Aug 27, 2018, Irish Times: Secondary school in court challenge to decision requiring it to enrol boy with autism https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/secondary-school-in-court-challenge-to-decision-requiring-it-to-enrol-boy-with-autism-1.3609341 A secondary school has brought a High Court challenge against a decision requiring it to enrol a student who has autism and a learning disorder. The Leinster-based school says that while it has specific autism spectrum disorder (ASD) classes the child’s mother applied to have him enrolled in the mainstream school, which his brother attends, starting early next month…. .... As a result of this, the school believed he would not be able to access the curriculum in any meaningful way and would require a full-time special needs assistant. The school held that the needs of the boy, due to his mild general learning disability and autism, would be best met in a special class setting. The school claimed its ASD classes were full, and the application to enrol him had been made months after the closing date for the 2018-19 year had closed. … Mr McDonagh said the board considered the committee’s decision to be irrational and flying in the face of fundamental reason and common sense. He said it appeared the committee’s decision was based on a belief that the school’s reasons for refusing to enrol the boy was in contravention of a circular issued by the Department of Education concerning funding. Counsel told the court the committee’s interpretation was incorrect as the circular had not been intended to affect the school’s admissions policies and concerns or how the department proposed to fund extra resources for the special education area. In its proceedings against the secretary general of the Department of Education and the three members of the special committee, the board seeks an order quashing the determination that the school must enrol the student. It also seeks an order remitting the matter to the Secretary-General and a new hearing by a newly constituted appeals committee….
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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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