July 10, 2018, Franklin (IN) Daily Journal: Center Grove doing $4 million in projects http://www.dailyjournal.net/2018/07/11/center_grove_doing_4_million_in_projects/ ….This summer, about $4 million in work is happening at different Center Grove schools…. The list of work also includes adding a seclusion or calm down room at Bridges Academy, an alternative education program for students located at the academy building just south of the high school. The area will be a room that is empty with safe material on the walls and floor so students cannot hurt themselves, Center Grove Director of Special Education Allison Chance said. If students are overwhelmed or at risk of hurting themselves or others, they can go to this safe space to calm down, have one-on-one time with an adult and work to regulate their behavior, Chance said. The room is new to the building, though some other Center Grove buildings have spaces dedicated to a similar purpose, she said. The Bridges Academy already had a sensory room for students and a calming corner, giving students a space to get away from others and get the input they need to help calm them, she said. But this new space adds another layer of support for students, Chance said. “We didn’t have that next layer of support, when a student needs to be in a safe spot, and other techniques have not worked,” Chance said. Staff will work with students on how to use the space to regulate themselves so they can return to the classroom, she said.
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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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