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Sora
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23 Feb 2009, 11:29 am

What is special ed for those with AS like where you live?

Are they in special schools or are they in a normal class-rooms?

Is it normal that those in special ed get a standard education and may even attend university/college if they're intelligent? Or can they only get a lower-than-average education if they need services, no matter how intelligent they are?

Does a place for those with AS or verbal HFA even exist?

Where I live most with AS are forced into special ed schools after the end of elementary school if they can't participate in a normal school and in a normal class-room all on their own. All special ed schools are also usually have a lower quality curriculum than even our lowest mainstream form.


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SpongeBobRocksMao
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23 Feb 2009, 11:46 am

Where I live there are a few Special Needs schools (I had to go to one once for a week), but there is a Mainstream High School which I go to which has funds to give extra help for people with ASDs.


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23 Feb 2009, 12:16 pm

In fifth grade after i got my diagnose i was moved to a special school.
It was not made just for peaple with AS but most of us that whent there were diagnosed.

Going to that school was one of the best things that could happen to me becouse there i could lern to deal with ppl and the teachers were trained to deal with us.

As to the quality of the education it was as good or better then a regular school. When i got to highschool i was not left behind and eaven did really well and now i am at collage.



MONKEY
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23 Feb 2009, 12:23 pm

I've always gone to mainstream schools, at my high school there is a special needs department and you get your own mentor(s) and stuff, some people have mentors in lessons too, I have a mentor but not in lessons.
We also get IEPs (individual education program) where it has info on why you're on there etc and each term we get 3 targets


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Ana54
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23 Feb 2009, 12:26 pm

I want to start a special school in the Aspie commune where everyone has an individual education plan that actually meets their needs. Like, if someone is smarter than everyone else, they get tutored on the side, or are allowed to write papers on stuff they research on their own because they're smarter than the teacher, or they even take classes at another school or one on one with a university professor over the internet or in person, but get observed by this school.



Callista
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23 Feb 2009, 1:09 pm

I don't know about "smarter than the teacher" (most teachers are pretty smart) but "more informed than the teacher" is common with Aspies. In a narrow field, a sixth grader may know more than someone who has a PhD in a similar area. For example, a sixth grader with a special interest in butterflies might know more than an entomologist about the specific two or three species he's fascinated with. This isn't some sort of savant talent; it's just the result of an extremely narrow, extremely intense focus on something. Occasionally I know more than my college professors because they are generalists and I zero in on small areas.

I wouldn't use a traditional classroom at all. There's no way any two are ever going to have the same level in anything--not when you're dealing with autism--and, anyway, we're not usually auditory learners, nor is it easy to multi-task with taking notes and listening. I'd go for entirely individualized, and put the kids at desks or tables with plenty of space to work at (instead of the tiny school desks they usually use), and small instruction rooms off to the side where they could get their assignments and individual tutoring. I'd also want to get the textbooks read onto digital files or cassette tapes, for dyslexic or visually impaired kids to listen to through headphones; and there should be plenty of pictures and diagrams for visual learners. Demonstrations, laboratory, and other practical applications would have to be very common as well, to accommodate the kinesthetic/applied-learning sort of brain. Needless to say, the student-teacher ratio is probably going to have to be at least one teacher for every three students. Accommodation should be made for students who need a distraction-free environment (cubicles or small rooms), or frequent breaks.

This could be difficult to do in the real world, but it is rather easy to do if you home-school your child.


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orngjce223
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23 Feb 2009, 1:10 pm

That can be VERY easily done in online education.


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Padium
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23 Feb 2009, 1:19 pm

First thing... The schooling in my area sucks for people who need an IEP... My brother will not be given an EA (educational assistant) even though he desperatly needs one, as the schoolboard can't afford this for any but the most extreme barely verbal extremely disabled students. I had an EA in high school for 2 weeks before I caught on that I had one and said I don't need one. So I never had one after that. I needed help, but not with my education.

Second: The school systems world wide need a complete overhaul to make use of newer better learning technologies that would make it easier for all students.



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23 Feb 2009, 2:16 pm

I live in Sweden.

In my city there are various forms of Special Ed for year 1-6, but I don't know of any specialising in AS/Autism. For year 7-9, one of the mainstream schools have an asperger unit, which is sort of a mainstream class. For year 10-12, there is a school specialised in AS/Autism, which is an "individual plan" school, meaning you can choose courses as you like, and can take the standard national courses for any university spot you're aiming at.



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23 Feb 2009, 2:28 pm

I am so lucky to live in The Netherlands, the most extensive choice of school systems of the world...
This gives room for people with special needs.

Besides choices for religions, you can also choose between different educational methods (Jenaplan, Dalton, free schools, etc.) Next to that there are schools for children with a handicap in diverse varieties, ranging from the common LOM (school for children with learning or upbringing problems) to any speciality. You can also choose to have budget, to have your child stay in mainstream education with special assistance.

In my case, because I have also motor skill problems, they considered a special school for me (mytyl school, a school for children with mixed handicaps and normal intelligence). But first they tried me to stay at the mainstream school with special assistance. That assistance started with two days in a week, got back to one day a week, and after three years became once per month. This was at primary education, during my secondary education (pre-university) I got only some long-distance assistance.

I was lucky however, because the school system is so extensive a lot of parents do not know what is possible. A lot of children come to the wrong school, or end up on the LOM school. Because the LOM school is a general kind of 'problem school'; the children end up between children with much bigger problems. It takes an expert to know all the laws regarding children with an handicap, I was lucky to have a good case worker and home doctor.



aspie_girl
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23 Feb 2009, 2:47 pm

I live en Denmark. We do have a couple of schools for autistic people. Low- and normal/high functioning. I just got on one of these school in september, and it's one of the best school's I've been at. There's only 5-8 students in class, you do about 3 teachers and 3 social educators in each class.
(In denmark do you go to school for at least 10 years - from 0th to 9th grade.) - I got to theschool after 9 years in a normaly school, wehere everyone just thought there was nothing wrong with me, and I was a normal girl.
The school I'm on do have students in every ages. I like it, because the lessons is at same level as the normal schools - you learn what you have to learn. But at the same time, if you're only on a 6th grade level in english, then why try to figure the 9th. grade enlish out? then you're getting educated on the level you are, and then ''working you up'',. so you can get to a higher level.
Of course there's where students with autism get's into ''normal classes'' just with a support-teacher..



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23 Feb 2009, 5:32 pm

I live in the UK and I've been in special schools literally all my life. I went to a mainstream school when I was 5, then I left when I was 8 because my parent's didn't think it was suitable. That was because I had learning difficulties and other problems though, autism wasn't diagnosed until roughly 2000. I really enjoy it but I know that there are a lot of people out there who either prefer mainstream education or have never been to a special school. It's just a shame though that a lot of these schools are closing down because they are not run by the government.

I am just so lucky to be able to get a high-class education.


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Katie_WPG
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23 Feb 2009, 7:05 pm

Well, I can't give you a very in-depth report about elementary/middle-schools nowadays in my city, but I can tell you bits and pieces.

Back when I went, children with AS/HFA weren't "in special ed". Even if they did receive some invisible accomodations, they were never outright declared as "special ed". That treatment was reserved for the mentally ret*d children. Many middle schools wouldn't even accept children who received noticeable accomodations, as they simply didn't want to deal with the cost and resources being given to children who wouldn't understand the material anyways and would probably just cause trouble.

My mom works with a woman who has an 11 y/o son with AS, and he attends a public school, but is segregated in an AS-only class (maybe also HFA). I have no idea whether or not the course material is up-to-grade, or dumbed down. Either way, they're treated horribly by the school administration.

One thing I DO know, is that if a person continues to take Special Ed courses (known as "Modified") in high school, they CAN'T go to post-secondary education. I'm not sure if it also applies to middle school as well, but the later that special ed continues, the greater the pressure to remain in it. If a student who spent 1-8 in special ed decides to switch to regular ed, there could be huge gaps in their knowledge, and their family might be tempted to move them back. My ex-boyfriend got caught in that trap, and is still trying to re-take his courses to get into community college at the age of 23.