I finished a 3-day workshop this past week.... Phew! It was a good one....it refreshed my brain, getting it thinking again on ways to help my students. It's called TEACCH. I'm not real happy with the name of it, as it doesn't use People First Language in the name, but the training was good. Like I said, it reenergized my brain, giving me ideas, knowledge, and new contacts for help. I did have some difficulty with some other special educators attending it though. A great many of them (I won't say all, but it sure seemed like it) didn't use People First Language and would say things like "autistic kid" and "he belongs in the autistic class." Then, when I'd have a comment towards placing a child with autism in a general ed. classroom it was like open season on me. Wow, did the other teachers go after that, saying things like "he can't" but never giving me an actual reason that it wouldn't work. I think that I may approach the special education director about the lack of people first language in our district by special educators.....
Hands Off Special Education!
We need to sound the alarm on the proposed & recent cuts to the Dept of Education, specifically those to Special Education Services & the core functions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These staffing cuts aren't just budget adjustments; they are a direct attack on the rights and well-being on our nation's children with disabilities. IDEA is a landmark civil rights law that guarantees a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for every child with a disability. It ensures access to specialized instruction, related services like speech, occupational, and physical therapy, & essential legal protections. I have listened to this poem by Lederick Horne a few times since these most recent actions to the Dept. of Education's Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). I feel so many emotions like anger , disappointment , scared , & sad . I don't know what to think & barely know what to do. Decimating the s...
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