Dec 12, 2018, Click on Detroit: New sensory room at Grosse Pointe Woods school helps students with autism https://www.clickondetroit.com/community/new-sensory-room-at-grosse-pointe-woods-school-helps-students-with-autism Fredi the PizzaMan Foundation helps schools add sensory rooms GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Mich. - A single room inside a Grosse Pointe Woods elementary school is going to help improve the lives of hundreds of children. The staff at Mason Elementary School is trying something new to help children express themselves in different ways. It's called a sensory room, and it's proven to be very beneficial for students, especially those with autism. The sensory room is filled with items such as trampolines, swings and ball pits. Fredi Bello, of Fredi the PizzaMan Foundation, has a 6-year-old son with autism. "It calms them down," Bello said. "They can work on motor skills, sensory skills. It refocuses them. Bello said he saw the need for a sensory room in his child's school in Plymouth and wanted other schools to be able to offer the same thing. He started his foundation to raise money and help. "With autism being so prevalent -- almost one in every 40 children -- sensory rooms are key to schools," Bello said. With the help of Fredi the PizzaMan Foundation, faculty members and parents, Mason Elementary School was able to open a sensory room this week, and the children are loving the new form of expression. "We pride ourselves to make sure we not only meet academic needs but also social and emotional needs of a student," Mason Elementary School Principal Roy Bishop said. It's the second sensory room that Bello's foundation has contributed to, but he's eager to help more schools with funding. "If you have a school that needs a sensory room, please reach out to me because we want to help," Bello 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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