A special education student in Louisiana brought a gun and knife to school and was expelled, but the school is continuing to provide services to the student during the expulsion. That part of the story is not newsworthy. What is newsworthy are the online comments from members of the community complaining of unfair disparate treatment and how worthless it is anyway to teach "those kids." If parents have any doubt how close to the surface hatred lies towards children with special needs and special education generally check out this article.
I think that if these people who are 'against' special needs kids knew just how much schools really fight them and their parents to try and get out of helping them, by lying, cheating, violating laws, and not caring that their outright blatant motives will ruin the child the rest of their lives.
Then these same people might change their perception of these children who need help the most.
Posted by: Sherry Hollis | September 30, 2006 at 01:02 PM
I am so astounded by what I just read. That type of ignorance and hatred are absolutely disheartning. People w/o special needs children just don't get, and probably will never get it until it happens in their family. People make me sick. You just have to pray for them, for they are dummys!
Posted by: Vicki Couch | October 06, 2006 at 11:55 PM
I think that people's feelings are justified because of what they read. I think the article was not accurately stating this particular case. The article says the law requires education to continue for special ed students if the behavior for which they've received an expulsion is related to their disability. The article didn't say whether the young man in question carried a gun and knife to school in relation to his disability. I'd be angry too if I thought that he was going to receive special treatment when he shouldn't. I don't see how it could possible be found that his behavior was related to a disability. I am the parent of a disabled child, and she needs special services, but we also work hard to instill social skills in her. She gets in trouble for treating others poorly, just like her sisters - who aren't disabled - do.
Posted by: Suzette Maners | October 07, 2006 at 08:39 AM
Don't knowif you caught a recent TIME article here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1535854,00.html.
The majority of readers that commented online were much of the same burden-on-the-system mentality. As a parent, the ignorance is never far away, in fact, it's right across the street at times. People who don't have a special needs child just don't get it. They "feel" for us, but in the same breath tout how my child is taking away from their child. It's sickening and heartbreaking.
The language in all too a familiar vein of what was said about segregation 40-50 years ago. Substitute "little black children" for "those special ed/autistic kids," and it sounds eerily the same.
Posted by: Mekei | October 13, 2006 at 11:31 AM
Part of the problem is that we have no public relations campaigns for our kids. Nor do we have a concerted and high profile civil rights campaign for our kids, as happened during the Civil Rights movement of the 60's. In fact, there is so little news, good or bad, about people with disabilities that they could be invisible. (Writer Joe Shapiro first expounded on this in his book about the civil rights of people with disabilities, which title I can't recall). I have suggested to our local paper, the Baltimore Sun, that a columnist or reporter regularly report on people with disabilities in order to bring some attention to the issues people with disabilities face. This didn't even merit a response.
According to a report by the Dept of Justice*, approximately 1 in 5 Americans has a disability, making this group of people the largest minority in the US. In fact, Justice encourages business owners to court people with disabilities in order to increase business. This desirable sub-cohort must be comprised of people who become disabled due to aging or illness after having amassed their personal fortunes. Think adults who can use their money in order to ameliorate or even deny their disability.
Where does that leave our kids with disabilities? Largely alone in the fight for dignity and human rights. I've suggested to a few local ad agencies that some PSA's on behalf of kids with disabilities would be very welcome - but no response.
What we need is to get these issues into the public view, to mainstream issues of disability. Why is it OK to want to refuse services/accomodations to kids with disabilities? Who perpetuates the notion that accomodating kids with disabilities robs "normal" kids of resources? Who equates that treating our kids with respect and dignity is a costly burden to society? Who first used money as a divide to justify treating our kids as undesirable or inferior?
*please contact me for the link to this report.
Posted by: Sue | November 11, 2006 at 10:45 AM