Nov 15, 2018, NBC3, Las Vegas: VEGAS LOST: Some students with special needs are being let down by CCSD https://news3lv.com/news/local/vegas-lost-some-kids-with-special-needs-are-being-let-down-by-ccsd-problems-issues-autism-iep-expelled-legal-aid … She was a single mother with three kids. One son is mentally disabled, and he is one of thousands of students in Clark County with an “individualized education plan” or IEP. “The IEP even pretty much states what are the signs of him being frustrated. He can be mumbling, scripting, but then he does fists or that right there. That’s a sign something is going on.” His plan was supposed to educate teachers about his disability. It would help them see triggers for outbursts and help them de-escalate. Follow the plan, and he would be able to stay in regular classes. Veronica tells us that didn’t happen. “There were situations; the IEP not being followed, him getting suspended over and over and over again.” Suspended and transferred -- the district moving him to three schools. Each time, he had trouble adjusting. It’s the same story line we heard almost daily in court. “You guys have been working with legal aid, right?” Hearing Master Sonny Bailey asks the defendant. “Is that getting done?” Autism court is where autistic kids avoid the justice system with therapy. It’s also where parents tell Bailey about their problems with the Clark County School District. … "We go to IEP meetings and there’s 12 school employees and the parent and that’s it. Often times the parents feel like it’s us against them," an attorney from Legal Aid tells us. “It’s a vote and they go around the table. Usually the school will side with each other." "We have some students that cost ten thousand dollars to meet their needs," CCSD spokeswoman Kristen Shearer told us. The school district has 40,875 students with an IEP. Shearer tells us the vast majority of those plans are met, but with incredibly high stakes, they can do a better job. “We’ve had a lot of discussions of the school-to-prison pipeline," Shearer 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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