I have been in Manatee county for 10 years and nothing has changed. The latest abuse case hits too close to home. Teacher and teaching assistant decided it was ok to tie down an autistic nonverbal child. The former superintendent was well aware of the abuse happening before this incident and personally emailed her on several occasions. I can’t speak for the current superintendent. Hopefully this opened his eyes.
I have no faith this superintendent will be any different. The Chamber of Commerce is also well aware as I wrote an essay to get into their leadership program on what I saw in the district. Go back to the blog post on Education concerns in Florida. This is not new.
Good leaders don’t just point fingers. There is a very simple solution to minimize this issue- inclusion. Children should be included with all children even if they have a disability. Then disability becomes normalized instead of those kids over there and being pushed to the side. Then we don’t have special education teachers thinking this is good behavior management or doctors that don’t know the difference between autism and Down Syndrome. 90% of people with disabilities will be abused. Can we please lower this number!
Thank for writing this… It’s imperative we become informed of these realities and take action
I couldn’t agree with you more. Having kids with disabilities seperate “over there” does a huge disservice to both. I was in the first ever special ed class in Ohio. I still contact her. My Ann Sullivan. I “mainstreamed” the rest of my years but saw reasons why I think a combination would be best. Good teachers that are understanding and will push a kid at their level and pace is critical. I was an IT Director 18y. Kids should be allowed to reach their potential no matter where that is.