July 2, 2018, (Australia) New South Wales, Tweed Daily News: Doors open at special school for autistic children in Tweed https://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/doors-open-at-special-school-for-autistic-children/3457126/ THE new Pacific Hope School is creating a safer space for children with autism to get an education. The school, which shares its campus with Pacific Coast Christian College at Tweed Heads West, is just the second school in New South Wales to specifically cater for educating those with autism. … School director Klaus Knobloch said the $1.85 million project, which received $700,000 in Federal funding, would be a great learning space for the 50 students enrolled as well as for their parents. "It's the largest autism school in South East Queensland and Northern NSW,” Mr Knobloch said. … Each classroom features a withdrawal room designed as a retreat for students when they're not coping. "The withdrawal rooms make a big difference because autistic children can have meltdowns when they are overstimulated or when not coping in social settings,” Mr Knobloch said…. "Each student has different ways of letting the teacher know when they're not coping, some show flapping hands, some hold their ears, some freeze and some throw themselves on the floor. "They're all different ways of showing they're having an emotional meltdown and that's when we take them to the withdrawal room. … "We have 17 staff and we've got one teacher and two teacher aides in each classroom. "We've got a school councillor, an occupational therapist and hopefully next year we'll be able employ a speech therapist.” …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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