Aug 28, 2018, Chelmsford Wicked: Chelmsford, region eye preschool needs http://chelmsford.wickedlocal.com/news/20180828/chelmsford-region-eye-preschool-needs …CHIPS is the preschool program offered by the Chelmsford school district. According to coordinator Russell Hoyt, about half the students enrolled are students with various levels of disabilities or challenges. “That ranges quite a bit,” said Hoyt. “It could be a child with a speech delay or mulitiple disabilities. It really runs the gamut.”… As the school year was getting ready to start, Hoyt said about 145 students were enrolled. The last year’s preschool enrollment was 160. The average classroom is limited to 15 students in an integrated classroom. “You can have up to 15 if you have no more than seven on an Individual Education Plan [commonly called IEP, for special needs students.]” As the program name implies, the goal is, wherever possible, to include special needs students with their mainstreamed peers. Hoyt joined the school district last year; this year will mark his first full year as the coordinator for CHIPS. “I think we want to do a better job of having an assessment of all students, whether or not on an IEP. We want to have a nice preschool report card, that helps parents understand skills [the children] are developing for readiness for kindergarten.”… The CHIPS program includes seven classrooms. Each has its own teacher. Five of the seven classrooms are the fully-integrated model. There is a morning and afternoon offering. There are 16 paraprofessionals. Transportation is not provided unless a special needs student requires it. Hoyt said the preschool follows the “least-restricted” environment. “You start off looking as if they didn’t have a disability, in any way, shape or form,” Hoyt said. Services are added as a child’s needs are identified. Hoyt said there has been a steady growth in preschool enrollment over the past three years. “We have increased staffing,” Hoyt said. Among the growing needs are those for increased number of students on the autism spectrum. “If you look at the research, the autism population does seem to be increasing.” Another need, Hoyt said, is for children with emotional and behavioral challenges -- for which the school district has implemented a new program for elementary school-level students. These services already exist at the middle and high school level. Hoyt said it’s not entirely clear why this need is increasing, but there are many possibilities -- including the increased dependence on technology for communication. “They are exposed to a lot of things going on in the world. There is not a lot of filtering going on. If the parents are watching the news, it seems like the children are exposed to it, right alongside of them.” Hoyt said from time to time, the CHIPS program receives a student who has been dismissed from one or more previous preschools due to behavior issues and coping mechanisms. “We work to develop programs to help children,” Hoyt said. Looking ahead at opportunities and challenges, Hoyt said, “I feel like I’ve walked into a gold mine,” citing the level of skill of the teachers, and commitment to early childhood development….
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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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