July 5, 2017, Irish Times: Taoiseach announces 975 additional special needs assistants https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/taoiseach-announces-975-additional-special-needs-assistants-1.3144162 …Ms McDonald said they were over a month behind in the allocation and parents were at their “wits’ end” over the delay while special needs assistants were left worrying about their future. She said assistants help children feel safe and secure in the classroom. Delays meant schools were not in a position to make plans or prepare pupils for the next school year and principals were not in a position to tell SNAs if they have a job for the next school years. … The budget for special education had risen by 32 per cent to €1.68 billion. He said there were currently 13,000 assistants, up 23 per cent from 10,000 in 2011. “There are more special needs assistants than for example, gardaí,” he said. The Taoiseach also pointed out that 20 per cent of the education budget goes on special education.
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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.)
CHECK OUT MY SUBSTACK:
https://annedachel.substack.com/
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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