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I have been working as a teacher assistant with moderate to severe autistic young adults for the past 6 months, and I have to confess that the experience has been less than enriching. I have the feeling that special ed schools are pretty much used as a daycare commodity for parents, and I do not blame them dealing with difficult autistic individuals is overwhelming even when they are your own flesh.
Everyday the staff is kicked, punched, scratched, bit, cursed at, have their hair pulled, humped on etc etc when parents will sue with a thought if their kid comes home with a bruise because they had to be restraint due to their violent behavior.
In the academic department, special ed is nothing special and definitely not education. Oftentimes students are given tasks out of their reach that their staff will complete for them. All this because some parents do not accept their child's condition and demand for them to study trigonometry when they can't even write 3 sentences on their own, figure out that 4 quarters make a dollar, or just wipe their own behind after using the restroom. I feel like they are parrots able to utter words but clueless on their meaning.
The other problem is that special ed school carry huge functioning costs, much more than regular schools. I think it is sometimes scandalous how much money is spent on special education when regular schools are falling apart, music and art classes reduced, when torrents of money are spent on one-on-one aides to play pretend education.
This being said I believe special need individuals should be treated with humanity and respect. I just don't think providing expensive services that do not benefit them in any way just to make some parents feel better is a fair way to spend scarce resources.
I'm surprised there haven't been any responses yet.
You are referring to the most severely impaired children I take it. My SIL recently retired from teaching in that environment, and my close friend has a daughter who just aged out of one, at 21. There was no attempt to teach trigonometry, or even algebra, so I'm assuming you were going for hyperbole there.
In my SIL's case, the intent was to teach very basic life skills, such as zipping jackets and using a knife and fork. They practiced recognizing different coins, and writing their names. For them, it was the free and appropriate education promised.
In my girlfriend's case, all she expected was that she be allowed a few hours each day to pretend her child was benefiting from a classroom setting. Seeing her loaded on the bus lent a feeling of normalcy. This girl is blind, has cerebral palsy, and the mental age of an infant. She is tube fed. It's doubtful she would have lived this long if her father wasn't a physician.
Caring for the handicapped IS expensive, and frequently beyond the reach of the families affected. If my taxes are used to give the parents some modicum of relief for 6 hours a day, I'm happy to see it happen.
On the other hand, many autistic children are very intelligent, unlike the children I've already referenced. It's a shame you seem ill prepared for the realities of your position.
I have been working as a teacher assistant with moderate to severe autistic young adults for the past 6 months, and I have to confess that the experience has been less than enriching. I have the feeling that special ed schools are pretty much used as a daycare commodity for parents, and I do not blame them dealing with difficult autistic individuals is overwhelming even when they are your own flesh.
Everyday the staff is kicked, punched, scratched, bit, cursed at, have their hair pulled, humped on etc etc when parents will sue with a thought if their kid comes home with a bruise because they had to be restraint due to their violent behavior.
In the academic department, special ed is nothing special and definitely not education. Oftentimes students are given tasks out of their reach that their staff will complete for them. All this because some parents do not accept their child's condition and demand for them to study trigonometry when they can't even write 3 sentences on their own, figure out that 4 quarters make a dollar, or just wipe their own behind after using the restroom. I feel like they are parrots able to utter words but clueless on their meaning.
The other problem is that special ed school carry huge functioning costs, much more than regular schools. I think it is sometimes scandalous how much money is spent on special education when regular schools are falling apart, music and art classes reduced, when torrents of money are spent on one-on-one aides to play pretend education.
This being said I believe special need individuals should be treated with humanity and respect. I just don't think providing expensive services that do not benefit them in any way just to make some parents feel better is a fair way to spend scarce resources.
If you feel that special education is useless, please get out of the field. If you are working with children who kick, scratch and bite, you should have training to deal with this. Believe it or not those behaviors are communication for a child who cannot communicate verbally.
The school should be doing a functional behavior analysis to determine what triggers the behavior and should have a behavior plan in place.
I find your attitude disrespectful to the children and to their parents. The parents also need help to figure out how to carry over successful ideas at home.
Autistic children can be severely affected, yet still have average or even above average intelligence. The fact that your school is not attempting to educate these students is the real problem. Children with severe autism require a highly structured environment to learn and do best with one on one supervision. Ideally, we want to help the child with ASD to reach the goals of competence and independence. If your school is not working on helping the child to communicate, that is the first order of business to attend to. Visual schedules and pictures and first, then charts can help. Slowing down your speech can also help since these children take more time to process verbal instructions then neurotypical children do.
Note that NOT educating these children means that society will be paying for their care for the rest of their lives. If we educate them to care for themselves, then the cost when they are adults will be less.
Have you been trained on how to deal with students who are acting out physically? Where I work, all assistants receive the same training as teachers on how to safely restrain a child, including how to deal with biting and hair pulling. When a child has to be restrained for any reason, the parent is notified that day, an incident report is completed, and an IEP is scheduled to work as a team to make changes to minimize the chances the situation will repeat itself.
If all the violent behaviors you list are really occurring every day, then the place is truly out of control. My guess is you are exaggerating and these behaviors may happen regularly, but don't all happen each day.
You're also using a very wide brush to make generalizations about "special ed," since you work in only a small part of special education. If you really think the field is hopeless, then nana053 is right that you should find another profession. On the other hand, if you've gotten yourself into a situation that is overwhelming through no fault of your own and you are interested in the field, then you need to gain a realistic perspective and explore other situations. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and treating your post as rant that crossed a line out of frustration as opposed to one that shows your true colors and opinions of everyone in the field. It can also be characterized as a cry for help on your part.
We all need to rant. Sometimes when those of us in special ed rant to each other, it may sound disrespectful to those not in the field, but your rant went beyond that. If you tone it down and give us a more realistic view, there are posters who can give you excellent advice and encouragement.
Teachers are criticized by the public and politicians who think they are experts in education. Special education folks get that too, only we are sometimes put on a higher pedestal for the teachers-as-saints category. Of course the flip side of that is we become the worst demons because we're hurting the most vulnerable. We have to develop thick skins to not let all that is wrong with education, including special education, discourage us to the point of losing sight of the beneficial services special ed can provide to students and families. Part of that is being realistic about the situations our students face and those that we face as educators.
I wouldn't say that. As someone who has volunteered with special education students for years, I can definitely say that it depends on who you're dealing with...
Obviously the original poster has a job that's not suitable and I am wondering how they know so much about the budget. I think the real scandal is the fact that a lot of special needs kids are not benefiting from the federal dollars that the school districts receive.
For example, my 3 boys are in a public program in PA and I just found out that 2 of my boys (middle school age) start the day by wiping down the tables in the cafeteria and cleaning dishes and stocking the milk and juice. This is how they spend the first period of every day. I was outraged that they are cleaning after the breakfast crowd when they themselves are not permitted to buy breakfast and I am outraged that this is a "class"???? I told the teacher not to allow them to go there any more and she still takes them and claims that they aren't spraying the table or wiping them.
My kids classroom has no technology (more federal money squandered) and no text or work books are ever purchased for these kids. They have to suffice with "teacher made materials".
Yes, the schools many times resemble pre-school and in the case of my kids it resembles an adult day-hab program as opposed to a middle school.
I am so upset by this "Vocational education" that they claim they are giving my kids. How does anyone else feel about this? I am new to PA and where we were in NY this was not the case. Does anyone know if this is even legal for 13 and 14 year old kids doing the job of the school janitor? I am ready to report this to the state and I need some more knowledge first.
Thanks so much and every child deserves to be taught no matter what the disability.
I have been working as a teacher assistant with moderate to severe autistic young adults for the past 6 months, and I have to confess that the experience has been less than enriching. I have the feeling that special ed schools are pretty much used as a daycare commodity for parents, and I do not blame them dealing with difficult autistic individuals is overwhelming even when they are your own flesh.
Everyday the staff is kicked, punched, scratched, bit, cursed at, have their hair pulled, humped on etc etc when parents will sue with a thought if their kid comes home with a bruise because they had to be restraint due to their violent behavior.
In the academic department, special ed is nothing special and definitely not education. Oftentimes students are given tasks out of their reach that their staff will complete for them. All this because some parents do not accept their child's condition and demand for them to study trigonometry when they can't even write 3 sentences on their own, figure out that 4 quarters make a dollar, or just wipe their own behind after using the restroom. I feel like they are parrots able to utter words but clueless on their meaning.
The other problem is that special ed school carry huge functioning costs, much more than regular schools. I think it is sometimes scandalous how much money is spent on special education when regular schools are falling apart, music and art classes reduced, when torrents of money are spent on one-on-one aides to play pretend education.
This being said I believe special need individuals should be treated with humanity and respect. I just don't think providing expensive services that do not benefit them in any way just to make some parents feel better is a fair way to spend scarce resources.
My daughter has been a sped teacher for 20 years. She has at least one student this year who will hit, bite and so forth, so that student has to come in to school for one on one training. It isn't working.
Yes. I think sped is a waste of time for some students. The ones who play "pretend education" are the ones I am talking about. If they are disruptive, dangerous to others, and cannot be educated beyond a certain grade, then so be it. That is where they stop going to school.
OTOH, we graduated a Down's student last year. She was very well received during her high school graduation ceremony, and was awarded a Certificate of Completion.
I have been working as a teacher assistant with moderate to severe autistic young adults for the past 6 months, and I have to confess that the experience has been less than enriching. I have the feeling that special ed schools are pretty much used as a daycare commodity for parents, and I do not blame them dealing with difficult autistic individuals is overwhelming even when they are your own flesh.
Everyday the staff is kicked, punched, scratched, bit, cursed at, have their hair pulled, humped on etc etc when parents will sue with a thought if their kid comes home with a bruise because they had to be restraint due to their violent behavior.
In the academic department, special ed is nothing special and definitely not education. Oftentimes students are given tasks out of their reach that their staff will complete for them. All this because some parents do not accept their child's condition and demand for them to study trigonometry when they can't even write 3 sentences on their own, figure out that 4 quarters make a dollar, or just wipe their own behind after using the restroom. I feel like they are parrots able to utter words but clueless on their meaning.
The other problem is that special ed school carry huge functioning costs, much more than regular schools. I think it is sometimes scandalous how much money is spent on special education when regular schools are falling apart, music and art classes reduced, when torrents of money are spent on one-on-one aides to play pretend education.
This being said I believe special need individuals should be treated with humanity and respect. I just don't think providing expensive services that do not benefit them in any way just to make some parents feel better is a fair way to spend scarce resources.
I think you may need to look into a new profession. Who are you to decide the services aren't needed? I received a student one year who was said to have a very low IQ and would never live alone. I pushed him, like I do all my students, and guess what within the year I had him retested because I thought the results were wrong. His mom broke down at the meeting because her once aggressive child who she was told would never be independent had a normal IQ. The next year he passed his state grade level test. Point is you never know what a child can do if you don't let them try. If in first grade we decided Jack is never going to read should we just never try to teach him?
Obviously the original poster has a job that's not suitable and I am wondering how they know so much about the budget. I think the real scandal is the fact that a lot of special needs kids are not benefiting from the federal dollars that the school districts receive.
For example, my 3 boys are in a public program in PA and I just found out that 2 of my boys (middle school age) start the day by wiping down the tables in the cafeteria and cleaning dishes and stocking the milk and juice. This is how they spend the first period of every day. I was outraged that they are cleaning after the breakfast crowd when they themselves are not permitted to buy breakfast and I am outraged that this is a "class"???? I told the teacher not to allow them to go there any more and she still takes them and claims that they aren't spraying the table or wiping them.
My kids classroom has no technology (more federal money squandered) and no text or work books are ever purchased for these kids. They have to suffice with "teacher made materials".
Yes, the schools many times resemble pre-school and in the case of my kids it resembles an adult day-hab program as opposed to a middle school.
I am so upset by this "Vocational education" that they claim they are giving my kids. How does anyone else feel about this? I am new to PA and where we were in NY this was not the case. Does anyone know if this is even legal for 13 and 14 year old kids doing the job of the school janitor? I am ready to report this to the state and I need some more knowledge first.
Thanks so much and every child deserves to be taught no matter what the disability.
Why can't they buy breakfast?
Sounds like job training. I'm not sure why you're upset. At my school we have students from each GenEd room assigned to do the same thing after lunch. It only takes them a few minutes then they're off to recess.
Also the materials that are teacher created are better for because they can be individualized. If your child is in middle school but is academically on a much lower grade level then middle school workbooks would not be useful.
The SPED class should have the same ratio of computers a the GenEd classrooms.
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