Oct 16, 2018, Maitland Mercury: Thornton Public School sensory room a hit with children and parents https://www.maitlandmercury.com.au/story/5705699/sensory-room-a-comfortable-space-for-children/ Thornton Public School improved its already safe and inclusive environment with the opening of a sensory room on Monday. The room, built to assist children living with disabilities and additional needs, has elements at different levels for students who like to climb, tactile objects and furnishing for students who enjoy sensory play, bubble tubes to create a calming effect and build on students’ visual development, and lights that give a calming sensation to help with anxieties. Assistant principal Petra Yager said the room was a permanent addition, with the school now looking for further development to the sensory playground. “When designing the room, teachers took into account the complex and diverse needs of the students,” she said. “It was designed to help students – who may have emotional issues, learning difficulties, developmental disabilities or sensory impairments – learn to interact with the world around them, in a safe environment that builds up their confidence and ability. …
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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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