The Normalization of Disabled Youngsters
By Anne Dachel
The stories on my website testify to the normalization of disabled children. We calmly accept it when our children are labeled with ADD, ADHD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Dyslexia, Autism, Speech Delay and any of the related disorders in DSM 5.
We have normalized it all. The time is long behind us when everyone seriously cares about why these diseases are increasing so dramatically in our children. Research regularly finds a possible link with genetics. The focus is always on the intervention. We are really proud of the way we support students with special needs in our schools.
With COVID being the main feature of US reporting right now, we need to look to the UK to see how this really plays out as I show it Loss of brain confidence.
For England and Wales alone, $ 1.3 billion was added to fund special education this year.
The stories amazingly come with photos of smiling government officials and educators. Obviously, no one is panicking at these increases (which we keep talking about) or the huge sums of money that are being spent. And no one ever assures us that this is the end of the climb, in fact we regularly hear predictions of even more students with special needs in the years to come.
Here are just a few of the statements that have hit the news recently.
Wales: The Welsh government announced that 18 million [$24M] is made available to children and adolescents with ALN. in addition to support [Additional Learning Needs]…
£ 8 million [$11M] are assigned to schools, kindergartens, local authorities and student allocation units to move learners from the old system of special educational needs (SEN) to the new system of ALN, while the implementation of the law on additional learning needs continues.
Lancashire: This 2022/23 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation is £ 869,940,171 for mainstream schools, € 158,303,915 [$210M] for special educational needs Block and £ 80,654,601 for early childhood education. …
Nottinghamshire: Local MP Brendan Clarke-Smith takes pride in the rise in school spending, including the $ 1.3 billion, “a record 13 percent increase over this year,” in funding for special schools.
Essex: A special school is being expanded.
Ramsden Hall Academy works with up to 100 male secondary and 6th grade students who have an Educational Health Plan (EHCP) for Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH).
The work included the construction of a brand new three-story apartment block with beds for 40 students, Strengthening the ability of the academy to develop the student’s ability to live independently….
Norfolk: The headmaster of a new special school feels “happy and honored”.
The school will cater to students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) from across Norfolk. …
First 48 students are welcomed before the number increases to 100.
Suffolk: Multi-million for special ed.
More than £ 6 million [$8,2M] to be made available for the development of additional special needs education and disability school places (SEND) in Suffolk.
In its proposed 2022 budget, Suffolk County Council’s Conservative Administration announced that it would be spending between $ 6.1 million and $ 6.5 million as part of a spring semester review.
This will be the second phase of a capital program, which has so far been EUR 45 million [$61M] of investments to create 861 places….
“We know it’s a priority for Suffolk, we’ve heard that message loud and clear.”
The £ 45 million [$61M] The SEND plan has used a mix of new special schools and specialist units attached to mainstream schools. The aim is to give students access to educational institutions that meet their needs and to reduce the number of stays abroad.
The first 259 places were awarded for the 2020/21 academic year and 334 places this year. The remaining places will be divided with 158 in 2022/23 and 110 in 2023/24.
The demand for specialist positions has continued to rise …
Devonian: More money for special ed.
Schools across Devon will receive millions in additional funding in 2022, announced today.
Torbay, Devon and Plymouth will collectively receive an additional £ 68 million [$92B] as part of a £ 4 billion [$5.4B] Government funding across the country….
A record of £ 1 billion[$1.3B] additional funds are spent to support students with special educational needs and disabilities.
Okehampton: A new autism school is part of the plan for 300 more special schools.
The Promise School in Okehampton will cater for up to 100 elementary and secondary school students with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Problems (SEMH) and the spectrum of autism. It is operated by the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust.
The school is part of a £ 22m [$30M] Devon County Council program to provide 300 additional places for vulnerable children with special needs across the county. The new building should be completed in spring 2023, but in September 2022 the school will open in temporary accommodation for its first students …
Cumbria: The story of special education continues to announce that there are more disabled children.
Calls to the meeting increasing need for special educational support in Cumbria.
DEMAND for special needs education in Cumbria is growing …
… we are working on the increasing demand in Cumbria.
And the demand is increasing …
… The huge job supply to meet demand and increase support for young people with autism and other disabilities….
“So there is a real increase in children and adolescents …
… there is great demand for places in Cumbria’s technical schools.
“We see that parents are asking for more special school places …
There is a lack of space.
Councilor Christine Bowditch said the issues surrounding SEN need to be addressed. Cllr Bowditch said, “In my experience as an autism champion, 100 percent of parents who contact me about their children’s education say they really want their child to go to a mainstream school and a technical school where they get what they get consider it appropriate training.
Even so, nobody cares in the slightest why DEMAND IS INCREASED, and that is the real problem.
The same is true for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Fife, Scotland: A Fife mom says hundreds of families are struggling with waiting two and a half years to be diagnosed with autism.
At the beginning of December, 1,085 young people were waiting for an appointment to be diagnosed with autism; the average waiting time between the referral and the first appointment was two and a half years.
In Ireland they are working on a law to provide school places for “hundreds of autistic students”.
Hundreds of autistic students could be provided with appropriate school places “by September” if the Minister of Education and the Minister of State for Special Education made full use of the legislative powers available to them.
So says Graham Manning, an ASD class coordinator in Cork, who told the Irish Examiner that every year the demand for classes exceeds the number of places available.
This year he is already seeing “dozens of applications for single-digit study places”.
“We have exactly the same thing every year. We hear about the opening of new schools [ASD classes] but they are nowhere near keeping up with demand. ”
In addition, the gap between the number of special classes in elementary school and autism classes in secondary is widening every year, he added.
According to Mr Manning, children in Cork apply for school places more than 50 km away from where they live, which means they would commute 100 km past schools in their area every day.
“There are also hundreds of students, maybe more, who have a recommendation that they need a special class place, but they are in mainstream schools because they couldn’t get a place in an autism class.”
Students have “in writing” that they are entitled to a place in a special or autism class, he said, and this is not provided by ministers. “We speak of hundreds of students who are inappropriately placed, that if a special class were established they would have a suitable place.”
A spokesman for the Education Department said Section 37A is not “the standard method” by which new special classes are created. “Instead, the vast majority of the new special classes result from proactive collaboration between the NCSE and local schools.”
This year it opened 269 new classes, he added. …
Cork currently has 227 elementary schools and 81 high schools offering autism classes. This year, 44 new special classes were established in Cork and a further 42 new special school places were created through the establishment of the new Carrigaline Community Special School and the expansion of St Mary’s Special School in Rochestown. …
Northern Ireland is in the same situation.
New figures from the Ministry of Health show large differences in waiting times for treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders across Northern Ireland’s five health authorities.
Foyle SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin, who requested the numbers, said she was deeply concerned about how long children have to wait between being diagnosed with autism and getting professional help.
A total of 234 children have been waiting for treatment for more than three months. The Northern Trust performed worst, according to numbers from late September, with 208 children waiting more than 13 weeks for treatment.
A lonely story pointed out where this is all leading. On Jan. 7, an article titled “Parents of Adult Autistic Children Face Difficult Future Questions” made it clear that leaving school will not get any better for these special needs children.
The following questions were asked: What do we do now as adults? What will happen? Who will take care of them when I come by? Where will they be
Of course, no one can answer this. Nobody asks them seriously because it would be obvious: Why can’t autistic young adults go where autistic adults currently live?
Somehow we’re supposed to believe that autism has always been there, as we see it in our children, we just called it differently. The coming tidal wave of autistic young adults will bring the truth to light. There is no way to avoid it.
Anne Dachel is the media editor for Age of Autism.