Jan 18, 2019, NBC29, Charlottesville, VA: Jackson-Via Elementary Schools Special Tool to Help Students Focus http://www.nbc29.com/story/39817706/jackson-via-elementary-schools-special-tool-to-help-students-focus For many kids, sitting quiet and still through an entire school day can seem like an impossible task. Now Charlottesville City Schools have a first of its kind tool to help students stay focused in the classroom. The new sensory pathway is the first of its class at Jackson-Via Elementary School and teachers there are hoping some small steps could yield some big results. Tucked away under the stair case in Jackson-Via Elementary School, kindergarten teacher Maegan Thim thought of a tool to help her students. "It’s this big puzzle, that's out on the floor, it has really bright colors, and it’s for students who need a break from the classroom they can go and do this. It almost reminds me of a fancy hopscotch,” said Thim…. Going through the sensory pathway can help students feel calmer, more at ease, and get re-focused. Teachers at Jackson-Via hope to see more projects like the sensory board, in the future. …
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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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