Aug 17, 2018, Canberra Times: Minister defends fenced-off classroom for boy with autism https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/minister-defends-fenced-off-classroom-for-boy-with-autism-20180817-p4zy3e.html The ACT government has backed a specialist school that created a fenced-off facility to isolate a student with high needs from his peers. Abdul-Ghani Ferkh, who has complex autism, was suspended from the Woden School in early April after running off campus to the local shops, and had since waited more than four months to return to class. This month, his family were told he could only come back under strict new conditions that ban him from interacting with other students and some staff and restrict his movements in the school to a specially-built classroom encircled by fences and a floor-to-ceiling security gate. The school said this was the only way to ensure the safety of its staff and Abdul, but his family have labelled the set-up as inhumane and advocates have also raised concerns about Abdul's isolation…. A spokeswoman for Advocacy for Inclusion supporting the family said Abdul had a right to an inclusive education. "[The facility] is really concerning," she said…. While Abdul was initially eager to return to school to see his friends, his mother Safaa Joumaa-Ferkh said he became very upset when he arrived at the new facility for his first day back on Thursday and was still not himself on Friday. "It's a big cage," she said. "I have no choice but to send him there, but I don't want to. He can't wait to come home, he looks so sad."… The school alleges Abdul had been physically destructive throughout the year, pinching staff and damaging property, as well as running away multiple times. But his family say they had been reassured repeatedly that he was doing well at school before his "shock" suspension…. On Friday director of the ACT Council of Social Services Susan Helyar said the government's newly released future of education strategy was a good sign Canberra schools were heading in the right direction on student welfare but stressed more resources for special education were urgently needed. "The story makes it clear we need to get this right, it's not right," she said, while also noting the importance of teacher safety….
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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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