Reply to MCPS is executing significant changes to special education that directly affect autistic students and their families.

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Reply to "MCPS is executing significant changes to special education that directly affect autistic students and their families."

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a specials teacher at a high-needs elementary. You would be shocked at what happens when — multiple times per year — an international student arrives who is nonverbal, evidently has autism, cannot communicate with us or understand instructions, and remains in the general ed classroom all year and for the rest of their elementary years. I have never seen a student placed elsewhere. The best outcome has been when they are given a one-on-one. [/quote]

I'm a middle-school teacher who teaches ELD 1 (1st year English learners) at a tier 1 Title 1 school. For international students with significant special ed needs, it takes 18 months to get an IEP and then, the students get no further placement. They spend up to three years in gen ed classes that are inappropriate for their needs. If people wonder why outcomes are poor for Title 1 schools, here is one of the reasons: students needing one-on-one special education support are not provided it in gen ed classes, and teachers have to do the best they can with it all. Instruction for the whole class suffers. [/quote]

Seriously?  Why does it take so long?  That sounds terrible for everyone involved.[/quote]

It takes so long because international families often don't know how to advocate through the thicket of special education. They have no idea that their students may be entitled to something different than what is offered in a mainstream classroom. They don't have the funds to hire an attorney and they would be afraid to cause a stir. These are the students that are very easy for MCPS to ignore. MCPS just directs the mainstream classroom teacher will differentiate. It's obscene for students with needs, exhausting for teachers, and unfair to classmates who deserve an education.[/quote]

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