AUTISM FIRST STEPS
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER
Friday January 18, 2002
INDEX:
* Reader Comments to virus
story
* Special Education Teachers Face Risks But Find Rewards
* A Survey to Identify Criminal Activity in Special Education
* AN INCLUSION RESOLUTION FROM ERIC RICHARDS
* 2002 Autism Legislation for Sponsorship and How One Person can
Make A
Difference Autism First Steps Support Meetings
* President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education Holds
First
Meeting, Sets Meeting Schedule
* Autism, Advocates and Law
Enforcement
******************************
Reader Comments to virus story
Hello! I am a regular receiver and reader of your information and have
enjoyed all of the information you are sending. HOWEVER, you need to know that NONE, I repeat, NONE of these
are actual viruses!!! Go to http://www.symantec.com (a very reliable
source) and you can look up each one of those listed in your e-mail.
Please be aware that there are people that get just as much of a kick out
of sending "chain letter misinformation" as those that create actual
viruses. There are a number of reliable sites where you can go and check
chain letters, virus scares, and urban legends (stories) that circulate the
internet. Symantec is a good one.
Others are:
http://www.vmyths.com
http://www.hoaxkill.com
http://www.breakthechain.org
http://snopes2.com
Thank you. Have a nice day...L. Werner
Thank You L Werner for your information, it helps to keep us updated. Please
feel free to write to us again. Peacefully, LD
******************************
Special Education Teachers Face Risks But Find
Rewards
[By
Colleen Pohlig in the Seattle Times.]
Teacher's aide Brenda Reffalt still wears a scar under her right eye
from a student who hurled a desk at her last school year.
This year, she has followed the same student, a
nonverbal, severely
autistic boy named Tony as he moved to Federal Way High School from a middle
school in Tacoma.
Reffalt's sole job is to spend every minute of
the six-hour school day
with him. At 13, he is already a stocky 150 pounds. She often has to
physically shield him from hurting himself or anyone else.
One minute Tony is loving and touchy; the next he
squeezes Reffalt's
fingers so tight she winces. When he craves more of her attention, he slaps
himself or her hard, on the face. Outdoors, if it weren't for her
constant grasp he'd stray into traffic.
"These students rely on us for their
safety," Reffalt says. "They
don't know it, but they do."
Tony is among a small percentage of special-education
students who
pose safety risks to their teachers and other students.
"Schools can't afford these expensive
private programs for tough
students, so a lot of times they place them in a classroom, cross their
fingers and hope for the best," says Craig McClung, a Federal Way High
special-education teacher.
Besides the expense, there also aren't many
programs in the state for
students with complex needs. So most wind up in public schools.
In these classrooms, depending on the severity of
their disabilities,
many shift from academics to learning life skills.
Special-education teachers rely on two critical
allies in managing
them: the information they receive about a student's behavior and needs, and
the availability of training to handle volatile students.
Too often, both are lacking, district and state
educators say.
That might have been to blame for the incident
last month when a
15-year-old boy allegedly slammed teacher Jenny Panico-Digiorgio's head
against a desk and repeatedly punched her in the head, sending her to a
hospital with severe head trauma. The student is facing a charge of
second-degree assault.
Federal Way School District officials say the boy's caretaker
at
Mentor Washington, a sex-offender-treatment program, failed to tell them he
had slapped a teacher at his former California school. Workers at the
residential program say they had notified the district.
Moreover, Panico-Digiorgio, a second-year
teacher, had no additional
training besides a half-day autism class. She was never trained in how to
physically restrain a student.
Panico-Digiorgio, who has been hospitalized three times since
the
incident for possible hematoma in her brain, has not returned to work. She
has contacted an attorney for possible litigation against the district,
according to a Tacoma lawyer's office.
Compared with regular education students, federal
rules under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act generally are more lenient with
special-education students who assault people if their actions are caused by
their disabilities.
Those special-education students often wind up
back in the same
district in a matter of weeks.
That would likely be the case if the Federal Way student is
found not
guilty of assault. He is expected to appear in juvenile court tomorrow to
determine his competency to stand trial.
Last school year, 64 special-education students
in the state were
removed from classes because of behavior that was dangerous to themselves or
others, according to the state school superintendent's office. Roughly
116,000 special-needs students attended schools here last year.
Most of the 64 students were either placed with
tutors one on one or
sent to private programs in or out of state, in many cases at the district's
expense.
But special-education teachers say there are many
unreported assaults,
which include biting, kicking, hitting, shoving and head-butting.
In McClung's classroom at Federal Way, where
children's disabilities
range from mild mental retardation to severe autism, student aggression is
part of the job. He focuses instead on changing the behavior.
"I've been hit we've all been hit but
this is who these kids are,"
he says. "It's not always bad; it's often a part of their
disability."
That's where training for teachers comes in.
"The key to general safety in special education has to be training,
and our data indicates that even veteran teachers don't feel they have
enough training to deal with students who are aggressive," says Pat
Steinburg, special-education coordinator for the Washington Education
Association, the state's largest teachers union.
Teachers with special-education certificates normally
receive some
behavior training in college. Districts also are required to offer training
that prepares them to calm aggressive behavior, and if that fails, to
physically restrain a student.
But it's up to districts to make that training
available.
"My experience has been that teachers tell
me they have asked for help
and more training, and they are not getting it," Steinburg says.
In Federal Way, training is normally required
only for teachers in
classrooms with students who have severe emotional or behavior disabilities,
and thus may be prone to aggression.
Panico-Digiorgio wasn't one of those teachers.
She had a class
teaching developmentally delayed students. She took the brief autism
training class, according to district records.
The training teaches everything from how to read
an individual
student's behavior to how to restrain a student out of control.
Some point to the cost, time away from the
classroom and lack of
substitute teachers for reasons why more training isn't available to
teachers around the state.
The other potential problem lack of information
about students is
often fueled by a law that says districts must not withhold an education
from disabled students. There is pressure to enroll transferring students as
soon as possible, even if it means not having their complete records.
"You can have all the procedures in place,
but if teachers aren't
implementing them because they don't have the information about a student,
that's not good," says Doug Gill, special-education director for the state
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Transfer schools within the state are supposed to
send complete
student records within 48 hours of a request, but there are no such laws for
out-of-state schools.
School districts receive additional funding for
special needs
students, but many educators complain it's not enough to cover the rising
costs of educating them.
Regardless of the type or severity of disability,
the state provides
about $4,500 per special-education student, which pays for teacher
assistants, psychiatric support and tutors. Districts also receive about
$4,025 per student in regular education funding.
For many special-education teachers, it's not
about the money. They
share a common denominator: They're here because they love these kids.
After working with Tony for more than a year,
Reffalt says she
considers him almost a part of her family. She visits him at home during
school breaks, often to give his family a break.
"It's not often that you meet someone who
loves your special-needs
child like their own, and Brenda truly does," says Tony's mother, Debbi
Guy.
"He's aggressive at home, too, but especially for someone who doesn't have
to put up with it and instead chooses to, she really is special. They have a
bond."
On a recent day, however, Reffalt took an elbow
in the head from Tony
when she wasn't looking. A minute after she grabbed his hands and forcefully
said "stop," she was rubbing his arms and head to relax him. He
responded by
affectionately draping his arms around her neck.
The job of McClung and his three aides is to help
make their nine
students as independently functioning in the community as possible. So
they're often out of the classroom, working at Goodwill, practicing dining
etiquette at Denny's, riding the bus to a grocery.
On the same day, another boy, a junior with
mental retardation, ran
away from the group after a swimming lesson. When teacher's aide Shirley
Kelley eventually walked him back to the group, he grew angry, clenching his
fists and cursing under his breath.
Without saying a word, McClung swapped places
with Kelley. He has had
to physically restrain the boy six times since September. This time, he was
able to diffuse the anger with calm words and clear direction.
"Teamwork is key," says Kelley, who
suffered a cracked nose a few
years ago from an angry student. "We really depend on each other for our
safety, and we tag-team when one of us gets tired. Having a sense of humor
helps, too."
When McClung hears people argue that potentially
violent
special-education students don't belong in public schools, he says he
doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Where would they go?" he asks.
"Private programs don't really exist,
and being stuck at home with a tutor isn't going to help them in the real
world. They come here, and we do our best."
Colleen Pohlig can be reached at 206-515-5655 or
cpohlig@seattletimes.com.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134391649_specialed16m.html
******************************
A Survey to Identify Criminal Activity in
Special Education
[Dee Alpert is an established legal advocate for
special education and
autism issues.]
I am doing an internet survey on falsification of
special education
documentation and forgery of signatures, mostly parents', in special
education situations. As you may know, President Bush has appointed a
Commission on Excellence in Special Education, which seems to be designed to
make recommendations to the White House and Congress for the IDEA's
reauthorization later this year.
From experience and from hearing from parents,
advocates and attorneys
around the country, it appears that these practices may be both widespread
and common. If so, then certainly this needs to be forcefully brought to
the attention of the Commission on Excellence in Special Education and the
Congress, so that the appropriate amendments to the IDEA can be proposed.
To be frank, forgery is forgery and doesn't
become something less, or
less criminal, because it is done in the special education arena. It is a
crime. Similarly, falsification of documents required to be made, and
kept,
by federal law, is a crime, not something to be routinely done when IEP
meetings get too long for speducators' administrative convenience.
The results of this survey will be written up and
formally presented
to the Commission on Excellence in Special Education, the White House, the
Congress, and will be posted to various internet lists for your reading and
for public information.
Survey on Special Education Falsification of
Documents and Forgery
Forgery would include things like forging parents' signatures on IEP's, on
consents to evaluate, etc.
Falsification would include such things as:
having staff sign IEP's or IEP meeting minutes
as though they
attended meetings when, in fact, they were not there at the meeting.
creating evaluation reports of evaluations that
were not done.
creating false records to indicate timely
evaluation, or timely IEP
meetings, or timely commencement of services.
creating false records to indicate provision of
related services in
accordance with IEP's when, in fact, related services had been provided less
than mandated on IEP's, or not at all.
If you have ever experienced any of the above,
please just send me,
Dee Alpert, an e-mail at sappell@nyc.rr.com stating that you have personally
seen or experienced falsification of special education documents and give me
very short specifics (i.e., "forged my signature on IEP" or "3
teachers'
signatures on IEP who weren't at meeting").
******************************
AN INCLUSION RESOLUTION FROM ERIC RICHARDS
Written
by: Eric Richards
Source: Copyright TheArcLink 2002
Date: 1/16/02
Still searching for a New Years Resolution? Heres an idea: help build more
inclusive churches, schools, neighborhoods and communities this year. It is
fashionable and politically correct to speak of "diverse" and
"inclusive" communities. People often express these concepts with
their lips, but have little conviction in their hearts. What can we do to make
words become reality? I gave a great measure of thought to this question
recently. Vacationing with relatives in Kansas City over the holidays, I
enjoyed an excursion to the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
in Topeka, Kansas. You might recall this historic U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The justices held, in a suit brought by for Mr. Oliver Brown and twelve other
African-American plaintiffs in Topeka, that segregated public schools were not
equal and could not be made equal. According to a National Park Service
publication, "the impression of Brown v. Board of Education on us as a
society is indelible. In countless ways it continues to have ramifications in
every community and state in this country, as well as throughout the world. It
is and shall forever remain a foundation block in the Civil Rights
movement." My heart burned with affirmation as I read the written opinion,
"Does segregation in public schools solely on the basis of race... deprive
the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We
believe that it does...." It is important today that we transpose this
written opinion onto the millions of students with disabilities who are
segregated from their non-disabled peers in our schools. Segregated educational
experiences are the norm for students with developmental disabilities, despite
a long-established federal law that ensures them a free and appropriate
education in the least restrictive environment. From an early age many children
with disabilities share hospitals, churches, neighborhoods and playgrounds with
their non-disabled peers. Yet, when they begin school they are separated.
School is designed to prepare children for an adult life in diverse
communities. If this is indeed the purpose, we are missing the point. School is
about more than learning skills to fit into the engine of a giant economy. It
is also important for building citizenship, developing character and giving
life to the unique contributions that ALL individuals have to offer. Not long
ago we believed that women should not vote. Even more recently we actually
believed that women should be subservient to men. Far too many people in this
great country were convinced that persons of color were mentally and
spiritually inferior. Though there are still ignorant people who cling to these
beliefs, most people know that WE WERE WRONG! Why is it taking us so long to
overcome our underestimation of children and adults with disabilities?
Espousing diverse and inclusive communities is easy. Bringing them to life
takes humility and courage. The recognition of any enlightened society is that
communities can never be whole until everyone is included. May it be your
resolution in 2002 to help build more inclusive churches, schools,
neighborhoods and communities.
Eric Richards is the Executive Director of The Arc Michigan
http://www.thearclink.org/news/article.asp?ID=192
******************************
2002 Autism Legislation for Sponsorship and How
One Person can Make A Difference Autism First Steps Support Meetings
IOWA
Autism Awakening First Steps Support Group Meeting
To empower parents and professionals with the knowledge to
get started with their autism first steps program and to help
individuals with autism reach their potential.
This months meeting will be:
2002 Autism Legislation for Sponsorship and How One Person can Make A
Difference
Topics Include:
How to Contact Your Legislators
Who Can Write A Resolution
How to Write a Resolution
How to Write to Your Legislators
and More
When:
January 19, 2002, February 16, March 16, April 20,
May 18, June 15, July 20, August 17,
September 21, October 19, November 16, December 21
Where:
St. Lukes Hospital Room 163 in Cedar Rapids, IA
Contact Autism Awakening For More Information or Directions:
319-364-2687
autismawakening@aol.com
******************************
President's Commission on Excellence in Special
Education Holds First
Meeting, Sets Meeting Schedule
FOR RELEASE:
January 15, 2002
Contact: Kathleen Mynster
Jim Bradshaw
(202)-401-1576
The President's Commission on Excellence in
Special Education was
sworn in today and set out its agenda for the next four months.
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige delivered
welcoming remarks and
swore in the 19-member commission.
"He is committed to the bold proposition
that every child can learn,"
Paige told the commission. "This doesn't mean that, after you siphon off
the
children who have disabilities; or the children who were never properly
taught how to read; or the children who never learned English; or the
children who disrupted their classrooms, most of the rest of them can learn.
"It means that all of our kids, even the
ones our system calls 'hard
to teach' can learn. This means that even students with disabilities can
learn to high standards."
Paige also called on the commission to discover
what works to improve
the performance of students with disabilities.
"Your task as a commission is to discover
what works to improve the
performance of students with disabilities receiving special education," he
said. "Talk to other experts. Examine research. Study preventive reading
programs, and tell us how Washington can help state and local communities
provide excellent special education services."
President Bush created the commission in October
to collect
information and study issues related to federal, state and local special
education programs with the goal of recommending policies for improving the
educational performance of students with disabilities. The purpose of the
meetings is to hear from experts and members of the public who will provide
the commission with information and guidance.
The commission is charged with producing a final
report to the
president by this summer that contains findings and recommendations in the
following nine areas:
a.. Cost-effectiveness: The
effectiveness and cost of special
education and the appropriate role of the federal government in special
education programming and funding, including an analysis of the factors that
have contributed to the growth in costs of special education since the
enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (a predecessor
of IDEA);
b.. Improving Results: How federal
resources can best be used to
improve educational results for students with disabilities;
c.. Research: A special education
research agenda;
d.. Early Intervention: The impact of
providing appropriate early
intervention in reading instruction on the referral and identification of
children for special education;
e.. Funding Formulae: The effect of
special education funding on
decisions to serve, place, or refer children for special education services
and possible alternative funding formulae that might distribute funds to
achieve better results and eliminate any current incentives that undermine
the goals of ensuring high-quality education for children with disabilities;
f.. Teacher Quality and Student Accountability:
How the federal
government can help states and local education agencies provide a
high-quality education to students with disabilities, including the
recruitment and retention of qualified personnel and the inclusion of
children with disabilities in performance and accountability systems;
g.. Regulations and Red Tape: The
impact of federal and state
statutory, regulatory and administrative requirements on the cost and
effectiveness of special education services, and how these requirements
support or hinder the educational achievement of students with disabilities;
h.. What Models Work in the States:
How differences in local
education agency size, location, demographics and wealth, and in-state law
and practice affect which children are referred to special education and the
cost of special education; and
i.. Federal v. Local Funding: A
review of the experiences of state
and local governments in financing special education, and an analysis of
whether changes to the federal "supplement not supplant" and
"maintenance of
effort" requirements are appropriate.
Commission members approved the following meeting
schedule: Feb.
25-27, Houston, Texas; March 6, Denver, Colo.; March 13, Des Moines, Iowa;
March 20, San Diego, Calif.; March 21, Los Angeles, Calif.; April
9-10,
Miami, Fla.; April 16, New York City, N.Y.; April 18, Nashville, Tenn.; and
May 30-31, Washington, D.C. Meeting times and locations will be available at
a later date, and additional meetings may be added by the commission, if
necessary.
The commission members are: Terry Edward Branstad
of Iowa, chairman;
Adela Acosta, Maryland; Steve Bartlett, Texas; William Berdine, Kentucky;
Paula Butterfield, Pennsylvania; Jay G. Chambers, California; W. Alan
Coulter, Louisiana; Floyd Flake, New York; Thomas Albert Fleming, Michigan;
Jack M. Fletcher, Texas; Douglas H. Gill, Washington; David W. Gordon,
California; Nancy Grasmick, Maryland; Steve Hammerman, New York; Bryan
Hassel, North Carolina; Douglas Carl Huntt, Ohio; Michael J. Rivas, Texas;
Cheryl Rei Takemoto, Virginia; and Katie Wright, Illinois.
For more information, visit the commission's Web
site at
http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/index.html.
******************************
Autism, Advocates and Law Enforcement
Dennis Debbaudt, a nationally known
authority on the interaction between
law enforcement and the autism community discusses the problems that are
encountered when autistic citizens are confronted by the legal system in
his new book.
http://autism.about.com/library/weekly/aa011502a.htm
******************************
Autism Awakening, Autism FIrst Steps Newsletter, or any staff do
not endorse any individuals, groups or programs. References regarding
programs, meetings, resources, research, opinions, treatment, etc., should not
be interpreted as an indication of endorsement. They are provided for
informational purposes only. This is an attempt to keep the nation advised to
all diagnostic, treatment, therapy, educational,
options available as well as legislative autism updates and more.
To View Newsletter Policies they are located at the Newsletter Website:
Direct Link:: Autism
First Steps Newsletter
http://autismawakeninginia.bizland.com/autismfirststepsnewsletter/
To have
friends, Family, or professionals join:
1. they can go to the above link
2. They can go to the Newsletter Group page located at:
Direct Link::
Yahoo!
Groups : AutismFirstStepsAutismNewsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AutismFirstStepsAutismNewsletter
3 Send a e-mail to AutismAwakening@aol.com and ask to be subscribed to
the free online daily newsletter
Visit one of the largest
websites Commited to bringing you the latest in news, options, and techniques,
and more on Autism located at:
Direct Link:: Autism Awakening 4 Kids
www.AutismAwakening.com
To Submit a
story, alert, readers post, or advertisement please e-mail AutismAwakening@aol.com
To be removed reply to this e-mail and requested to be removed from the list.
ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.