Nov 16, 2018, Lakehurst, NJ, Jersey Shore: Brick Brings Autism Program Back In-District https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/brick/brick-brings-autism-program-back-in-district/ Officials said the school district spends a minimum of $110,000 to educate each special needs child out of district, and this number does not even include the cost of transportation, paraprofessionals and other services. At one time, Brick had a comprehensive autism program – children with more severe issues were kept in-district when there was strong behavioral support. Brick’s newly-hired director of special services Kristen A. Hanson wants to bring an estimated 115 students back into the district by building programs that are equal to, or better than, the out-of-district programs they currently attend. … The best case scenario for a child is for their home district to offer autism programs with all the available supports, she said. … Hanson said she hopes to create two to three additional classes for kindergarten and third grade next year, perhaps using some teaching staff that could be shifted. The classes are capped at six students. The district had one consulting BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) and a second BCBA – who worked in the district when the former autism program was offered, and before students were sent to out-of-district schools – was added as the district program grows. … “These are children with significant needs, we want to bring them back to the district to their hometown school,” Hanson 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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