March 29, 2017, UK Independent: Children with special needs are being turned away from 'underfunded' state schools, councils report http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/children-turned-away-state-school-underfunded-special-needs-disabilities-councils-report-lga-budget-a7656601.html Children with special educational needs and disabilities are at risk of being turned away from mainstream schools due to a lack of funding, council leaders have warned. Budget cuts along with rising demand is putting a strain on councils’ abilities to offer places to these pupils in need of extra help, according to the Local Government Association (LGA). Analysis of government data shows the percentage of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) attending a specialist school has risen in the past four years – from 5.6 per cent in 2012 to 8.5 per cent last year. There has also been an increase in the proportions attending independent schools, something the LGA says is because it is becoming increasingly difficult to place these children in mainstream schools. … “We’ve also announced a £215 million fund for councils across the country to improve and create more special provision.
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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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