Sept 12, 2018, Park Hills (MO) Democratic News: Seating flexibility makes learning fun https://dailyjournalonline.com/community/democrat-news/seating-flexibility-makes-learning-fun/article_41504c7e-b925-53f8-b689-3220a0b7944c.html …Hovis' [fifth grade] classroom is now filled with many options for students to choose from including crates, yoga balls, a booth, sofa, stools and more. "I thought about all the kids that have problems sitting still during class," Hovis said. "I thought maybe this will help students be able to concentrate during class. I am always into making things better. I am not one to get in a groove of doing the same year after year." Hovis said it is a challenge at times and it does not make teaching easier for her. "In a lot of the seating, kids are moving while in the seat," Hovis said. "Some chairs swivel side to side, some you bounce on. So you have to accept that they are going to be moving around with them." Hovis admits her least favorite option is the yoga balls which happen to be a favorite among the kids. "That one (the yoga balls) the kids bounce, but I have rules about how high they can bounce," Hovis said. "My rule for that is that I shouldn't see any air between the ball and their butt."… Hovis said she is not the only teacher within the Fredericktown R-I School District to implement this with at least two more teachers in the intermediate school using the concept in their classrooms….
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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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