Articles About Children, Adolescents and Adults
One thing I have noticed is the huge variability of autism provision in secondary schools. There are some fine programme out there and teachers doing some great work in these “units”. There are, however, two major problems: one is the lack of training, even the most basic training, about autism for secondary school teachers. This causes serious difficulties when it comes to integration and mainstreaming. Something needs to be done about this at pre-service and in-career development.
The second problem, and I have seen it with my own eyes, is the phenomena of cherry picking students on some arbitrary criteria. Now this isn’t common but when it happens you see immediately a web of lies and deceit being perpetrated by so-called school “leaders”. One excuse or another is found for not accepting someone who doesn’t fit some pre-conceived notion of what the right student for “our” unit looks like.
Ah well, maybe I just don’t understand. Here’s an example, but not about autism:
A well known and well respected special school in Ireland has as its admission policy a clear set of protocals such as interviews, review of assessments, interviews with parents and such. Do they ever, as part of the admission process, actually meet the student who is applying? NO!
Yes, I guess I just don’t understand; but I’m learning quickly.