Klarinet Archive - Posting 001186.txt from 2004/03

From: Dan Sutherland <dan.sutherland@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Aspie clarinet
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 02:52:32 -0500

How is his clarinet playing?

At 09:26 PM 3/19/2004, you wrote:
>Karl - Most kids with AS are not uncontrollable behavior-wise. My son is an
>Aspie, and is pretty damn close to angelic in school and out.

Well, the thing to watch for with AS is how others victimize an AS child
because he lacks social acumen.

> (Mom is
>starting to get some pre-pubescent mouth, though...!) There are no behavior
>issues on his part. And of course, I know they are all different - that's
>the purpose of the I in IEP. For my son, it's his attention problems that
>require the constant attention from an adult.

The "ON" switch can be tough to find.

> So he needs an aide in his
>classroom. I will not permit the school district to dumb him down to make
>it easier for them.

You "will not permit" presumes the school district is accountable to
you. I think it should be. But to what measure?

> My taxes are paying for my kid's education and they
>damn well better do their jobs.

Our taxes are paying for all children's education. If I were to pay the
extra it takes to provide adequate education for one Aspie, I would pay as
much as what I earn for the full time aide required to keep the Aspie on task.

> If their people aren't trained, Train
>them. My son is not the only one in the school with AS (there are 8
>identified, and several that aren't officially).
>
>In the "inclusion classrooms" in our school, we don't just have one teacher.
>True inclusion would actually be one special ed student in a regular
>classroom with NO other special ed kids, and there is also either an aide or
>learning support teacher in the room. But no schools really do True
>inclusion. They do Learning Support. A room of 18-30 kids, with an aide,
>and a learning support teacher during some of the classes. Of those 18-30
>kids there can be 3-12 children with IEPs and other learning support needs.
>That is WAY too many.
>
>I Would call 7-8 kids in a room with different issues and only one teacher a
>dumping ground, it's certainly not a "learning environment". PA's state
>limit I believe is either 12 or 15. My son is in the elementary school so I
>won't know exactly what the middle school has for the dumping ground until
>maybe May. But as far as my son goes, even 1-2 emotionally disturbed is too
>many for my son to be around, he will regress and act like them.

Sensory overload is a big problem with Aspies. Any kind of distraction
knocks them off their rails. Authorities have suggested finding them
a quiet place away from the regular classroom.

> He canNot
>be around them in a learning situation. And I have that on paper from CHOP
>(Children's Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania) so there is no way
>the District will go against it.
>
>Why was your wife the only teacher in the room with the autistic boy and all
>those other kids? That is what I would want to know!!! Not what the other
>children were doing. There should be another person with the teacher in any
>classroom where there are special ed kids. Period. It helps and also
>protects everyone - the kids, the teachers, AND the district.
>
>I know what you are saying about "good teaching" - and I agree with you.
>But the fact remains that 90% of teachers do not teach that way. They teach
>verbally, especially above the elementary level. "Umbrella label"? I was
>talking about a book that talks about teaching styles and how they affect
>children who don't learn from verbal assault. Please read the book before
>you tell me what I am talking about and in what direction I am going.
>
>Whether or not leaving me with the English book was defensible, that is what
>was done 'back in the day' - we had no computers, I didn't need to be
>"entertained", and there were 34 kids in the room with me who were all on a
>rather low level. This is a school district in the middle of a corn field.
>The trouble is, it's still there, but being developed and civilized people
>are moving in - and they are fighting progress.....
>
>Lynn
>
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