Don't isolate students with autism

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By Ari Ne'eman:
"Gov. Chris Christie's recent proposal to create a state-funded autism school in every county has turned a lot of heads. Coming from a Republican governor in a time of fiscal austerity, many disability advocates have seen it as a welcome statement that some things are still worth spending money on.

Yet despite appreciation of Christie's support for autism and disability issues, many advocates have serious questions about the wisdom of constructing new segregated programs when both federal law and an overwhelming body of research say that autistic students are best served in inclusive settings":
http://www.app.com/article/20110128/NJO ... nts-autism

I wholly support adaptive settings for those who choose these types of settings. To remove this accommodation and choice is not a segregation concern but a human rights issue.

Do Segregated schools offer special educational opportunities for those lower on the spectrum that integrated schools can't provide? Given the opportunity to go to both kinds of schools are there some autistic children that can adapt better to a segregated school than an integrated school and in the end may actually be better off, than if they went to a segregated school?

It makes since that most Autistic children would be better off included in the mainstream, and have a better chance of reaching the mainstream in life by being afforded this opportunity.

I'm not sure this is the case for all autistic children. I have heard of instances of particular children that were moved into a segregated school because they could not function in an integrated school and did much better in a segregated school. These are stories from parents, so I do not know all of the mitigating circumstances. It would be easy to blame the parents, teachers, or school; the last thing a person would want to do is blame the child.

It seems to be a volatile issue. From a personal perspective, I'm glad this kind of thing wasn't available when I was a child, because with a speech delay until age 4, I might of been placed in a school like this. Eventually, I graduated close to the top of my class, and I don't think I would have ever had the ability to be part of mainstream life, if I were part of one of these schools.

If a segregated school can provide the opportunity for an education for a few children that might not get an education, if only integrated schools were available, I wouldn't want to be the one to take this opportunity away from them.

To me integration when not able and or tolerated by someone is more of a therapeutic model that needs to be deployed. Still yet choice is the human right. Remember there is are cookie cutters but lots of different kinds of cookies. The cookie cutters must oblige the IEP and if a custom mold is needed one will be made within macro cookies like more so adaptive and specialized settings.

its not a perfect plan,but its better than public school or the old days where the dept. of social services would just throw you in a random home for screw ups

Mainstreaming doesn't work. It's basically a way to throw you into a classroom where everybody can make fun of you and you never learn anything for the sake of not excluding you.

I've been isolated into my own room before. That is isolation. Having a school for kids who need to be there is not isolation.

The only worry I would have is that public schools would dismiss autistic kids who wanted to go to public school and send them over to the special school.

When I wanted to be away from the ciaos which caused me allot of trouble growing up let alone keeping up 2 grades behind with sensory problems I was told they didn't have enough money for that. I still feel ripped off from an education. Yet now I consult inclusion professionals, head my areas regional inclusion campaign and consult behavioral majors and they consult me with governing macro strategies. I decide how to represent the image of DD people and lead and I get to make differences others didn't have the imagination for. Life is my school now and I can choose to go where I want!

I know of at least one child that started off with many challenges in a segregated school and made many advancements in that school. He decided with the support of his parents to start high school at a public school at age 14, and while he still has many challenges to meet he is doing okay there. I think this shows that attending a segregated school may not negate the possibility of being mainstreamed at a later date.

I'm glad to see some of the posters here give the perspective of those who have been there done that to this issue.

I'm probably the only one here so far who can see through Christie's charade here. He's basically doing this


A link to further illustrate what I mean here :
Its Chief Founder...

Just so you know, it's a facebook link, sorry!

However, I can see where some autistics would benefit from attending a school like this. I have a problem with the fact that public schools will use this as a crutch to avoid accommodating students like me who had a learning disability along with Asperger's.

Plus, I'm against segregation of any kind. I had a problem with it when it was racial segregation (even though that happened before I was even born) and I definitely have a problem with this form of segregation. That's really all I can say right now because I'm starting to feel myself growing angry over this.

Living in a country where state-funded Autism Schools exist, im in favour.

Forced inclusion is exclusion.

Forcing anyone, who cannot cope in the normal school system, to remain there, is abuse. Most autistic person are bullied alot in mainstream schools.

Most mainstream school teachers dont know how to handle an AS student, just as most mainstream students dont. Also, most autistic students, dont know how to handle NT students.

The ability to choose a school and suits your needsan. To go somewhere, where teachers and students understand you, or to venture out into a more challenging world -Should be the choice of the individual. Not a law.

I see it this way. If you know someone doesn't have the tools to survive well in an environment and then don't give them survival tools and teach them how to use them in a practical way, then throwing them into a situation where those tools are required in order to have any sort of quality of life is an act of cruelty. Plain and simple. Once those tools are in place, then yes, by all means try inclusion and see how things work out. I.e. don't just throw them in the class and go "ok, inclusion done, kid got taught to tie his shoelaces in special school so he's been normalized. Lunch everyone!". If I could go back in time and make a program for me I'd have gone split time between Aspie school and NT school with the goal being eventual full time NT school only when I could integrate to a point where I was not an automatic target by virtue of being... well, me. Inclusion is a great thing to strive for, I'm all being included as an equal with NTs. Being included in the fun fun new game of kick the weirdo freak, not as desirable inclusion.

It's all gonna come down to how these schools are going to function IMO but I agree you can't force this on aspies. Each aspies functioning level is going to vary differently so each student would have to carefully analyzed to determine which school environment they will be most successful in.

These low stimulation schools/classes sound like a good idea but I worry that they're hire just any random teachers who may not be up to the task of handling these kind of students.