|
The article by AP Writer Karen
Gullo is based on an advance copy of the IDEA Compliance
Report obtained by the Associated Press.
According to "STATES IGNORE SPECIAL ED LAW:"
"Many children with disabilities are getting substandard
schooling because states are not complying with federal
rules on special education. . . "
"In too many cases, children with disabilities are taught
in
separate classrooms and schools are not following other
regulations meant to protect these students from
discrimination,"
Because the U. S. Department of Education hasn't
required states to comply with the law,
"parents often must sue to enforce the law . . . "
The National Council on Disability found that:
"Nearly 6 million American children receive special
education instruction and services at a cost of almost
$40 billion, about $5.7 billion of which is federal
money."
"Federal efforts to enforce the law over several
administrations have been inconsistent, ineffective and
lacking any real teeth. . .
MOST STATES FAIL
After examining compliance reports from 1994 to 1998,
the National Council on Disability concluded that:
* "36 states failed to ensure that children with disabilities
are not segregated from regular
classrooms."
* "44 states failed to follow rules requiring schools
to
help students find jobs or continue
their education."
* "45 states failed to ensure that local school authorities
adhered to nondiscrimination
laws."
The Council concluded that special education will not fulfill
its mission until states are required to comply with the law.
The Associated Press reports,
"The council made dozens of recommendations to strengthen
federal enforcement. They include giving the Justice
Department independent authority to investigate cases
and take states to court; providing more money for enforcement
and handling of complaints; and creating a process for
handling complaints at the federal level."
For an easy-to-read copy of this article, go to --
http://www.wrightslaw.com/news/2000/IDEA-Compliance
_Rpt__00_0123.htm
Get Wrightslaw News at--
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
|
|
In planning your daily, weekly schedule for your
child with Autism-Spectrum Disorder (ASD), you should make
a plan to fill up the "dead-time" in your child's day.
Try an experiment for ONE DAY. Go through the
entire "regular day" with your ASD child and actually
count the number of minutes that your child is in
"dead time". The result may surprise you.
What is "Dead-Time"?
1. Dead time is time OUTSIDE therapies
and school.
2. Dead time is sitting in a car going from one
place to another. Typical children
will look
around, look out the window and comment
on
what is seen, or just chat. Your
ASD child will
just sit absorbing nothing of value.
Your ASD child is in "dead-time".
3. Dead time is waiting in any lineup, super-
market, room, lobby, hallway, or
classroom,
as people around the child are either
waiting
for something or someone, or engaged
in a
busy activity or conversation. Your
typical
child is usually having at least some fun
(or making their own fun by getting into trouble),
absorbing the new elements of a different
environment.
Your ASD child is in "dead-time".
4. Dead time also can be that late afternoon time
(4:00 -6:00 pm), when everyone is coming
home from schoolwork, snack-time
is on,
then supper is getting prepared,
maybe the
house is getting tidied up a bit.
Everyone is a
little tired and getting ready for the last
part
of the day. No one is "on" your ASD child
on a one-to-one basis.
Your ASD child is in "dead-time".
5. Dead time is time your child spends
doing nothing while in transit from
one place to
another, waiting for something else
to happen,
or waiting for someone to arrive
or to go
someplace. Whether or not there are
other
family members around, there is no one
focused on that child -- spending
one-on-one
interaction specifically and exclusively
with that
child. There is nothing in the child's
hands on
which to focus his attention and teaming,
even
if only for a few moments.
ALL dead time is valuable time that should
be filled with SOMETHING. Dead time is usually
a very significant amount of time in the day. It can be filled up with
some consideration and planning, introducing little
elements of the child's program in little pieces at a
time.
How can you fill the "Dead Time" with productive
learning for your ASD Child?
(Continued on page 3)
|