Special Ed/Needs Classes then and now...

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Hey Gang,

I was wondering if you guys care to share your experiences of being placed in a special ed/needs class(es) and if it helped in anyways

I was practically raised in special ed classes as it was known before special needs title were employed.

For me I can recall it was a crap shoot depending on the teacher's ability to teach those whom were on the spectrum and the funding that was available I often recall learning form out of date history books worn out math books and using computers (such as the apple iie) that were grossly outdated I was often grouped with kids whom had more severe issues mental/emotional issues so attention would go to them first and foremost I think the best school that I went to was when I was 10 the staff ratio was 3:1 and each class had 3 teachers to a table but again I believe it was a private school funded by the public school systems when I moved to GA the education system for special needs were really lacking I recall our class room being a trailer with little to no AC/or heat and when I decided to go mainstream into a real HS the special ed classes were no more then refurbished Janitor closets with a window added. Again education materials consisted of used and/or outdated books. to me it seamed that the school was more concerned with raising funds to support their sports teams then to provide proper material to those whom needed them the most.

I'm hoping that in today's time things have changed for the better

I've had a similar experience as you because I had found special ed to be useless. The thing that especially bothered me was speech. They always expect me to answer them and sometimes punished me for not answering or stimming.

I would agree that public schools are more concerned about publicity and funding, than a good book for classes to use, I also deeply suspect the unions cause the teachers to have little incentive to be helpful or nice, and they are determined not to teach the kids in special ed anything or else they believe they would be out of a job.

P.S. Compromise to current system: Special ed should be not during school, because it leads to abuse towards the people who are separated from the class. Furthermore, an intermediary figure needs to be set up between the teachers and faculty in a school and the school superintendent, so that the union is not receiving a set amount of pay and the intermediary party can also deem whether they are doing their job right or not.

I was in a special program when I was 6 and 7 and got out when I was eight. I learned to add and subtract and learned the sounds of certain letters and learned to read and I learned my address and phone number. But it was the same work over and over and it was never anything kids my age were learning in mainstream and kids in that class didn't know how to act appropriate so I was acting up and my parents found out at the end of the school year and got me out of there but it wasn't that simple. Then in my third year of that class I was only there for about ten weeks before I was finally put in mainstream in a different school that was close to our neighborhood all the other kids there went to.

I went to a preschool that was for kids with developmental delays when I was 3-5 and it was like a normal school. We had play time and reading, recess, snack time, art, PE, circle time, movie time, show and tell, singing, story time. I was in a class for kids who were high functioning and close to normal. We had some kids were seemed more disabled and one of them was in my class at age seven and the other one who was also in my class was in mainstream in kindergarten when I was seven. That girl perhaps had smarter parents who were aware of the laws and what rights they had for their child and mine were unaware so they thought my school knew what they were doing when they told them about a program at another school and said I should go there and my parents didn't know they could disagree with their decision about what to do with me. If it weren't for me coming home from school screaming bringing home school behavior, I would have been in that class longer. The class had kids all over the place from close to normal to severe. We also had kids in there with behavior issues. When I was seven, most of the boys that were in my class the year before were no longer in that class and I was relieved because they were all hyper and I always felt chaos inside and it was overwhelming. So my second year in there was calmer because kids were not as hyper and didn't have as many behavior issues. But we did have a screamer and I picked up on it.

Then after that, I mainstreamed special ed. I only went to it for some classes. I had to go to it for first grade work so I could catch up on my education I missed. I still went in 3rd and 4th grade but didn't for 5th grade but did for 6th grade and then didn't anymore. Then 7th grade and up I was in the resource room where I got help with my school work and I would have gotten bad grades and flunked if I didn't get ay help. I was underestimated and I had to prove them all wrong and in junior high, I was excluded from school programs. It does suck when teachers look at the label and try and treat you as one instead of as you.

It was terrible and EXTREMELY violent. I could try to explain just for frequent and intense that violence was, but it would seem really improbable unless you knew me.