May 17, 2019, Crystal River, FL, Citrus County Chronicle: Lecanto Primary School's Heather Renfroe up for state's top education-support award https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/education/lecanto-primary-school-s-heather-renfroe-up-for-state-s/article_eee7b576-77ea-11e9-b53a-f770b13fff73.html Five years ago, Heather Renfroe was a mother taking a volunteer position at her daughter's school to spend more time with her child. On Tuesday, she learned she was a top contender for one of the state's biggest educational honors…. Renfroe, a curriculum and technological paraprofessional at Lecanto Primary School, will find out at the state education board’s May 22 meeting in Tampa whether she’ll bring back the coveted award. … Renfroe began volunteering at LPS five years ago to be closer to her daughter when she was a student there. She soon became a substitute teacher and later a full-time school related employee….. Four years ago, Renfroe created a sensory room at LPS, giving kids a chance before and during school to rid themselves of stress with breathing and relaxation exercises led by Renfroe. “It’s a place for them to calm down and self-regulate, keeping themselves calm so they can learn,” she said. “We found a lot of kids come and their brains aren’t ready to learn yet.” Renfroe said the district is looking at starting something similar at other schools….
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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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