More Autism Schools Proposed in New Jersey

[The Straight Story]

More Autism Schools Proposed in New Jersey

Gov. Chris Christie has proposed creating additional specialized public schools for educating children with autism in New Jersey, a departure from the current practice in many communities of integrating those children into neighborhood schools.

The governor proposed creating “centers for excellence” in every county, suggesting that such schools could save money for districts and ensure a higher quality of instruction. He told the audience at a town-hall-style meeting in Paramus on Thursday night that “the start-up costs of these programs, if you do it district-by-district, are mind-blowing and the quality is variable.”

Parents and advocates are split over the idea of creating specialized schools for children with autism, reflecting a larger debate nationally over whether those children are best served in separate programs or in general-education classes.

Critics of the idea say that children with disabilities gain valuable academic and social skills from interacting with their peers without disabilities, and also develop closer ties to their communities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/nyregion/17njautism.html?src=twrhp

[Pab Sungenis]

1. We used to have a great system in our local town.

I was part of it. It was an old 3 story school. One floor was Gifted and Talented, another was the local neighborhood school portion, and the third was administrative and "special needs." (Remedial, autistic, mentally impaired, etc.) This way there were separate classes for the three tracks but we all interacted socially outside of the classroom (eating together, recess together, some combined classes like Phys Ed, and so on).

Of course, they decided to do away with it so the Board of Ed could stop renting their admin offices and move them all into one of the older schools. The experimental school was the one they chose. Everyone was dumped into other schools, all into the same "mainstream" track. It was havoc on both the G&T and Special Needs segments.

We need to give gifted kids an accelerated curriculum to keep them engaged. We need to give special needs kids the attention and specialized techniques they need to learn. And we need to get the distractions out of the classroom for average kids. Someone ought to look into the way Reber School used to work in Vineland, NJ.

[Odin2005]

2. K&R

[catabryna]

3. I would imagine that...

how one would feel about this would depend largely on the child's degree of functioning as well as parenting style. As a mom of a child with high-functioning autism, I would much prefer my child be in an inclusive setting as opposed to a special program. It benefits my child to be with kids who aren't autistic because he is, afterall, going to be an adult someday. His functioning is high enough that he's going to be dealing with non-autistic people on a regular basis whether he's working or going to community college, or whatever it is he chooses to do when he grows up. In addition, my child really excels in some areas and lags behind in others, and a special setting could well inhibit him from pursuing those things that he is really good at. But, again, there are no cookie cutter solutions because as we all know, no two children are the same.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. +1. No one-size-fits-all answer here

It's great that there will be an option.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. I have no problem with this proposal so long as:

1. The program is sufficiently funded and staffed by expert teachers;
2. The program's funding doesn't come from funds already earmarked for special education;
3. These children aren't fully segregated from their peers and are mainstreamed as much as the special education students.

http://www.care2.com/causes/education/blog/separate-schools-over-inclusion-gov-christies-plan-for-autism-schools-in-every-nj-county/#comment_form