Introduction

By Jim Hetherman

The personal and social challenges facing children with disabilities are disproportionate to those faced by children without disabilities. For example, as reported by Council for Exceptional Children, the relative number of youth identified and receiving special education services in juvenile corrections may be almost four times higher than those receiving such services in public school programs. Dropouts go on to juvenile corrections, then on to adult corrections, then on to long-term incarceration. If we did a better job of reducing the dropout rate among children with disabilities, as public schools are supposed to do, our entire society would benefit. The purpose of this website is simply to raise the general level of awareness about special education by reporting personal experiences and research pertaining to educating children with disabilities. Children with disabilities are, after all, children first, and the business of providing our children with an appropriate education involves special attention and services so that none will be left behind and all will flourish.

Next time you hear the subject of special education brought up, don't turn a deaf ear.  Anything that you can do in order to increase the future independent living and employment prospects of  today's children benefits everyone.  Contact your representatives at every level of government and let them know that you are concerned about the education of children with disabilities, and that you want to know specifically, not only what their views are, but also what they have done and promise to do on issues such as these and more:

1. Invisibility.  Children with disabilities are either ignored in reports and statistics or there are no or little statistics that make accountability possible.  People at all levels of government, once again, can be counted on to look after their own interests ahead of the interests of children, especially vulnerable children.  Government could fund studies that would provide the data needed to account for its stewardship, but it does not do so because those statistics would serve as basis for its own indictment.
2. Discrimination.  Equality requires affirmative action in order to eliminate conditions which cause discrimination. Children with disabilities need different services in order to have the same rights as other children.  Teachers often lack the awareness and skills needed to allow the child to access her rights to an equal education.  Curriculum and tests may be so rigid or inappropriate that they not only don't meet the child's needs, they often have a deleterious effect on the child's psyche and progress.
3. Survival & Development.  A basic right of every child everywhere is to develop the knowledge, background and skills needed to survive.  Survival means the ability to live independently and be self-supporting.  We do know that a high proportion of children with disabilities do not get a chance to survive in the adult world.  We don't know who to retrain or fire for reasons stated under Invisibility, above, nevertheless, the lack of survival and development of children with disabilities is a serious violation of their human rights.
4. Respect.  When is the last time you heard about respect for the views of the children?  For example, when school districts cut back or eliminate vocational education programs, does anyone care what the children think?  All we know is that people in power, both elected and appointed, care more about their own salaries, benefits and future retirement than they do about the children.  Our special children do not yet vote, and when they eventually do, their disabilities make them more easily manipulated.  The views of children with disabilities need to be given serious consideration; failure to do that is a violation of the democratic rights of the children.

A danger of our democratic system is that once people are elected or appointed to positions of public trust they often grow more comfortable presiding over their piece of our government than changing it.  Their attention to reform quickly gives way to their attention to the money and muscle needed to sustain their own incumbency.  Policies to implement their promises vanish.  The critical path for those concerned with the rights of children, especially of children with disabilities, must be to keep a high awareness ourselves, and to keep up the pressure on our government officials, elected and appointed, at every level, to put the interests of children first.

As the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child points out, local authorities have a pivotal role to play in giving support to other service providers and also in the areas of regulation, enforcement and monitoring of child rights.  Knowledge of who our local authorities are and how to contact them is the first step on the critical path.  Burbank, LA County, California and US official websites are found here:
www.CityOfBurbank.Info
Use this information to contact our officials to let them know that you want them to put the interests of children first, issue by issue.

Elected official who fail to satisfactorily address problems such as invisibility, discrimination, survival & development, and respect for children, especially for children with disabilities, should be removed at the ballot box. This ultimate democratic action does not guarantee that these issues will be properly addressed, but it does speak the only language that some officials understand.

Case Studies, Research & Articles

Behavior Change.  Inappropriate behavior may be the greatest barrier that prevents those with disabilities from living, learning, working, recreating and socializing with nondisabled peers in community settings. As the inclusion philosophy and lifestyle becomes more widespread, it is even more urgent that those without disabilities, including those who may be gifted, behave in a way that not only is appropriate but also is exemplary and can serve as a model for those struggling with behavioral issues.
www.burbank.com/sped/behaviorchange.shtml

Assessing Aidan: A Child with Severe Autism. Developing an assessment plan for a specific child with severe disabilities is certainly not an easy task, nor is something that can be accomplished in a short period of time. Most empirical studies seem to use subjects who are not as severely disabled as Aidan. Although assessment plan information described here is far from complete, the methodology will be helpful in fine-tuning these assessments and in developing additional ones for Aidan and other children with severe autism.
www.burbank.com/sped/autism.shtml

Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case for an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) System. George was 18 when he graduated from High School. He had performed well in all his courses and graduated with better than a 3.75 GPA. Everything was looking up for George until he went off-road motorcycling without a helmet.
www.burbank.com/sped/tbi.shtml

ATTENTION THERAPY IMPROVES READING BY 220%. The ability to read with automacity and comprehension is an ability that can lead a child to successes in almost any chosen field or endeavor. The opposite is also true: A reading disability will hold a child back.
www.burbank.com/sped/attentiontherapy.shtml

Last Chance: A Review of Transition Issues for Students with Learning Disabilities.  The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves but how she's treated. I shall always be a flower girl to him because he always treated me like a flower girl.  I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me as a lady, and always will.
www.burbank.com/sped/lastchance.shtml

Comparative Language Sample.  A comparative analysis of two language samples. James is a student with a specific learning disability in visual and auditory memory, and Jane is a student without a disability.
www.burbank.com/sped/cls.shtml

Reading Readiness: Case Study of Robby. Robby is acquiring readiness for reading on a par with other children in the class, with the major exception of the use of oral language.
www.burbank.com/sped/readingreadiness.shtml

Please remember the following web address for special education ideas:

What business could be more important than educating children!