Feb 27, 2019, WTVM-TV, Columbus, GA: Muscogee County School District proposes behavior support program for special needs students http://www.wtvm.com/2019/02/28/muscogee-county-school-district-proposes-behavior-support-program-special-needs-students/ A public forum Wednesday at the Public Education Center allowed attendees to hear from Muscogee County School District officials on their plan to improve their behavior support program. Audience members were able to listen to the presentation and ask questions. A speaker said many students in Muscogee County show signs of mental health disorders. “We don’t know what these children are coming in with,” said Lisa Jenkins, a member of the stakeholder committee. “They could be having emotional behavior, they could be having social emotional, they could be having mental health issues. As we said, 80 percent of them have mental health issues.” With this fact in mind, district officials are researching ways to improve their special education services. … A committee of stakeholders including parents, teachers, students and a behavior analyst have been working for months to come up with a plan, and now they have one. A continuum of services ranging from least restrictive to most restrictive, allowing all students to learn in a safe environment. However, the community did have some concerns about the $4 million budget increase…. “One of the biggest challenges we have are again the cost and specifically staffing because these are specially trained personnel. They’re not easily and readily available," said Dr. David Lewis, the school district superintendent. …
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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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