Jan 17, 2019, Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat: Rohnert Park elementary school launches program for students with autism https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9170598-181/rohnert-park-elementary-school-launches?sba=AAS Madison Galvez can recite word for word lines from a TV program after only watching the show once, and she can strike up a conversation with anyone anywhere. But the 9-year-old girl, who has high-functioning autism, also can get overstimulated in social situations, leading at times to emotional meltdowns. “You have moments of great joy, and you have moments of acting out,” said Duaine Labno, her stepfather and a Rohnert Park police detective who has cared for her since she was 2. Galvez is enrolled in one of two new special education classes at John Reed Elementary School in Rohnert Park, developed for students with mild to moderate autism. Diagnosed just a couple of years ago, Galvez used to struggle in school, despite having aides to assist her and an Individualized Education Plan, her parents said. But the new program with a 2-1 student-to-staff ratio, individualized curriculum and assessments, and structured but flexible class schedules have helped her progress in school…. The school has two classes geared toward students with autism, with a total of 18 students enrolled, Principal Monica Fong said. … Asked how she explains her diagnosis to others, Galvez was straightforward. “I just tell them I’m autistic, and I don’t know why,” she said as she bounced around in class. “Everybody’s happy in their own way.”
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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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