Were you ever in special ed?

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Forgot to mention stuff! The school I went to as a child was very small and also very laid-back. I was free to get up and move around the room, do bits of other activities and projects etc. while the teacher was dealing with other students. Our school was so small that it only had three classrooms so there were three classes in the first classroom, three classes in the middle classroom and two in the last classroom, so the teachers had to take turns dealing with each class, and this resulted in the teacher having extra activities for students to do independently if there was spare time. We were even allowed to go to each others desks and talk provided we kept it quiet. That flexibility was hugely helpful to me and that's probably another reason I was not diagnosed until adulthood. I had more trouble in school as a teenager though, but as I generally got got results in all subjects, I wasn't taken much notice of. Unless of course you count the teacher who bullied me once she realized I was socially inept and hence fun to toy with in front of everybody else.
I'm glad though that I didn't get separated from everyone else by being put into special ed as I was already alienated enough! Often, I preferred class time to lunch breaks because of that. That said, I still had a lot of embarrassing moments in class and got into trouble when I'd done the wrong homework because I didn't hear the teacher properly or he/she hadn't been clear enough.

Yes. I was in and out of special ed all my school years (except 8th to college where I did not go back to special ed).

I had meltdowns a lot, and I still do at college. I am lucky to have understanding professors and faculty.

I was in special ed for kindergarten. I stayed in mainstream for 1st grade, went back into a few special classes in 2nd and 3rd, but I was also in Talented and Gifted. I left public system in 4th grade. I went to a hippie school after that. I'm 50/50 on where I would be when I hit middle and high school, as I performed really awkwardly at said hippie school.

I still need extra time on tests. Anxiety is a problem, but I also write and obsess over questions.

technOteen, what school ya go too? I never see that sort of support system at the schools I frequent.

I would be in Cali, sadly I'm not that smart. The south isn't exactly the first place I'd choose to live.

After being diagnosed with plain, old-fashioned "Autism" at age 3 (they didn't diagnose AS back then), I went to a special preschool with autistic kids and others. Then at the end of it, the teachers said I could be mainstreamed, and thus began my foray into normal education.

I was in special ed from second through sixth grade.

Never. Had an EA in grade 7. That was the closest I ever got.

Yes, and it was a constant annoyance to both me and my parents.

Firstly there was only one primary school who would take me, between my inability to talk and what may have been either delayed learning or the general aspie child look no other school in the area would take me, they decided I was stupid and that was that. Being as my primary school was full of rejects anyway little notice was given to me and my problems, I remember a substitute teacher sending my parents and I to a meeting with the 'special teacher' who deemed me too damn smart for her to help, and that my problems were just that I was too stubborn for my own good. At around 7 years old my parents got divorced so my mother was free from my controlling father which meant she was a little more proactive in getting something done about me.

It wasn't until middle school that I got put into any sort of special ed classes - this was twice a week, with one other kid from my class, we did 2+2 and ABC sort of stuff that drove me mental as I didn't get why I was there. The teacher treat me like a total idiot, biggest memory is her insisting I held my fountain pen vertical despite my constantly pointing out to her that it wasn't supposed to be held that way as it'd break - I gave up and just started bringing pencils to class, then she'd have a go at me for that and try to make me use ball point which I found IMPOSSIBLE to write with...and thus she could use this as an example of my not being able to write *sigh*

This was about the same time the school also insisted I went to therapy - in all fairness not only was I VERY badly bullied, I did I not socialise, did not participate fully in class, barked like a dog most of the time and had meltdowns every hour - this annoyingly was when they suspected asperger's, they just didn't bother telling me or my mother about it so it's only now I'm getting diagnosis. I asked to come out of special ed classes the same time I asked to stop going to group therapy and one-to-one therapy, I couldn't cope with it and it just drove me mental having people treating me stupid when I knew I was a hell of a lot smarter than them!

In first grade when I got diagnosed with auditory processing disorder and specific learning disabled from then on I was in special education classes. Between 8 to 12th grade I was in one to 3 modified, a resource and they were dumb to put me in a college prep class in history I basically got pushed along in high school. I wish I learned.

I went to a "special" school in the eighties. I was put in with a bunch of psychopaths and sociopaths who seemed hell bent on killing each other with the class resources (particularly remember the incident with the saw in woodwork!) rather han getting educated. I just found mainstream hard to deal with because of the social aspects involved. I wasn't dangerous, stupid or thick, have always had an above average IQ, yet I was there with a bunch of nutters who, if left alone in a room, would ultimately beat themselves up!

Anyway, it seems the wheel has turned and I am heading up a new project. I am now an educator and have the responsibility for ensuring that our ASD students get the best educational experience possible. I've drawn on the wealth of professional knowledge out there and would like to get a more intimate view of it.

Tell me one thing that would make a difference to your education.



(I'll start: smaller class sizes would have helped me greatly along with the banning of communal showers after sports!)

Thanks!

Yep, 11th grade, currently have 2 special ed classes. In case things are different in different places from where I am, here special ed is a smaller class for people with minorly impaired by learning disabilities from AS to ADD. There is a life skills group for kids with more severe disabilities (down syndrome, full autistic disorder) I was not part of that class, just to avoid confusion

No, except in Reception when I had a language-cum-social skills lady from the council who helped me glue lolly sticks to card (help gladly accepted) and say hello to the curious five year olds crowding around our table (help refused).

I was learning English- I wasn't language delayed to that point! I found out recently that my language delay was significant after all, but even so it wasn't more than a year.

I was in special ed from preschool to about 2nd grade. Then I was put back in regular classes full-time. They never diagnosed me with any problems while in special ed. I don't know how they so obviously missed my Asperger's.

SiD88, better (and understanding) teachers and less emphasis on socialization would've helped me. I graduated high school last June.

Yes, from 4th to 8th grade. 4th and 5th were heavenly, 6th was okay, 7th and *th were living heck. I dropped out of middleschool during the 3rd quarter of 8th grade due to bullying, a horrible case manager, and other things going on at the time. That's around the same time I got diagnosed with AS. I became homeschooled for the remainder of 8th grade as well as 9th and 10th. I'm now finishing 12th grade at a private HS.

i have been in special ed since elementary school. it is such a waste of my time! i used to get good grades until this year when i got depressed and failed so screw the special ed thing.