July 9, 2018, ABC7 Harrisburg, PA: Middletown schools create program to help kids suffering from trauma https://www.abc27.com/news/local/middletown-schools-create-program-to-help-kids-suffering-from-trauma/1290443884 The goal is to make kids feel safe and supported. "For some kids, it's outward and they're verbally aggressive, and in some instances physically aggressive," said Middletown Special Education Director Krystal Palmer. "In other cases, there are kids who are withdrawn." Palmer is talking about children who have experienced trauma, like abuse or extreme poverty. Some students have family members with addictions or who are incarcerated. "It's different for each kiddo," said Palmer. "We saw a need escalate over the last few years, and decided we needed to start thinking out of the box," said Superintendent Dr. Lori Suski. Suski says that's when the district decided to create the MATES program, which stands for Middletown Area Therapeutic Elementary Support. "We also knew we needed to do something to have the students in a setting that would allow the other students who are not experiencing those things to have less distractions in their learning environment," said Suski. Kids in the program will spend the entire school year in classrooms with ten or less students learning behavior management and coping strategies. "All of the staff are being trauma-certified," said Palmer. "The kids will get individual and group counseling, and that will happen as frequently as needed."…
top of page
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
bottom of page