Sept 16, 2018, NY Newsday: Why therapy dogs should be allowed in the classroom (OP ED from sixth graders) https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/family/kidsday/therapy-dogs-autism-kidsday-1.21007633 Have you ever seen a student who has autism with a well-trained dog beside them? Those dogs are therapy dogs. They are specially trained to help an individual with autism. For example, these dogs help kids with autism feel more confident and comfortable in the school environment. Many schools don’t allow therapy dogs. I disagree with this because these dogs are there to help the student. … Therapy dogs should also be allowed in schools because if the student is nonverbal and feeling uncomfortable, he or she wouldn’t be able to tell the teacher, but the dog could sense that, and then comfort the student. … The next time you see a student with autism, maybe suggest to their teacher or parent to get a therapy dog for them. It could really help them.
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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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