Charles County schools, inadequate for special-needs student

[slowlane]

Here is a carefully thought-out post from a mother, copied from another forum website. She is lamenting how Charles County public schools have no provision for her special-needs child. (I believe the CCPS' Robert Stethem special education center, may have recently closed-down).

http://www.city-data.com/forum/wash...-charles-county-md-public-schools-special.htm.

 

[dave1959]

Sounds to me like they have a program but she did'nt like it...

 

[LtownTaxpayer]

Sounds to me like they have a program but she did'nt like it...

I think you nailed it.

And for the original poster, the Robert D. Stephen Educational Center is definitely still open -http://www.edline.net/pages/Stethem. But it is for the technical programs as you can see from their website. There is an autism program at the F. B. Gwynne Educational Center - http://beta.ccboe.com/schools/GwynnPrograms.php. But after reading the linked post, I believe that wouldn't suit the parent in the linked post.

 

[vraiblonde]

I'm curious what exactly she's looking for.

She should come here for advice instead of City Data. There are a number of forum members with special needs children and they'd be able to point her in the right direction for help, or at least share their own experiences.

 

[acommondisaster]

Can't really speak to this as our daughter is not high functioning. I can only say that I've always felt that a huge disservice was done for my daughter when the state mandated all inclusive way of doing things, and closed FB Gwynn as a one stop special needs school. My daughter went from a loving, caring environment with full access to the entire school, a family atmosphere, therapists who were onsite and a supportive staff to years of being stuffed away in one room all day; sometimes not even walking to the cafeteria for lunch for the rest of her school years. I'm positive it did not serve her well, even with great teachers and aides.

If the parent of this child is not happy with the services in the Charles County school system, she should be tirelessly contacting the school board, the county commissioners, etc. to try to make changes. The one thing all of us parents with special needs kids learn early on is that we must be tireless advocates for our kids - they are the forgotten ones. The only way things get done for them is by being a squeaky wheel. We all wish their greatest hardship was being shuffled in and out of classroom trailers, instead they are the forgotten ones. Our own former Charles County superintendent called them "encumberances". Wonderful :-/

Whether he's in a private setting or a public school, he should have a resource coordinator who advocates for him and makes sure he's receiving all the services he can get - if that's not being done, she can switch to another resource coordinator.

 

[BernieP]

Can't really speak to this as our daughter is not high functioning. I can only say that I've always felt that a huge disservice was done for my daughter when the state mandated all inclusive way of doing things, .

There in lies the problem, you can't lump every student with "special needs" into a one size fits all solution. You combine that with a lack of understanding of what a "learning disabled" student is.
What you end up with is the public perception that it's kids with a behavioral problem with whiney ass parents that want something special for their child.

Special needs and learning disabled may not be one in the same. A learning disability is defined by testing that demonstrates that the student has a significantly higher IQ than what they are performing to in class. An attempt is made to find what "disability" is keeping that student from performing up to the level they are capable. It could be that they are visually impaired, hearing impaired. For a number of years AD/HD or was considered a disability while a student with dyslexia was not eligible. Talk about misunderstandings, talk to people about dyslexia. There are some highly intelligent people who suffer from dysliexia and either found a way to mask it or worked to over come it. But it wasn't until recently the state of Maryland accepted it as a disability.

Then you have the cost of the accommodations. When you have schools that don't have enough textbooks for students that forces students to "share" a book, you aren't going to see spending for extra material for special needs children. Hence, one size fits all, put an extra teacher in the classroom. Problem solved, you've met your goal of inclusion and addressing the special needs.

The other part of that is putting the responsibility back on the student. If they need help, they should ask. Well guess what, kids are social animals, very few kids are going to raise their hand if they think it will make them look like the class dumbbell.