Here is my experience as a former teacher with special ed students in a mainstream classroom. Teachers are overloaded, and the professional diagnosis of students with special needs usually does not mean that there is assistance to the teacher in helping/dealing with the student with special needs.
EX: a student w severe ADHD who will do the work IF he gets extensive one-on-one tutoring, but neither the overburdened teacher nor the single parent working two jobs has the time for that. Nor does the school district have any special tutoring funding for the ADHD student.
I know a parent with an 18 year old with Arsperger’s syndrome. Mentally quite competent, but minimal social interaction skills. She had to fight long and hard for the school district to come up with a plan for her child. This is ultimately money well spent, because while a person with Arsperger’s ( spelling?) Syndrome will have social problems, the same mindset can make the Arsperger’s Syndrome person a very productive member of society,
