Reply to do private schools handle kids with learning disabilities?

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "do private schools handle kids with learning disabilities? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I recognize it's frustrating, but the schools are not trying to be mean, that just truly cannot serve a wide range of LDs well.[/quote]

This is somewhat true. But not entirely. Think about it. Some schools already offer very small classes and are paying 30, 40k per year for the community, focus, and intimacy that these classes provide. This creates an environment where it would be possible accommodate LD and even provide support. What you need are the willingness to provide some accommodations and to invest in a small team of staff who understand the issues involved and can provide support. This is not cheap, but neither is it impossible to imagine.

Magically, everyone keeps finding money for new state-of-the-art buildings and sports fields.

The truth is it's a lot easier to teach classes that take students who conform to a single learning profile and easier to sell the success of the school when you are poaching only high-performers from everywhere else.

And that's fine. But let's not kid ourselves -- this is a question of priorities and mission. It is not a question of impossibility / possibility.[/quote]

I'm PP who wrote that the schools are on the wrong side of history. This is exactly right. It's a question of priorities for the school, not one of impossibilities.

Also, I think they're going to eventually fall behind or be forced to adapt because of it. The world is changing quickly and I think we are going to a spot where traditional measures of educational excellence are going to be recognized as only useful for one kind of learner. In the old days, traditional learning students were the people who went on to excel professionally, but the world is changing quickly and the skills that some kids have who also have LDs are increasingly valued. The private schools can continue to cater to only the single type of learner, but they're missing out on a lot of brilliant kids in the process.

I have a friend who was an undiagnosed dyslexic as a child. He was put in remedial classes in public school as a child and got terrible grades throughout his entire educational experience. He eventually went to community college, got recognized as dyslexic by the staff there and got help. After that, he went straight from an AA degree to multiple engineering degrees. He is now quite successful. Today, my friend would have had support in a public school system but wouldn't have even been looked at by the private schools.

The public schools -- although not by choice, admittedly -- have started to acknowledge neurodiversity. It's funny, when I was a kid, the brilliant quirky kids were all recommended to private schools. I remember people talking about the kid who had what in hindsight was probably undiagnosed ADHD or undiagnosed dyslexia -- "better get that kid to a private school!" But now I hear the opposite. "Better put him in the public schools, they'll be able to support him." It's a sea change in my experience.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics