The big question at this meeting was if my son would benefit from an aide all day at school instead of the incredibly generous offering of 2.5 hours he has now. I say this with 100% sarcasm. If he has an aide for 2.5 hours, take a guess at how long he is productive and getting an education? Yes, 2.5 hours. My son goes to school from 8:30am until 3:00pm. 6.5 hours to be exact. So what is happening the 4 hours he does not have an aide? Tears, frustration, dealing with bullies, trying to keep up with the class....not every day, but most days.
The argument I heard against having an aide were thrown out by both the school psychologist and a teacher. It goes something like this,
We want your son to be independent. We want your son to be able to ask for help when he needs it. We don't want him to become reliant on an aide, because he wont always have one in life.
I want all those things too, but what I want more is an education. I always stop them when they start this dialog. I can't stomach it. I ask if they would take away a child's crutches or wheelchair? Isn't that child just being too dependent on those items....I mean come on, we want everyone to walk. One foot in front of the other right? How hard can that be?
My favorite line was, "We want your son to look normal and with an aide right by his side he does not appear normal."
Hmmmmm, Yet he is so beyond normal when he is crying and ripping up his papers because he can't keep up with his peers? He is normal when he is turning in circles in the middle of the class twitching his fingers to try and calm down because he cant do what the teacher asked of him? Yeah....totally normal.
I don't care that my son has an aide. I don't think it makes him look handicap, on the contrary I think it helps him look normal. This is an argument I will win. Next year my son will have an aide full day and he will learn more. I will fight every year to get this for him, until he no longer needs someone to help him along. I will not knock the crutches out from under him just because they embarrass me. When will educators do the same? When we give our kids the tools they need to succeed in class?
Some will argue that the cost of this is too exorbitant. That special services must be cut so that we can survive in the public school system. California is in peril, so education gets cut along with special services.
Between 28 and 43% of incarcerated juveniles have special education needs (Fink, 1991; Morgan, 1979; Rutherford, Nelson, & Wolford, 1985). Many of them have learning disabilities. In adult correctional facilities between 30 and 50% of the inmates need special education (Fink, 1990; Dowling, 1991).
It doesn't take much to find information like this on the internet. I know that an aide doesn't make a great amount of money. Usually about 8.00 dollars an hour. That equates to 48.00 a day before taxes. To house an inmate is 58.00 dollars a day. Well of course that is what we spend once they get there....that doesn't account for the amount of money spent in arresting and prosecuting that person. Add to that the emotional toll this individual may have caused.....
I can see why they want to take away my son's aide. (sarcasm again)
The other day, my son said he wanted a time machine. I asked what he would do, where he would go. He said he would go back to when we were eating dinner. He thought it was delicious.
I told him I would go back in time to when he started having medical problems, then I would make better choices.
He said, "But Mom! Then I wouldn't be who I am today."
He is happy with who he is, aide by his side ready to conquer the world.....or at least the playground.
No comments:
Post a Comment