Yearning to Educate

Not only am I a broad-brush-attack, isolated-incident, malcontent parent who can-never-be-appeased, I also have a desire to educate. Just ask the hundreds-close-to-low thousands of families that I have had contact with over the last 32 years.

I believe that the world of Special Education is the cornerstone of "public education". For those who have never been responsible for a disabled person, this concept may seem bass-ackwards.


I submit that professional teachers of the disabled can teach rings around professional teachers of the regular.

Concepts such as backward chaining, daily living skills, functional causation and understanding that pragmatic discourse is generally not beneficial in educating those who learn differently.


For those who care - pragmatics is regarded as one of the most challenging aspects for language learners to grasp, and can only truly be learned with experience.

"....Another perspective is that pragmatics deals with the ways we reach our goal in communication. Suppose, a person wanted to ask someone else to stop smoking. This can be achieved by using several utterances. The person could simply say, 'Stop smoking, please!' which is direct and with clear semantic meaning; alternatively, the person could say, 'Whew, this room could use an air purifier' which implies a similar meaning but is indirect and therefore requires pragmatic inference to derive the intended meaning."


Low expectations is the bane of all education. ALL education.


At Kingswood Elementary, in 1990-91, when my 3rd grade deaf/blind child was being quizzed on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, I objected to the appropriateness of the content. How the hell does he know, or will ever care, who they were. Why not teach him who the Principal is, or people he can "relate" to?

Another classic example of arrogance with ignorance was when he was in a music class at Colson Elementary. He was given a "music class" test that consisted of 3 or 4 pages of questions in which he had to answer questions related to music cadences that were played by the teacher. It was a "simple test" - he had to circle "yes" or "no".

As my son had a lot of experience in recognizing "patterns", he had drawn circles around the "yes - yes" and "no - no".

The fact that he could not hear the chimes and bells played by the teacher that represented one count, two count or three count cadences was lost to the "professional educators". The teacher, in his heartfelt pity, wrote "good try" on my son's "F" paper.

That was around 1994-95- not sure which. My concerns fell on deaf ears.

JusT Like i UsEd TO comPlaiN aBout HOW my SoN waS tAugHt His SpelLING WOrds IN all CapitaL LetterS.


Yes, it is true, one of my son's teachers taught him his spelling words in all-capital-letters. She had been doing it for x amount of years, and I (you know, the ignorant, non-professional educator, simply-stupid-parent) was not going to change her practice. Despite my year-long, multi-faceted approach to trying to fix this problem, I did not prevail. I even tried to use the fact that no spelling word book in Hillsborough County presented spelling words in capital letters. Instead of dealing in best practices, I was dealing with power and control. In fact, it was when I learned the "secret" that "when the teacher's door is closed, it is "her/his" realm."

Convenient for the administration to allow ignorance to prevail.

Professional Ugly Duckling Identifiers

We all know the story. A little animal faces adversity from it's peers. The little animal is shunned, mocked and ridiculed. Then one day, the little animal figures out that it can identify with others and suddenly the adversity disappears. At least in the story.


Thanks to the Gradebook, we have the link to this story: Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5


... "After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex — who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism — out of the class."

...."Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place"


....."Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully."

....."Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and eccentric behavior."

...."Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said."

******************

I guess Alex Barton is what some school administrators refer to as the one's who ruin the "public school salad":


.....It is to be hoped that Principal Annette Grasty of Lakewood Elementary School in Sunnyvale, California is wilting with remorse for this thoroughly rotten analogy. Surely she did not intend to be insulting or hurtful.Her comments came about in reference to the penalty that schools face under the No Child Left Behind Act if they fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in standardized testing conducted each spring. If even one subgroup of students (such as special education) does not meet the AYP goal, the entire school is labeled low-performing. Like many educators, Principal Grasty believes it is unfair to flunk an entire school for the low performance of a single subgroup.As reported in the San Jose Mercury News [Download wilted and rotten.doc] , she thinks education should follow a business model: "If I were running a business, I'd try to control the product coming in," she said. For instance, she said, a chef wouldn't prepare a gourmet salad with wilted lettuce or rotten tomatoes. In a public school, she said, "I can't control who walks in that door. I take kids with learning disabilities, I take everyone. They come in at different levels and with different ways of learning."

....


Once again the arrogance and ignorance of a professional educator leads by example. Spare me the "isolated incident" rationalization... this is 2008 and I have heard that excuse since 1990.

After The Graduation Party is Over

There is a lot of angst amongst the HCDS people about something called Springboard. In today's Tribune, there is an article that leads one to believe that this Springboard gimmick may be more about how some people can make money disguised as an effort to increase accountability in education.

Maybe image is everything. After all, schools are supposed to educate students, and what better way to say that one is educated than to go off to college. The fact that someone makes money off of this may be just pure coincidence.

I see that at least one board member, April Griffin, is looking out for "all" of the students and recognizes that at least a few of them are not on fast or slow track to college. In fact, there may be a few of them that want to get on with their life outside of a formal education. I hear a few stories about how there are a lot of rich people who did not get a college education. What we don't hear about is how many people lead happy, productive lives without a college education. I think Marxist's are the one's who measure success by how much money or material possessions one has. There are other ways to measure success, especially by those who see themselves as successful. Not that I dabble in politics much, according to one of those guys running to be POTUS, if one owns a gun and goes to church, they ain't successful.

But what about the kids that ride the short bus with the little blue emblem on the side. BTW, it is my understanding of IDEA that kids in special education could ride the regular bus right along with their peers just like they can be in a classroom with their peers. For some reason, it seems to be wrongly entrenched in school systems that "special education" automatically means separate classroom and separate bus. It seems to me that sending two busses to the same bus stop would cost more money than to send just one with an aide on it, but I'm just a parent. Maybe it is harder to find aides than it is bus drivers is all I can think.

And then there is "Transition, Transition Services, Transition Planning". Wrightslaw can explain it better than me.

Some may wonder what the big deal is that I would write about this. It has to do with arrogance and ignorance. I will highlight some points that we should all know:

".....The phrase "further education" and the emphasis on effective transition services is new in IDEA 2004. Section 1400(c)(14) describes the need to provide "effective transition services to promote successful post-school employment and/or education. (See "Findings and Purposes" in Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, pages 45-48)


"(34) Transition Services - The term `transition services' means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that-

(A) is designed to be a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation;

(B) is based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child's strengths, preferences, and interests;

(C) includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation. (See "Definitions" in
Section 1401, Wrightslaw: Special Education Law, 2nd Edition, page 56)"

==========

A hint to all - this can not happen in the last one or two years of high school, and hit and miss approach. It has to start from day one with professional oversight.

Just like those regular ed kids.

And there may be where the problem lies.

Activism or Advocacy?

Yesterday I wrote about misunderstandings a lot of people have about disabilities. This ignorance becomes critical when it has authority and power behind it. When this happens, it is an abuse of power.

The link is to a blog that is hosted by a real professional special education teacher. The post I am linking to has a lot of dynamics in it. Basically, the teacher blogger read a post (by original poster) on another blog, recognized incorrect information and responded to it with correct information.

The recipient of the new correct information (the original poster) was appreciative of the new correct information, and qualified her ignorance by having only been there nine months and her wrong information came from a 2005 article.

Tiny Bouts of Activism

What got my attention was when the original poster said she would forward the new information to her department director for further follow up. I then became curious about what system was the original poster in.

What I wanted to see was how much power and authority these decision makers had regarding the information on cerebral palsy and the role they played with the person with CP. I googled the original phrase and found the original source. Nova University


I found the original article on page 28. It is a typical article in awe of what a person with a disability can do. I first experienced this "awe" over 20 years ago. Since that time, across the United States and in Australia, I have witnessed people with disabilities doing things that are surprising.

I have learned that the "awe" comes from our ignorance and low expectations. If parents and educators understood the dynamics about their kid's specific disability from day one, understood the educational implications of the specific disability in regards to how each kid can learn in their unique, individualized way, all of our kids would have these amazing outcomes.

Understanding a disability is more than just knowing a label. Effective evaluations, done by professionals, should include the educational implications that are specific to each child.

Department directors should be up to date on the latest diagnostic and best practice teaching modalities so that they ensure that teachers are up to date.

Low Expectations vs Presumption of Entitlement

Click here: YouTube - Patrick Henry Hughes - Inspirational Story

This is a short video about a kid who is doing things because his parents and teachers did not accept what seemed so real to every one else. Pay attention to the infant picture and ask yourself what are your expectations.

It is not just me that talks about low expectations. It is written by congress in the IDEA re-authorizations and has been referred to as the "soft bigotry" towards people with a disability.

"Avoid Methodology Disputes
From Pete: Excellent strategy! If the parent insists that the school use a specific method, this insures that the school will NEVER use this method, come hell or high water. If a particular method needs to be used, I have the outside expert make this recommendation, not the parent.
From Pam: This is the power of "school culture." Many school personnel believe that because parents are emotionally attached to their children, they cannot be knowledgeable about the educational services their children need. According to a study of 5,000 school psychological evaluations, most school personnel believe that children's learning and behavior problems are due to family and child factors, and have absolutely nothing to do with inadequately trained teachers, improper curriculum, and over-crowded classrooms. Read article"

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/ieps.tactics.session.htm

ALL ROOMS ARE THE SAME (ask at desk if luxury suites are available )

Yesterday, I vented. Over the years, I have been told many things from others as they express their thoughts about me as a father in relationship to one of my children. Most of these comments are positive, a few of them negative. I don't hear those same expressions about my relationship with my other children. My belief is that the absence of these expressions about my 'normal' kids is how society accepts the status-quo of kids growing up and becoming adults and that there is a wide range of expected and accepted paths that they can go.

The positive comments come mostly from people who have known me a while. I know the positive comments and the commenter are meant to express appreciation for the circumstances. The negative comments have been few and from "professionals".

After my rant yesterday, I spent some time thinking about what is in me that I choose to have such feelings. Maybe it has something to do with the path that my son must go and the fact that this path does not fit in the "wide range of expected and accepted paths" for the majority of people.

One of the positive comments that I have heard numerous times is that "God chose you to take care of his little angel". I will never forget the day a very well meaning person said that to me and I had the insolence to reject it. That was over fifteen years ago. Not sure if I knew the above Eagles' song then or not.

One of the negative comments that sticks out in this context is when a reporter asked me how I "felt about the perception of many that parents in your situation think the world owes them". I will never forget my reaction. What I said was something to the effect that if she and I had not been introduced in the manner that we were, I would tell her to get the hell out of my house right now. I gave deference to her position - the insinuation and implications of the word "many" to this day haunts me. That conversation happened around 11 years ago.

I have spoken about compulsory school attendance and school choice here and on other blogs. I have previously posted the contents of the "Wilted lettuce, Rotten tomatoes" missive and the implications of same. I spoke of the lack of control I have in choosing my children's strength and weaknesses in my profile.

I am coming to this. My son and I are fine with our path. It is when we are forced in to situations that are not good and then told we have to accept it because we are who we are just does not fit well.