July 11, 2018, Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph: Unit 5 welcomes new board members, approves Colene Hoose bid https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/education/unit-welcomes-new-board-members-approves-colene-hoose-bid/article_fb59205b-1529-5102-bef3-cb38851cf7c5.html Normal, IL: Several newcomers were welcomed to the McLean County Unit 5 school board on Wednesday. … In other news, the board approved a bid for just over $1 million from Bishop Bros Inc. of Peoria to begin construction on a special needs addition at Colene Hoose Elementary School. More than $700,000 — collected from the school land dedication fees paid by developers when their final plots are recorded with the county — will help fund the project. The remaining cost would come from the district’s working cash fund…. The 5,200-square-foot addition on the east side of the building will include four classrooms and common room, with the current space to be reconfigured to fit a larger calming room, conference space and sensory room. A separate bus lane will also be added. …
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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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