(Apologies for missing yesterday, but I was not feeling well and slept most of the day. I'm doing a bit better today.)
Welcome to the G.I.M.P. Daily Roundup - Growing Involvement in Media and Politics. This is a daily (Mon-Fri) diary series dedicated to highlighting disabled news, activism, politics and punditry.
In the June 2nd, 2010 GIMP Round-up:
- Education Goals Pushed High For Disabled Students
- Today's Headline News and Action Alerts - Of Robots and Bullies
- Closing Thoughts - The Cuts Keep Coming
EDUCATION GOALS PUSHED HIGH FOR DISABLED STUDENTS
Via Disability Scoop:
Special education students should be held to the same academic standards outlined for all students in each grade level, according to a supplemental document released alongside the plan. What’s more, instruction for those with even the most severe cognitive disabilities should “retain the rigor and high expectations of the Common Core State Standards.”
Okay, I know that this will piss a few people off, but I have to call it exactly what it is. This is fucking retarded. If that sounds offensive, it's because these standards are offensive. Outrageously offensive.
I'm going to quote the entire fucking 'Application To Students With Disabilities' - it's a government proposal, after all - and tear it down line by fucking line. (Can you tell I'm pissed?)
The Common Core State Standards articulate rigorous grade-level expectations in the areas of mathematics and English language arts.. These standards identify the knowledge and skills students need in order to be successful in college and careers.
Students with disabilities ―students eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Office of Special Education Programs, 2006) ―must be challenged to excel within the general curriculum and be prepared for success in their post-school lives, including college and/or careers. These common standards provide an historic opportunity to improve access to rigorous academic content standards for students with disabilities. The continued development of understanding about research-based instructional practices and a focus on their effective implementation will help improve access to mathematics and English language arts (ELA) standards for all students, including those with disabilities.
Okay, so far it's not too bad - I'm all for pushing those disabled students who can to do as well as their able-bodied peers.
Students with disabilities are a heterogeneous group with one common characteristic: the presence of disabling conditions that significantly hinder their abilities to benefit from general education (IDEA 34 CFR §300.39, 2004). Therefore, how these high standards are taught and assessed is of the utmost importance in reaching this diverse group of students.
Yes. Let's talk about how.
In order for students with disabilities to meet high academic standards and to fully demonstrate their conceptual and procedural knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading, writing, speaking and listening (English language arts), their instruction must incorporate supports and accommodations, including:
• supports and related services designed to meet the unique needs of these students and to enable their access to the general education curriculum (IDEA 34 CFR §300.34, 2004).
Platitude says what? Supports and related services? You realize we get the LEAST fucking support and services of all students, right? Not that the regular kids are getting much in most districts either, but this SCREAMS unpaid mandate.
• An Individualized Education Program (IEP)1 which includes annual goals aligned with and chosen to facilitate their attainment of grade-level academic standards.
A plan. Just say that you want each student to have a plan. Guess what? We already do that.
• Teachers and specialized instructional support personnel who are prepared and qualified to deliver high-quality, evidence-based, individualized instruction and support services.
Okay, ignoring the fact that at most schools, the 'special needs' kids get stuck in a fucking trailer with minimal staff all day, are you suggesting that you're going to hire more special education teachers and aids?
BWAHAHAHAHA!
Right. I'll believe that when I see it. And by the way, what is the 'evidence-based' shit supposed to be? You can't even TEST most Special Ed kids!
Promoting a culture of high expectations for all students is a fundamental goal of the Common Core State Standards. In order to participate with success in the general curriculum, students with disabilities, as appropriate, may be provided additional supports and services, such as:
Oh, good! Are we going to get actual specifics now, or more platitudes?
• Instructional supports for learning― based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)2 ―which foster student engagement by presenting information in multiple ways and allowing for diverse avenues of action and expression.
I'll take platitudes for $500, Alex! Seriously, is this shit supposed to mean something?
• Instructional accommodations (Thompson, Morse, Sharpe & Hall, 2005) ―changes in materials or procedures― which do not change the standards but allow students to learn within the framework
of the Common Core.
Yet more platitudes! Basically, teach math with fucking Lincoln Logs if you want, but those fuckers better be able to do long division when you finish!
• Assistive technology devices and services to ensure access to the general education curriculum and the Common Core State Standards.
And another unfunded mandate! Whee! Let's give them all ponies, too! There ARE NO FUCKING FUNDS FOR THIS!
But here's my favorite bit...
Some students with the most significant cognitive disabilities will require substantial supports and accommodations to have meaningful access to certain standards in both instruction and assessment, based on
their communication and academic needs. These supports and accommodations should ensure that students receive access to multiple means of learning and opportunities to demonstrate knowledge, but retain the rigor and high expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
No. MOST disabled students ALREADY need substantial support, you fuck-knuckles, and you aren't giving it. The most significantly disabled will be lucky if they can shop for their own groceries one day. I say that not as a slam against my fellow gimps, but as a matter of cold, hard reality. The majority of Special Ed kids get taught LIFE SKILLS because it's generally all you can really help them with, and at least it gives them a CHANCE at living independently. Most still never will.
And you want to teach them algebra? Who, exactly, is supposed to be the cognitively impaired one, here?
What. The. Fuck.
If you have a disabled child, or know someone who does, you NEED to call your local school districts and let them know in no uncertain terms that this is a cruel, sick joke that will do nothing but waste time and resources while fucking over the kids as well as the teachers who will be judged on the kids' performances.
This is just wrong on so many levels...
TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES AND ACTION ITEMS
ROBOTS ARE THE FUTURE
Via Disability Scoop:
As the number of children diagnosed with autism continues to rise, researchers are looking to robots to help children better understand how to relate to people
.
Developers at the University of Southern California are in the early phases of testing a robot called “Bandit” with young children who have autism. The rudimentary version of what researchers hope will be a dynamic tool for kids to learn social skills, is currently able to make expressions and move closer or farther from a child. A researcher in an adjoining room can listen in as the robot interacts with a child and instruct it to provide a speech response.
So far results from early tests are mixed. Some children who have a history of struggling to interact with other people are drawn in by the robot, which researchers say is more predictable than a person could ever be. But other children are not the slightest bit interested in the electronic contraption.
Go for it. I know therapy animals have been used with the autistic with moderate success in drawing them out more. Robots have the added benefit of being programmable to actually help develop skills in the kids.
Maybe they can teach algebra!
IMPROVING ANTI-BULLYING EFFORTS
Via MassLive:
Bullying prevention should start when students are very young. Parents of students with disabilities who are included in primary school general education classes can help the typically developing children understand their child's disability. The parents or a school psychologist can speak to the class in a positive, developmentally appropriate way about the child's disability. If children in the school community are given information early on about how to interact with their classmates who have special needs and see them as part of their classroom, they may be less likely to bully these children and more likely to report it if they see them being bullied in the future.
It's good to see someone mentioning this. For those disabled students who CAN be mainstreamed, it provides ENORMOUS benefits to the child. By introducing the child and his or her disability properly with the class, it just might benefit everyone.
CLOSING THOUGHTS - THE CUTS KEEP COMING
So today I got my SSD check, and I've lost another $70 a month to a second student loan. Of roughly $950 I'm supposed to get a month, I only receive $739 now. Plus I am expected to pay my live-in aid (who pools money/bills/costs with me) $100 a month, now, which the State has stopped paying her. Our income just took a 10% hit in one month, and will remain this way indefinitely.
But hey, at least I learned algebra!
Larime Taylor