face to all other special ed children and their parents in that same program which these parents rejected.
In this day and age, regardless of typical or special ed, we all need to live within or means and not have others foot the bill for things they want but cant afford.
You’ve actually presented two sides of the same story. On the one hand, the idea that no one could possibly ask a district to fund private school without enrolling; on the other hand, the idea that they can and do.
You’re right, of course: it’s not easy to get a district to fund private school. You need a very good lawyer… and theoretically you need to have a very good case.
I, personally, have never gone the legal route. But I do know parents whose children have done marginally well in public school (as mine did), who – with money and a great lawyer – were able to push the district into paying for tuition at a brand new school where an unproven therapeutic approach was practiced.
Bottom line, private education may not be the norm – but certainly the high cost of special education is the norm. Even when my son was in public school, the cost of his aide, adaptive gym and therapies was certainly very significant. Multiplied by an ever-increasing number of kids on IEP’s, it’s easy to see why the educational system is pressed… even in a good economy.
Not an easy issue to resolve, IMO.
I think when it comes to services, medical insurance should supply some of that if not all. In some schools, they’d get payment from medicaid for the therapies and Para’s. Of course not all states do this. My state does and I believe PA does as well. The schools have taken a beating for years with denials of insurance coverage for therapies and parents then are forced to rely on the school system for everything.
Private school, one has to consider carefully. Even there a child may not progress any faster and then if you’re looking at a school as you mentioned specifically to children with autism spectrum disorders and related diagnoses, you’re also limiting the child’s potential for opportunities of the ‘real world’, sort of speaking.
The thing that get’s me about some of those cases that won (and I still don’t get how that even happened) is the private school was out of state when there was private schools within the state. I believe one case in particular the child was about the age of my son now and I cant imagine sending him off to another state for a private education for grade school.
Oh jeeez, you mean I have to be practical and not militant about special education? My state, NJ, is currently in the throes of a poker match with the new governor controlling the table and a powerful teachers’ union trying to maintain their winnings. The players being pushed out of the game are townships slashing school budgets devestated by state budget costs; and of course, the children. It is a truly frightening situation for all towns and school systems in the state; it’s probably going on to some extent in most states as well.
I view special needs and disability education and infrastructure right alongside basic societal needs like law enforcement, road upkeep, basic education and social security. As such, they need to be part of the base tax structure in order to hold society together. OOPS, sorry, slipped back into militantcy again.
On a practical level, I think there needs to be a balance between an autistic child’s right to an inclusive education and the ability for school systems to regionalize services for many autistic children. We can’t force school systems to build programs around a handful of students; many times there is a wide variety of special needs, even within the spectrum itself. Inclusion and mainstreaming are also goals and needs we have. But without cost effective and innovative ideas like sharing services across districts and attempting to group kids with similar issues where possible, all kids, special needs or not, will suffer with substandard services and education. We can be both militant AND somewhat flexible; as long as school systems can meet us halfway…
Hi Lisa,
I notice one option missing from your survey list – Slash the salaries and bonuses of all the bureaucrats at the top of the system… The well advertised problem of the ever widening differential between the highest and lowest paid in corporations is not just limited to private enterprises. It’s a problem in publicly run systems as well.
I also didn’t see an “all of the above” button. Using a combination of approaches would mean that less money has to come from each.
We have a Governor issue here as well. MN didn’t get the a huge educational grant (federal Race to the Top education grant) due to 2 reasons: “state success factors,” which includes getting statewide support for a slate of education policy changes; and the state’s lack of alternative ways to get teachers into classrooms and for ensuring an “equitable distribution” of good teachers. The Gov can but wont submit another application unless his plans for educational reform passes. His plan is for example in part, is to let 3M retired chemists to be able to teach after a ‘training course’ in public schools. The school union of course thinks this idea is lowering teacher standards. So the battle of a large grant balances on this Governors way or it’s no way and the ones who will feel it is the kids.
My official vote would be “none of the above,” and I agree with what Mary said about slashing salaries at the top level (or even excess administrative jobs). I attended the Wright’s Law Conference a year-or-so ago and they presented all of the stats (with charts) to show the changes in legislation and related funding over the last 20 years. Pete Wright showed evidence that there were HUGE increases in funding. He also went on to show the stats (and charts) of where all of that funding went – by and large to the top end (administrative level) in a trickle-down fashion (from federal admins to state admins to district admins, with a few cents left for the student). But, the laws MANDATE services for our children. I too was looking at a private autism clinic for our son at a cost of approximately $500.00 a week, for a required minimum of 10 class hours. That cost would increase if we requested more class time. I personally didn’t feel right pushing the school district to pay that cost. I also personally believe that parents who are properly trained to teach, guide, train, etc. their own child will be the best resource available to the child and I therefore believe that clinics with parent/family/community participation (non-paid volunteers) will serve as the greatest manpower and would put us all on a better path towards a cost-effective program. Also, I would add one item to your poll: Cut the salaries for supplemental services at the schools, meaning salaries for chaperones, coaches, and “extra-curricular” positions. Most sports leagues would never make it without volunteers…the schools USED to be full of volunteers…not-so-much anymore.
None of the above.
I do not believe schools or public dollars should be used to cure autism. Either your kid is ready for school and to be educated, or not.
Schools should be more tolerant of special needs students, but that’s about it. I had a school threaten to exclude one of my sons who I now know to have Asperger’s, and I did use the threat of the school district paying for his special education as a tool to convince them to tolerate his eccentricities.
If you can’t mainstream your kid in a classroom, you can’t reasonably expect to mainstream your kid into the workplace someday. If you don’t expect to mainstream your kid into the workplace someday, what is the point in extreme public cost trying to educate him?
I agree, you cant expect a cure for autism which is a medical condition of a school or public dollars. Public schools are not a medical provider, they are academic providers. Since all kids progress at different rates and levels, it’s not always the schools faulty programs which is the cause when progress is not seen; the cause would be autism.
I also sort of agree with the salaries however that is not a long term fix. At any given time in the world everyone complains about those in the far upper dollar tax bracket, however there will always be those. Expecting any to give up part of their income would not fix the ecomomy nor would it fix the public school system.
I agree that public dollars should not be used to “cure” autism; however, educating children, even privately, is not the same as “curing” anything. Education all children, who do remain “member of the public” regardless of any number or assortment of disabilities, including autism, has been long identified as a responsibility of society as a whole. This means that certain amounts of our tax dollars should be accessible to every child in society for education purposes.
To not educate a child to his or her reasonable potential “costs” society in many different ways and, in many cases, creates a longer, more expensive, and unnecessary lifetime burden of care on society. Not all workplaces are “mainstream” either, so there are a certain number of people who may never fit into a mainstream school program who may still be able to serve society effectively and, in fact, thrive in a “non-conventional” workplace environment. These people can wind up being valuable tax payers instead of long-term tax dependents. IMO, it is a very short-sighted society that “throws” such children away in institutions and refuses to educate them just because it costs a few more tax dollars to turn them into future tax payers.
There are many issues with how education is being handled and many more children than just those with autism who have difficulties getting along inside that system. Public education is something that needs, IMO, a complete overall. It just should work better for more people than it currently does.
As an additional comment: Despite being mainstreamed and quite capable, my son spent a great deal of time sitting in the library (without our knowing it) because the class couldn’t be “convinced to tolerate his eccentricities” very well. My son’s education suffered from this necessitating post-secondary make-up courses to fill in various deficits to get him into the workplace. Some of the other parents complained as well that their child’s education was suffering because of my son’s presence in the mainstream classroom. Those other parents would have preferred if we had sent him to a private school, but we simply could not afford that.
There are a lot of issues here.
Bill, I think some kids are “ready for education if they get extra help”. And I agree with Mary that for some kids, suitable education may be enough to help them live independently.
And I think a lot of the issue goes to numbers. Are there more special ed kids needing help, or has the amount remained pretty stedy, and teachers of old were just better at integrating kids with challenges into the classroom?
Can understand your concerns about taking money from the school district, Lisa. But just to pay devils advocate a little; by educating your son at home, you obviously saved the educational department quite a bit over the years. If he would have required an aide, possibly a lot more than fifty thousand?
Maybe it would be okay if it is your sons’ turn to use resources for a little? Can very much understand your dillema though about not wanting to take too much,hard to balance it so it is fair to all involved.
IMO it’s tough to say which therapies are medical and which are academic, since they seem to overlap so much.
For example… is an “ABA Classroom” treating autism or teaching basic academic skills? (answer: both!).
Is a PT treating symptoms of autism or building readiness for PE class? (answer: both!)
Depending upon where you live, you might access services through school, public agencies, insurance, or all three. But when the provider is school, it seems, there’s a lot less certainty about what’s needed, appropriate, or affordable… and a lot more of a balancing act!
Lisa
One has to be careful with what is educational and what is medical, or we’ll be right back to the fight that autism is an educational disorder, not medical which has been the battle wit insurance companies for years.
Figuring out which therapies are medical or educational is easy. If private insurances would cover it, it’s medical. Of course they over lap. Medical issues do effect academics. ABA any where you read is behavioral intervention with positive reinforcement. An ABA therapist could no more teach a child academics than a Para could. What ABA therapists do as well as a Para is aide the child through academics with various strategies however neither are actual teachers nor normally qualified to be actual academic teachers. Although low muscle tone and physical limitation can be a symptom of autism, it’s still a medical condition, not educational.
When it comes to therapies and interventions, a person could gain access to
them from various settings however public school specializing in what? Academics. They will offer appropriate. If a person wants more than that, they need to seek the services else where than the school but since many people rely solely on the school for interventions, some get the idea they’re going to get the best for the child. That’s never going to happen.
I had the opportunity to have both, private and school provided services and I could tell the difference between each. The motivation also was different between each, the types of things they did were different as well. I also found less conflict of interest with the private and also they worked better with me the parent than any school ever has to this date. The focus with the school for us any way, always is academic level and manner of learning, secondary is how autism effects this and how can they achieve goals with a child with autism.
An interesting educational question might be of your readers, is over the years of the goals set for a child, how many did a child have per the IEP and how many were achieved. School employees will always have a job even if the goals are hardly ever met however a therapist paid by insurances will get payment denied if goals and progress isn’t being shown.
Regarding Hera’s comment # 11 “Can understand your concerns about taking money from the school district, Lisa. But just to pay devil’s advocate a little; by educating your son at home, you obviously saved the educational department quite a bit over the years… Maybe it would be okay if it is your son’s turn to use resources for a little? Can very much understand your dilema though about not wanting to take too much, hard to balance it so it is fair to all involved.” I was thinking just the same thing!
There certainly is a real concern about our schools not having infinite resources. But in addition to those reasonable concerns, I also have an innate reluctance to ask anyone for money, a feeling like, “well, it might be hard on someone else, I really shouldn’t make waves, I really shouldn’t demand anything”. It’s partly the remnants of a traditional feminine value — don’t ask for anything for yourself; if you’re good you’ll get what you deserve. Of course, it’s sometimes easier to be assertive on behalf of our kids, but even then I find I have to overcome a certain internal resistance. Anyway, if that school is the best option for your son, it’s certainly something to consider. Like Hera said, you’ve surely saved the school some money during the years of home schooling! (Of course, you & your family will decide whether that is the best course and I have no idea!)
Regarding Bill’s comment # 8: Wow, there are many reasonable arguements that can be made about what are appropriate expenses for the schools to fund. But I don’t think I’ve heard anyone argue lately that people who can’t function well in a typical classroom should just not be educated! That arguement was pretty much thrown out the window when IDEA was passed over 25 years ago. Before that, public schools could simply refuse to educate a child with a handicap, but IDEA says that all children are entitled to a “free appropriate public education”. Again, reasonable people can disagree about what is “appropriate”, but to simply not educate a large proportion of children would be quite unfortunate for them, their families, and society as a whole who would pay the price of a much higher level of dependence and other problems than if schools teach everyone as much and as well as possible. Being able to speak, read, maybe do basic math, behave appropriately, take care of basic life skills — any level of accomplishments in these areas goes a long way, even if a student does not graduate from high school with an understanding of calculus and ancient history. And some students with developmental disabilities such as autism have the ability to learn advanced subjects in a different way or with certain supports and/or help with behaviors. To simply give up on everyone who does not fit the standard mold would be tragic, a huge step backwards, and very expensive for society as a whole.
Twyla – definitely considering charter school options as Tom gets older… but am not at all sure that a private “autism school” would be in anyone’s best interests (Tom’s, the district’s, or even ours as Tom’s parents).
Lisa
I don’t believe Bill was suggesting not to educate a child in his comment
“If you can’t mainstream your kid in a classroom, you can’t reasonably expect to mainstream your kid into the workplace someday. If you don’t expect to mainstream your kid into the workplace someday, what is the point in extreme public cost trying to educate him?”
That’s not what he said. Maybe if you exclude the word extreme cost…
He was talking about the extreme costs. I may not have this correct and Bill can correct me, as an example, my son is academically delayed. All the spendy programs isn’t going to change that fact or force this child to progress sooner. I also get of what Bill was saying is a child with an extreme MR disability often never can be mainstreamed, ever nor will they ever comprehend academics. It’s sad, but that is the reality for some. Spendy educations isn’t going to change that.
I think more the issue with education is the push to be at grade peer level when a child simply isn’t capable of it. The schools (and parents) need to accept this and it’s ok to go at the child’s rate of learning. The push upon academics of a disabled child just makes the stress far worse when the expectation is above the child’s ability.
Hi Lisa,
I honestly understood your initial blog post the same way as Twyla – as implying that you were looking into the “local school [that] caters specifically to children with autism spectrum disorders” with 50,000+/year tuition that was “a bit rich for [your] blood”; particularly when you added the bit about having “raised financial concerns with the administrative officer.”
Here the government pays an allotment to both charter schools and public schools for both special ed and regular ed students on a “per head” basis. The “extra tuition” to attend charter schools pays for things like smaller student/teacher ratios and extra extra-curricular programs, IB programs, etc.
I don’t know for sure, but I think the existence of our public health care system probably also impacts what other monies are available to help both types of schools administer health-related services to special ed students. I’m guessing, but it would be reasonable if schools that cater exclusively to students with particular special needs (such as autism-only schools) receive more healthcare related funding in addition to the regular educational funding.
I hadn’t really thought of it before, but our healthcare system probably impacts how special ed students are diagnosed here (i.e. probably fewer students are “diagnosed” administratively).
Hi – I am Lisa’s husband and Tom’s dad.
Lisa and I both home school our son and we each run our own business. Its a seven day a week juggling act – working when not home schooling and trying to fit a social life into it all for our family.
Part of the discussion we have with schools for Tom is that even though we may find a school situation that looks good the other 50% is Tom rising to the challenge and wanting to succeed and learn. He is moving forward but not as quickly as peers.
So we have different options to look at and may stay with home schooling. We are tired like many ASD families but we believe Tom can do well and we support his strengths and find ways to adapt teaching (and find teachers) to help him with his weaknesses. Its not easy but he is a smart and charming person.
Lisa and Peter,
I really commend what you’re doing with Tom and the approaches you both seem to be taking concerning his education. For us, my husband works out of town for much of the year and we simply could not afford for me to leave my job to stay home, so homeschooling wasn’t really a practical option for us.
We were lucky that our local school was pretty good (in comparison to many others even in our province). Even so, we did look into both a special education school for ECS (although none were available back then here that dealt solely with autism) and we did look at a private charter school for high school. The special ed school was essentially full and a long, long ways from home. I actually wasn’t too disappointed when he didnt get in. As for the high school, my son’s test scores were not high enough to gain admittance and I remember being very disappointed.
Even so, he did manage to get a usable high school diploma, although some course upgrades were necessary to get him into a post-secondary apprenticeship program. Right now, we have not been able to get him a work placement so that he can move onto the next year of the program, but we’re continuing to be hopeful that he’ll find something soon.
I agree Peter – maintaining the child’s motivation to learn is a key ingredient to eventual success. All the best of luck to both of you with finding the best schooling environment for Tom.
Mary – sorry to be confusing: I DID look into the private autism-only school, only every-so-briefly… but we are SERIOUSLY considering the charter school (costs for which, I assume, are not anywhere near as high, even with accomodation).
It’s a maze, all right!
Lisa
Lisa, I got the impression from your article that everything about that private school was great except the price tag — but I guess I misunderstood!
Nice to year from you, Peter Cook, and kudos to both of you for being hard working concerned involved parents.
All states may be different, and some states don’t even have Charter schools however those that do, Charters are not allowed to charge tuition. For any interested,
US Charter Schools
http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/o/index.htm
My son attends a Charter school. Enrollment for most are conducted by a lottery, which if it’s a popular school there could be a waiting list. There a 1000 + application list for my sons school. Many Charter schools rely on parent involvement and so does our school for this like lunch servers, Teacher helpers and so on.
The difference with a private school is unless they are getting state and federal funding (the majority do not, which makes it ‘private’) IDEA doesn’t apply as it does to public and Charter schools. If a child goes to a private school and there’s a conflict, a parent can not resort to the IDEA laws, which is something to consider before thinking about the tuition.
Just wanted to welcome Peter Cook to the board,nice to have Toms’ Dad posting too.
Like Mary, I think you guys obviously both do a great job with your son, sorry I did not say that in the earlier post.
I also misread the post, ; am glad you might have found a charter school that will work better and is affordable. And sometimes as you say home schooling is the best answer.
We just started in a very cheap (thankfully) private school for my youngest; he is so happy..no bullying and it seems like he has finally found a place to belong.
I honestly don’t know all the details about the private school… I do know it has a fine reputation, and I do know the pricetag, which puts it far out of reach for us.
Philosophically, I’m not crazy about “autism only” schools unless there’s really no viable option. While I can see the value of a program that’s specially designed for a particular set of needs (and the idea that someone else is doing all the work is sometimes a bit of a relief), the truth is that most kids with autism don’t need a “special” environment 24/7.
I am often torn between the desire to see our kids supported and accommodated, and the reality that they (like the rest of us) must find a way to live in the world – with or without special supports. Whenever I see Tom overcome an anxiety or move past a challenge, I realize that it’s very easy to underestimate his abilities…
It can be hard to separate “realism” from “pessimism!”
Lisa
Hi Lisa, yes, I also am not a huge fan of special ed type environments for my son; though there are some kids perhaps who they work for. My biggest complaint with public education, apart from the bullying, was the educational neglect. I think kids with speech difficulty are most likely to be assumed ( inaccurately ) to be unable to learn.
This new school is not special ed, but is very small, and willing to individualize lesson plans to fit the kids needs. It has been my experience ( perhaps counterintuitive?)that teachers with special ed training are more likely to say “poor thing he can’t learn”, while regular teachers are more comfortable using a variety of approaches to make learning possible..
Wow, Hera, it’s like you’re reading my mind! That’s been our experience precisely.
One problem with Tom (and I’m guessing for many kids on the spectrum) is a lack of desire to impress teachers or peers with ability or prowess.
Since Tom doesn’t (or at least up until very recently DIDN’T) mind others doing things for him, he’s always just stood back and smiled while special ed teachers tied his shoes, finished his artwork, or lowered the academic bar. That, combined with real language delays and challenges, turned school into more of a baby-sitting with frills experience than an academic setting.
Obviously many kids on the spectrum are very different from Tom… just our experience.
Lisa
I agree completely Lisa. It’s also surprising how much our kids may be learning when we think they aren’t learning at all. They struggle and struggle and struggle and we think they’ll just never get it… and then months later long after the teaching of it stops, bang, the lesson just pops out as if they had known it all along.
Mary – I remember thinking, when Tom suddenly and almost instantly potty trained, “well if you KNEW how to do it, why the heck DIDN’T you do it?!” Of course the answer was… he wasn’t quite ready. The problem: I have NO clue what held him back or what made him feel ready. If I did, I’m guessing I’d make a million bucks on a foolproof potty training program!
The same goes for so many things… greeting people without undue anxiety, ordering in a restaurant, eating new foods. What suddenly “goes off” in a child’s head to make them ready to move forward?
IMO, the issues are very similar in typical kids. It’s just that they generally are ready to move on at about the same time as their peers, so we don’t notice it as much!
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
For those of us who live in states where local school budgets get put up to a public vote every year, we are used to hearing gripes this time of year about the cost of educating kids with autism. Usually those gripes come from outside the autism or education communities from people who know little about the law or what it takes to educate typical kids let alone special needs kids. I wish you had not used the word “ethics” in your title, because that is a different discussion then your journey with Tom, and your transition from homeschooling to public or private programs. If your son qualities for the 50k program and public funding because of his basic education needs, then there are no ethical issues with putting him in that program. There may be ethical issues in denying him his rights. It may be hard to explain to your daughter why her non-mandated music and sports are impacted, or your neighbor as to why their taxes have gone up, but it is not an ethical issue. It is an ethical issue to single out the tax impact of individual children’s needs, or to imply that the impact is a particular child or parents fault. Your tax levy is a result of the legislation in place, not the residents covered by it. In my area, publicly run regional special education programs cost more then 50k a year, plus transportation. If your local private program (aka – outsourced public education with fewer benefits, lower wages, etc) is maintaining a good reputation while spending less, why don’t you look into what they are doing right. Please don’t throw administrators, parents and children under the bus over the cost of special needs education. I thought we moved past that years ago. I do admire your ability and efforts at homeschooling, and I share your guilt over the costs of special needs education, but ethics have nothing to do with it as you have framed it. I apologize in advance if I am reading too much into your post.
John – I’m not sure I understand your point. It sounds like you’re saying “since the law supports huge outlays for individual children with special needs, there’s no ethical issue to consider.” Am I misunderstanding? IMO, the law may need some tweaking.
From my point of view, it looks like there is a limited quantity of cash available for education overall. As a result, we need to make what I’d consider ethical as well as practical decisions about where the money should go, and how it should be spent.
I personally question whether it’s appropriate for one child to receive tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of private, specialized education while others receive a tiny fraction of that amount. Granted some kids need more support than others – but surely there must be some middle ground.
The private school to which I referred has a great reputation. But that’s because it’s a school where kids who are verbal with no significant behavior issues are in a highly specialized setting with highly trained professional therapists and special education instructors working with them all day, every day. Surely that’s the “cadillac” approach to education!
IMO, it’d be great if every individual child, with or without special needs, could receive that level of programming, support and instruction. But given that there simply aren’t the resources to provide such opportunities for all, who should receive that “cadillac” education on the public nickel?
If my son were gifted, I’d probably have similar concerns. Certainly, knowing that my daughter is somewhere in the middle of the road, I have concerns that she’ll get lost in the shuffle. I have no doubt she’d do better in a small, high-end school with all kinds of resources… but there’s no possibility that the district would, could (or should) provide such an option.
Lisa
This is a little bewildering. If you believe that society is not responsible for caring for its disabled citizens humanely and with dignity and support for their full potential, then I have trouble understanding where you are coming from. Sure, a non-public school may be a luxury for your child, which is probably why you’re unlikely to get the school district to pay for it. Some of us have kids that the school district is eager to send out of district because they’re so difficult to work with. I’m actually fighting to keep my kid IN district.
These people are part of our communities and for better or worse the system is set up to serve them from 3-22 via school districts. Unless you advocate sending them home regardless of their parents’ capacity to educate them (and their own capacity to be educated at home), or sending them to state hospitals and asylums, I’m at a loss to understand how you can view the question this way, and leave out such poll options as “reduce funding for corporate tax rebates, pensions for still-employed young retirees at the executive level, and legal defense funds for former house speakers and divert these funds to public education and disability services…in addition to increasing taxes” (I live in MA too).
Unless you believe that we should return to the days of institutionalizing people with disabilities and warehousing them at the lowest cost and with the least support possible (which is honestly still more expensive than educating them and supporting them in the community with natural supports), how can you set up this straw man of an argument?
I can almost understand this kind of thinking from people who don’t live with disability in their daily lives (though I would remind them that that could change any moment), but when it comes from parents of disabled children, I find it frankly baffling.
Mamacate, I don’t for a minute believe that changing corporate tax law would raise funds for special education. Money doesn’t flow that way.
I am presenting what seems to be a real conundrum, which is: if there is a limited pool of money for education, where should the money go?
IMO, a great deal of the problem relates to our educational system overall. NCLB has cut our ability to be creative or inclusive; IDEA has set parent against parent and parent against school district; LEA has created all sorts of issues for general education.
Meanwhile, though, while I can see that some of the private schools for kids with autism are terrific schools, it seems to me that they are yet another way to segregate “our” kids from “their” kids. As long as kids on the spectrum are kept isolated, they will remain outsiders to the community – and miss out on the opportunities available to successfully take part in all kinds of community programs and activities.
Again, I think there has GOT to be a middle ground in which the child with special needs, the gifted child and they typical child can all be well-served without simply emptying our purses in the direction of $150/hour therapists and clinicians.
Lisa
“since the law supports huge outlays for individual children with special needs, there’s no ethical issue to consider.” – correct. Given a limited pool of education funds, they go to mandates first, and then to wants. Lets ask another way. Is it ethical to ask the community to pay for your child’s trumpet lessons when that is not a requirement of the district?
You suggest that separating a kid to home school them is ok, but separating them so they are with their special education peers is not? That logic seems a little too convenient.
John – in response to your first point, well, I guess I do feel that including music in the curriculum is important… and right now music IS a requirement of the district, so I feel it’s ethical to have the district provide trumpet lessons at school as part of band. And I’d question the ethics of cutting music out of the curriculum. But maybe you’re trying to suggest something more out of the way, such as “is it ethical to have the district pay for tae kwon do,” something that is NOT a part of the state curriculum? In that case, I’d say “no, it isn’t.”
As regards homeschool v. segregated schooling: there is a tremendous difference – though myths surrounding homeschooling make it less obvious than it should be.
Homeschooling not only allows us to teach our child according to his strengths, abilities and interests, but it also allows us to include him in a wide range of community programs and activities where he is engaging with, working with or learning with typical community members of all ages.
He takes classes with other homeschooled kids who are all within a year or two of his age – but there are only 8 or 10 kids in the group, and we’re able to choose the teacher, the program and situation based on what we know about our son’s abilities and challenges (and the teacher’s). He is also tutored in math by a person who specializes in math-related learning disabilities.
He’s included in advanced jazz band because he’s great at jazz clarinet. His music teacher is a professor at the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
He’s included in the local bowling league because he’s good at and enjoys bowling.
He goes on field trips that we know he’ll do well with because he has the interest and skills (New England Aquarium, science museum, etc.).
He builds social skills in the community, and not in artificial settings created in the school that involve only kids on the spectrum. So, for example, he knows the librarian and can select and check out his own books. We order lunch at the local diner, where he knows the owner and she knows him. He helps paint sets at the local community theater, where people know him and he’s now comfortable.
In short, homeschooling offers options NOT available in any other way. Does that make it perfect? Of course not! But I do feel that a segregated program – or, worse, a “push in” program – can be very difficult for everyone.
“Push in,” is theoretically a nice, gradual way to include a child with autism in the general curriculum . But consider: a child with autism spends most of his day in a group of autistic children with multiple adults, therapies, and special adaptations. Then he “pushes in” to music, art, or gym – where the kids don’t know him, he doesn’t know the kids, the curriculum varies daily, the noise level and sensory issues can be extreme…
Hard to image a more difficult situation for child with autism – or really for any child trying to find a “home” at school.
Lisa
My point is what are the ethics of assuming that there is a limited pool of money for education and that we must pit disabled children against non-disabled children in order to provide an education. And I’m with John in questioning whether the taxpayer should subsidize instrumental music instruction (not required by MA frameworks, much less federal law unlike FAPE; btw, my district doesn’t have it anymore), a form of education that is unlikely to provide any substantive benefit to society through preparing her to pay taxes on income she earns from it, versus educating a disabled child, which could make the difference between someone who works in a sheltered workshop for the rest of her life or someone who is employed and pays taxes.
And yes, closing the loopholes in MA federal taxes could make a huge difference in our school budgets via chapter 70 and/or circuit-breaker restorations: http://onemassachusetts.org/getinformed/revenue/AboutCorporateTax
Finally, I think when you say LEA (local educational agency) you mean LRE (least restrictive environment). And “push in” usually means services for kids who are in inclusion the rest of the day, not pushing the kid in. So it means that the service provider goes into the inclusion setting instead of the kid being pulled out for services (for example the speech therapist might work with the child in the context of a class activity, or might do a social skills group for the whole class where the content is designed with the disabled child’s needs in mind. The idea is to support inclusion and enhance the needs of all kids.
And yes, there is a middle ground. It’s called FAPE. Nobody promised anyone, least of all disabled children, a Cadillac education. SPED administrators love to talk about Cadillacs, but advocates just want a chevy that runs and doesn’t have a broken steering column that’s gonna run our kids into the nearest tree!
Those 766 schools look very glossy from the outside, but when you’re facing a placement in one of them and you look a little closer, sometimes it’s not as pretty of a picture. As John said, cities and towns outsource their kids to these schools. Should they do more of it in district? Absolutely. Will setting up false dichotomies and playing hypothetical games about whose educational interventions are more important without insisting that we fulfill our moral duty to children before considering luxuries help achieve that goal? Not a chance.
Mamacate, you’re right: I screwed up my acronyms. Sorry about that. And since I’ve never been in the position of seriously considering a private “autism only” school for my son you’re right again: I haven’t been close enough to really comment on the quality of day-to-day experience for the kids. I visited – but of course that’s not the same.
I do take issue, though, with your discounting music (and presumably other “specials” such as art, gym, computers, etc.). IMO, particularly for our children (for whom verbal interaction can be very difficult), the arts and/or technology are the saving grace: the opportunity to be fully included, successful and even talented. I know that they are often considered to be frills – but quite honestly, I think they are critically important. I am delighted to be living in a district with strong music, art and athletic programs (which are accessed by both of my kids). If they weren’t available through the schools, of course I’d pay for them out of pocket – but IMO the arts and PE are basic to education.
I’m not sure I understand about the corporate taxes… looking at the site you reference, and using common sense, I can see that larger taxes for corporations will raise more revenue for various state programs. But why would you expect that the revenue would be steered specifically toward special ed?
Best,
Lisa
I have the opposite opinion, of course. I don’t think PE, music or art are a big deal and if were only considering kids with autism, for many of those children these can be very difficult, as it is for my own child. In my opinion, these things might be important to those expecting a career from it but for my child other than needed gross motor outlets, PE consists of groups and this hardly ever works for him and he can still barely catch or kick a ball and there’s nothing worse than peers seeing this. Music is also difficult for many reasons and art sort of requires an imagination of some sort and its not concrete concepts.
If budgets are as bad as all get out, the focus for schools should really be what children will surely need as grown ups to be successful because if they don’t have those basics, they probably wont be successful in a career of sports, music or arts.
I can imagine a child being in self contained and then going to main stream settings. A way to avoid that staring at the new kid would to include 2 children from the self contained class. But also consider taking your same child to the children’s science museum, Toys R Us, a birthday party or the local park and library where you’re also going to have unknown other children, or joining a league outside of school. You can offer that same child the tools but you’re never going to know any given day if its going to be the right choices or not. I’m not sure any parent can say all the experiences they ever have or their child has is grand all of the time, and what worked this time may never work again. If you don’t attempt to try some where and prepare as best as one can, why bother at all? Why is there the expectation that although we have bad experiences, a school cant? Does any one have the formula for a perfect transition?
Wow… we may have to agree to disagree on this one.
Our family goes to all kinds of outside settings, museums, leagues, etc. But in those cases we’re there as a family or we’re a part of the group. Being the outsider in the general ed classroom who’s there for a few minutes or a few sessions on approval is a hell of a situation for a kid, IMO.
As regards music, art, etc., if the issue is “we are teaching school to prepare kids for life” then IMO we are doing a lousy job. And I honestly don’t think our schools are set up to do anything like prepare kids for day to day adult life.
To actually prepare kids for ordinary day to day life, basic reading, writing and math (maybe fifth grade level) is more than enough.
Reading poetry, writing essays, doing algebra, etc. have little to do with daily life skills – at least for the vast majority of adults.
In this country we certainly don’t make much use of geography, minimal use of history, and almost no use of foreign language.
Unless we’re living in an institution, we certainly don’t group adults with 24 same-age peers and expect them to raise their hands when they want to use the facilities or speak.
We don’t formally test adults on their basic knowledge weekly, monthly or yearly. And we don’t make transitions to new settings, “bosses” (teachers), “job” expectations or social situations every twelve months!
In fact, if we’re really preparing kids for daily life, the keys to success would be in home economics, driver’s ed, and basic accounting. Kids would have one “boss,” one desk, and one set of social expectations throughout their school career.
In short, few of the skills typically taught in schools are truly significant for day to day adult life. Music, art, poetry and PE are among the few skills we’re taught in school that can actually be used on a daily basis in adult life…
Lisa
I have to agree with Lisa that cultural richness of art,music ,and sports for those who enjoy them, is great. And for some who don’t do mainstream stuff well , it may even be an opportunity for a career. Not everyone is going to do well at maths, but some may find their passion in art or music. And from a financial/outcome point of view, these interests may later provide tax paying careers for some people..
Also, for some kids music in particular can actually be very helpful, surprisingly, in developing their brains and hence preparing them for life. Our oldest was borderline ADHD, we looked at ways to help that did not involve drugs,and discovered that learning a musical instrument apparently can help some ADHD type kids settle down. Can’t find the original study right now, so just going off memory.
Apparently they didn’t need to play it well to get the benefit, just had to play at all. And it was also I think linked with better maths scores…At the most economical level, teaching basic recorder playing (you can get usable plastic ones at the dollar store) may make a music program a cheap intervention that gives excellent results for the money spent…
There was (is) a TV show called “are you as smart as a fifth grader,” which pits adults against fifth graders on basic knowledge. As often as not, the fifth graders won.
I’ve been in informal and formal science education (writing exhibit labels, planetarium shows, books, texts, curricula) for more than 20 years, and am amazed at the info that people either never learned or forgot – and didn’t need. For example… a neighbor with a masters in nursing couldn’t describe the difference between a planet and a star… and the truth is, for daily life, it really makes no difference.
The point, I guess, is that we work awfully hard to help our kids manage and get through K-12, but I’m not at all convinced that it’s as critical as we suppose for them to learn to manage the setting, the expectations, or even the content. It’s just what we’re used to, what the law requires, etc.
Thinking outside of the box, I imagine we could create a far more useful, less stressful, and shorter program to prepare kids in general for daily life… and then offer a range of options for specializing after, say, sixth grade!
Lisa
My two NT daughters have gotten so much out of the music programs at their public schools, and art too. I’ve heard that there is some research showing that music and art help develop overall intelligence. Based on our experience, I find that to be quite plausible. And for some students with special needs music & art classes are wonderful. My son does attend mainstream music & art classes. Although he does not fully participate, he seems to get something out of it. I don’t see music and art as non-essentials to be cut when funding is scarce. Part of the funding for these programs at our schools is provided by fundraising done in very creative ways by parents, which is absolutely wonderful.
I don’t disagree that music, art and sports have value, and are important in a child’s development, but the question here was what would you do if you were in charge of your district. I was a band member myself who loved art and sports. I am also a parent of two children who loves these things. As an administrator though, you have an obligation to the law and basic needs before allocating resources to other things.
In MA, as you well know, there is a cap on lax levy growth (2.5%) that can not support living wage increases, health insurance cost increases (huge), energy increases, student growth, special needs move-ins, etc. The result is school system doomed into decline. As these tough choices become tougher every year, it is going to take legislative support to protect art, music and sports instead of just bashing special education and keeping kids out of programs. In a crisis like we are coming out of now, it is reasonable for all programs to cut back, including special education, but I’m just not sure you accomplish that after you become dependent on out of district systems, and restore them again after the crisis is over.
John – IMO, the problem may be partly in the system we’ve created, and the expectations we’ve placed on it.
If I were in charge of the system (and could get rid of NCLB), I’d do things VERY differently. For example, I’d create a core curriculum that focused on very specific skills and knowledge for kids up to about grade 6 – using multiple intelligence theory to help kids with different learning styles “get” math, history, geography, etc. I’d use theatrical activities (acting, but also improv) to help kids understand human relationships – and to enrich English lit.
Music and art would be tied into the curriculum, not separate and unrelated subjects. So if we’re studying Mexico, we’re learning something about Mexican music and art.
I’d make real-world and apprenticeship opportunities available as part of the general curriculum from middle school on.
And I’d offer stipend-based mentoring opportunities to community members (including high schoolers and college students) who could, for example, teach an art class… a boat-building class… a chorus. That would save money while also opening up exciting opportunities for the community and the students.
For special ed, I’d tap into that same pool of people to find high schoolers, college kids, part time parents, etc. interested in mentoring and/or working with kids with special needs.
I’d have a professional therapist develop a program and train the mentors for a week or so, but in my experience you don’t need a highly paid therapist to implement naturalistic ABA on the playground – what you need is an individual with empathy, energy and creativity who finds it rewarding to work with a child/teen who really needs their help.
Wow – seems I have a vision, eh? Anyone want to open a school with me??
Lisa
The real problem with the lawyer expense for Due Process is the development of proof of need and failure of ability or compliace of the School District to have that program available. In Texas the parents have a corrupt Due Process system that the legislature made in effort to funnel money away from the children and into legal industry mogols namely Rudy Giuliani and others.
The children all have special considerations. Autism should have no more OR NO LESS value as need than the importance of higher academic potential has for the capable. All children should have appropriate education available, at the taxpayer’s expense. The Administration for each community has the responsibility to do that effectivly with the funds. In Dallas the funds are being wasted and the schools are segegrated by academic potential, and special education kids are forced to expell. My child was a 3 year old drop out, and the district will lie and falsify and just break any law they want, with full comfort of knowing they are untouchable.
All that just to cheat a kid with a disability out of his opportunity for APPROPRIATE education.
This has been interesting. I don’t like to have extra money spent on my kids, and I encourage the school to use other children as much as possible (walking together to their next class in Middle School, for instance), rather than 1;1 para. Jaden was even bused 10 miles to a school with a pull-out classroom, rather than have the 1;1 locally. It didn’t work out, the mainstream teacher made the comment “I don’t care what he reads”. It seemed the para, who was supporting Jaden and several others, was the one making the educational decisions for him.
I went to observe, and she (the para) was rude to all of her special students, yelling at them and in Jaden’s case forcing his head down on the desk by exerting pressure on the back of his neck (he didn’t start his cursive exercises quickly enough to suit her, so when he did try to start, she grabbed the pencil and forced his head down). Needless to say, that was his last day there. After I refused to send him back, they hired him a 1;1 para at the tiny local school. I just wish I had allowed it in the first place. It was wonderful. His para was an out of work psychologist, he insisted Jaden be seated with the rest of the class (not separate at the back) he helped write a part for Jaden in the school Christmas play, and was very appropriate with him. It was certainly the right option in this case, and it helped support a family for a few weeks (then we moved).
And in case you are wondering, I reported exactly what that para had said and done, to the principal. They had had previous incidents with her, especially with my cousin’s disabled son. I offered to do whatever it would take to have her removed from that position. There was no further contact.
I WOULD SO LOVE TO START A SCHOOL with you. Or, better yet, rewrite the basic curriculum in the mainstream schools to include what you are saying. Music for learning! Real-life situations! Use cash on a regular basis! Brain Gym everywhere (using movement to facilitate learning)! Option of demonstrating mastery through models, orally or whatever is BEST for a particular child.
Lisa, I’m in. Your school sounds great!
How about consolidating some administration? How come that’s now up on your choices? Schools waste tons of money. They need to get rid of the junk and hunker down like the rest of us. They are in scare tatic mode. Take away police and fire instead of daily coffee and junkets. My son goes to one of those expensive non private schools. Damned if they will take that away from him, its the gov’t mandated vaccines that made him the way his is.
wow, where to start, first off I feel a bit goofy or my memory has taken a bigger hit than I first realized, we homeschool our 10 y/ o with asperger’s/ bp. We are most likely bring our 14 y/o dx bwing moderate to high functioning autsim home to homeschool as well, our state is lierally the bottom of the barrel educationally speaking. Our state is also royally messed up financially speaking. Even if we could demonstrate the need withihn the whole” the ring of fire”( Neemo movie) IEP … nightmares I honestly doubt our district has the wherewithall to send our oldest son where he needs to be…
For my fellow readers
Schools are not going to “fix” or cure” Autism, they are required however to educate each and every child to the best of their ability. Now it has been a few years since I have changed the tide of an IEP with CFRs on waht the school is required by law to do, if these children, my children your children, are educated in a lacking manner, then they will grow into adults who lack the lifeskills needed to… know they got the correct change for the candy bar/ gas bill/ how to steop by step clean or care for somehting…. this is our chance to educate these children at elast lay the groundwork so they are not the next underserved group of adults. In our state, DDD is looking at furloughs, praying there are no lay offs, I have seen early intervention services ended twice last year only to be reinstated, helping these children NOW will be more effective and less costly than when they are adults, I can also almost guarantee that there will be people out there who will have the comeback Young people on the ASD spectrum my be able to quote the rules verbatim whether that is in ASL, or by speaking but the difficulty is cognitively applying them.. they are able when their minds are ready.
Exercise and music are important to both gifted and learning disabled children.
I think going for dynamic low cost option would be a cool idea. Some ways to do this would be a therapy training lending library, they could buy floor time, project play training DVDs, Speech, Signing time, sensory integration training, social story DVDS, and ABA DVDS, and DVDs how to save money on therapists.
I think states should also look into part time homeschooling for delayed children such as school part time a week the school gets part funding for each student and they could use half the funding for more aids therapists and safe transportation.
I also have two boys with not only PDD NOS but with Bi-polar and ADHD as well. I understsnd your fight with the schools I am currently doing the same with my oldest. He is in 1st grade in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The school system just wants to push him through. At times I feel that I am fighting a losing battle.