*(Ireland) "A huge jump in the budget for special needs education"
- May 28, 2018
- 1 min read
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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:
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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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July 21, 2017, The Irish Times: Government alarmed by rising cost of special needs education
New study says a spike in the number of autism cases is a factor in increased spending https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/government-alarmed-by-rising-cost-of-special-needs-education-1.3161935
A sharp increase in the numbers of school pupils diagnosed with autism since 2011 is among the factors that has led to a huge jump in the budget for special needs education, according to a Government report.
The report has prompted alarm about the rising costs in Government. A spending review carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure published yesterday finds that spending on special educational needs now accounts for almost one-fifth of the total education budget.
Spending on special education has grown by almost half a billion euros since 2011, a rise of 38 per cent. In the period since 2004, spending on the area has grown by 260 per cent. Special needs education now costs the exchequer more than third-level education.
Almost 90 per cent of special education funding goes on pay for teachers and special needs assistants.
Concerns about the costs and efficiency of the special needs assistants (SNAs) scheme have prompted the department to order a comprehensive review of the scheme, which is due to be completed next year. The number of SNAs has grown from 2,988 in 2001 to more than 13,000, an increase of 336 per cent. Expenditure on the scheme has grown by almost 1,300 per cent.
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