FOX News segment on mainstreaming ASDs NOW...

Post Reply New Topic

Watching FOX News here on the East Coast (7:40 PM EST) RIGHT NOW and they went to a break with a teaser that when they came back they'd run a segment on whether or not students with ASDs should be forced into mainstream classrooms...will post more after the segment runs in a few minutes to this thread.

Update: Summary of the Segment:

The segment lasted about 2 or 3 minutes (which is significant in the news world), as part of the "Fox Report." It talks specifically about kids with AS, and how in New York City they are mainstreamed. The issue in the segment was over whether or not they should mainstream lower-functioning ASD students as well. Parents were interviewed over the success of the program for AS students, and the differences and other needs students with lower functiuoning ASDs would require in a mainstream classroom. They did portray AS in a relatively good light, even pointing out you probably wouldn't be able to pick them out in a classroom right off the bat.

They made it sound like the "mainstream" class they were in was actually a special class, smaller than most with 2 teachers instead of 1, but which AS students mixed in with NT students. They mentioned that when it first started, some parents wanted to opt their NT kids out of the class, and just keep the student in all-NT classes. But other NT parents were supportive of the program, saying putting their NT kids in a class with ASD students allows them to get into a smaller class with more teachers.

Obviously they didn't have time to mention all the details of a program, but it sounds like an interesting concept...IMHO, making it a point to mix AS and NTs in an AS-supportive environment will only help NTs understand the differences of the fast-growing AS community.

I don't think I've met anybody with AS who wasn't in normal classes.
Two kids I knew took remedials, but we generally take higher level courses even.

Quintucket:

Most Aspies do very well in mainstream classes...the premise of the segment was that they were thinking of expanding it to lower-functioning students. Sorry if I made the post sound confusing, it was typed hastily as and immediately after the segment aired on TV.

Yeah, I got that.
As I said, everybody I know with AS is in normal classes, including those who are somewhat lower functioning, at my school.

While at certain ages mainstreaming all ASD kids can be a good idea I wouldnt how long that can hold true (when bullying will start occuring). I mean even us people with HFA and AS have had experience with bullying (some pretty severly.)

I think what they were saying was that they wanted to mainstream people more on the LFA side of things, rather than just other subsets of the AS population.

Ahh.
I'd say no.
You could have like a "Best Buddies" class though.

But don't stick LFA kids in normal classes.

Understood.

Just out of curiosity...does anyone think that, as diagnoses continue to rise exponentially and more and more is learned, will there ever be a MFA (Middle-Functioning?). Never seen it referred to but in a true spectrum there would be something in between.

I think that as understanding becomes clear, we'll probably end up with two parallel spectrums. Since Austism can be caused by lead poisoning, it's probably of a different nature from AS.

And probably we will eventually have several different degree diagnoses.

Faux? OHHHHH Why are you so wrong, my sweet neocon.

I would have to say that at this point, a program like that for LFAs would not be feasible. That does not mean of course that they should be putting LFAs into their own program. On mother is angry at the district because he would rather have her son with a group of mentally disabled children who are at least verbal so that they could possibly teach him to be verbal.

It has to be understood however that one of the puposes of special education is to create an individual plan that allows the student to spend time with their "normal" peers. The program for those with AS allows for the fact that the children can do the same academic work as "normal" peers and as such should be educated with them with the accomidations needed due to them having AS. The added benifit is that it gives the person with AS a chance to practice those social skils that they are suppose to be learning.

Of course, any mainstreaming program will have to take into account that there will be a bullying problem with these students due to their disability and needs to take that into account. The response of some of the parent underlies this fact. Without a plan to proactivly deal with bullying, any mainstream program is due for failure.

Dunno, but should be interesting.

For me, verbal bullying began with kindergarten, physical bullying began in first grade (some boys would follow me during recess while insulting me and bouncing a ball off of my back), and it got really bad in third grade (when a boy started strangling me, resulting in my getting laryngitis for a week, which was the amount of time he was fenced and couldn't go to recess, his only punishment besides a conference with parents) and became extremely severe in seventh grade, when their bullying was so extreme and the counselor who was supposed to discipline them did nothing but blame me for their bullying because of my odd behaviors. I have nightmares about that last one even now, three years after the fact.

Unless the school has a strong disciplinary program, bullying is very likely going to be a constant and escalating problem. If I still went to that same district, my recovery from the past events would take far longer, as I would be around the same offenders (who'd likely offend again in some capacity).

I was mainstreamed (they didn't know of AS then) and it was like a concentration camp for me. I believe that no Aspie students should be mainstreamed. They'll probably just drop out of school after junior high like many Aspie students do here in Norway.

Actually Lonermutant, I would have to disagree with you here.

I think most aspies would do very well in a mainstream class if the situation was set up to where the sensory issues were taken care of, that the teacher was understanding to the child's strengths and weaknesses, and where the there was control on bullying.

The problem is that most Aspie kids don't want to have friends and don't want social contact with other kids and the teachers hates having students with problems in their classroom. In Norway, even severly learning disabled students are to be included in class, there are almost no special schools left and this is a huge problem. Of cause there are still some, but they are in bigger cities.