A Philadelphia mom is angered over the way her autistic son was treated when his class went on a trip.
While his classmates went on the trip, Jimmy was supposed to enjoy a day of learning, but that was not the case.
Dawn said her son was left in a classroom with only his bus assistant who is not trained to teach autistic children.
"I cried, I cried first and I just had it," Dawn said. "I thought you had a choice, you could just sit there and take it or you do something about it."
In addition to a bus assistant, Jimmy is supposed to have a special education teacher and a therapeutic support worker.
Dawn said support workers or TSS are in short supply.
"We have TSS's that come and go, it's a revolving door and I am done, I am at my breaking point," Dawn said.
Dawn said her problem lies with the school district and not the staff at the Stephen Decatur school. She said the district is failing special needs students.
"It's all broken promises and I don't think I can handle one more broken promise," Dawn said. via cbs3.com
As we all know,these programs only work if they are staffed. Some of these positions pay such a small amount of money that there is a lot of turnover and, as a result, the services don't get to the students . Until we make filling these service positions a priority so people and children with disabilities can get the services they need, it's just not going to happen because it will take a concerted effort - recruiting, raising wages and training are three things that automatically come to my mind.
2 comments:
As a parent of a kid with autism, I like your common sense tone.
My daughter doesn't get the supports she should either at her school. I sometimes don't even know she has trouble communicating so it's difficult to figure out what's going on.
Sylvia
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