It seems to me that some of the commenters have a somewhat outdated perspective on special services, in terms of both classification and education. Before we learned that our son had special needs, I might have held the same views.
BACKGROUND
When our son was in (private) preschool a heads-up teacher thought she saw something and suggested that we have him tested. Eventually, the docs determined that he had ADD and some processing and motor issues. It still wasn’t easy to get him classified, because our district is small and they give priority to kids who are severely disabled or (ironically) who have behavior problems. However, our district did find him a spot and he was getting help by the middle of his Kindergarten year. For first and second grades he was pulled out for resource room instruction (1-on-1), OT and speech. He also has (private) after-school tutoring twice a week. Next year he will be in a regular third grade class, with special ed teachers coming into the classroom for enrichment.
COMMENTS
1. I always cringed at the notion of “accommodation” – lowering the bar so the kid “won’t feel like a failure.” However, I don’t think it’s used that much anymore. The school psych mentioned it and both his teachers and we were vehemently opposed (our son’s neurologist thinks it’s BS, too). Teachers seem to have a good handle on how to manage emotions in the classroom, and I don’t think lowering the bar is that common, at least in elementary school.
2. Our son works hard. To succeed academically he will have to work harder than anyone else. We know it, he knows it, his teachers know it. Two tutoring sessions plus at least an hour of homework a day – even over the summer. If anyone thinks this is gaming the system I’d like to know what I’m missing.
3. Teachers like to have the kids in the regular classroom as much as possible, largely for social reasons. Resource room kids need to gain experience working in groups not because they are so accustomed to working one on one. They aren’t mainstreaming the kids to socially promote them.
4. Both my son and his twin sister were in second grade classes of about 20 kids. About 4-5 in each class have some special needs, and maybe 1-2 are pulled out. More experienced teachers tend to get the kids who need extra attention. 50% sounds high.
I have friends that are constantly battling their district; we have been very fortunate in our district’s dealings with us and providing help for our son. Our situation may or may not be typical, but I can say that if the special ed cliche of “separate ‘em, promote ‘em and push ‘em out the door” was ever true, it is not true in our district and I doubt it is common anywhere else.
