Still a Long Way to Go With IDEA

Back in April, I put up an action to Tell President Obama to Fully Fund IDEA. So far (as of writing this post) there are 1195 signatures. I had set the original goal at 500. The petition ends this Saturday, July 4th, so, please, one more push!

As the parent of a child with disabilities, I'm thankful every day for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. i really cannot imagine what Charlie's and our lives would be like without it.

That said, school is a struggle for my son, like many students with disabilities. It is not that he does not like learning or is unwilling to learn, or, even, that he doesn't like school. Since the time he was 2 and a quarter years old and started in a home ABA program, Charlie has liked learning. He aims to please; he used to hover at the front window to watch for the therapists when they walked or drove up, and greet them with a big smile. (He didn't talk in those days.) And he likes to go to school, wants to be among other children his age; likes to be busy and doing things.

But public school holds many challenges for Charlie and some that aren't always immediately taken into consideration.

There's some 1400 students at his middle school and (as far as I can tell; once upon a time I was a PTA co-president, but those days are long gone) the school is carefully, tightly run, with a big emphasis on academics and order. Apparently---Charlie's teacher has been asking---there is no room in the students' schedules to do some reverse inclusion with Charlie's class and the other special ed classroom at school; at his elementary school, students came in regularly during lunch and recess. Charlie is not mainstreamed in any subjects (his academics are far "behind" that of the students his age) and he and his classmates pretty much stay in one room all day, except for gym class first thing in the morning.

Many accommodations and supports are in place for Charlie and things look good on paper: His class has a 1:1 student to teacher ratio; his programs are individualized to his learning; he has picture schedules and much else made specifically for him. Public school is a challenging environment (and for students without "anything").

This won't be news to any parents out there: Schools can provide the staff supports and teaching methodology for students with disabilities. But there's only so much that can be done with the physical environment and the design of school buildings; about what it's like to be in a building with 1400 students not to mention teachers, staff, and administrators, all of whom have their share of needs and concerns and jobs and aren't thinking about a few students with some extra-big challenges.

Charlie's middle school seems to be the one school in the district that has yet to have extensive renovations to let go of its beige, brown, and stucco 70s-architecture-ness. The high school has a new auditorium, classroom, et cetera; the middle school has neither a track nor basketball courts; the students run around the circle in front of the school as a "track." There are some fields with grass and soccer goals but, well, you get the picture. Charlie's classroom is located in whatever room was assigned to his teacher; its windows look out onto a hallway. There is a courtyard visible through windows, but it's not what I'd call a sensory-friendly place, with the fluorescent lights (I know Charlie is highly aware of their hum; when we're in grocery and other stores with those lights, he puts his head down and his fingers over his ears). For awhile, there was a room next door that Charlie's teacher could use, but it's not always available (and not during the week of testing).

Gym in the morning is great, but Charlie has a lot of energy. Unlike the other students, he doesn't switch rooms between classes. Often he goes on walks throughout the day, outside or in the halls. But these aren't options when it rains (as it did almost every day for much of June), or when quiet is needed (as when the students had standardized testing during June). (I only figured out about the testing and how that changed Charlie's routine after the fact.) Add to this the fact that bells are constantly ringing and messages being relayed over the loudspeaker and you've got a lot of factors that need more than a 1:1 student-to-teacher ratio and ABA to address.

How can we keep making out schools more accessible? Create more accommodations? Factor in sensory sensitivities? I've only noted some concerns about the physical environment and classroom design, but what about accommodations to make some interactions between students with disabilities and "other" students possible? Somehow I don't think the best way to teach about diversity and acceptance of the differences of others is to keep students in effect segregated, in their classrooms or because of the demands of their academic curriculum---learning isn't only about being able to do advanced math, analyze literature, writes sentences in Spanish and French. There's a push in New Jersey to have more in-district programs for students on the spectrum. Such programs are more economical but for such programs to work, we need to keep in mind the full spectrum of accommodations needed.

The fact that Charlie has been attending public school since he was 4 years old has been no small feat. We've come a long with IDEA. The presence of Charlie and his classmates in the schools makes that very clear! But there is still such a long long way to go, and we have to keep reminding school districts that it takes everyone to make IDEA work, and just having the right things in place on paper is just the beginning.