autism

The accidental deaths of two special needs students from Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla. this year are shedding light on the need for comprehensive, mandatory emergency preparedness training for paraeducators. In October, 11-year-old Jennifer Caballero, a middle school student with Down syndrome, was found hiding under the bleachers during gym class by a coach, who two weeks earlier had complained to the assistant principal that the exceptional student education (ESE) aides were inattentive. The coach brought her to the aides, and asked them to keep an eye on her.

A Washington state community is wracked with controversy after a Longview mother posted photos to Facebook of an "isolation booth" for young students at a local elementary school. Ana Bate, who posted the photos, says the images were taken at Longview's Mint Valley Elementary School. They depict a free-standing padded room that has two peepholes, air holes in the ceiling for ventilation and a metal bar that locks the door from the outside. The photos have gone viral and ignited a storm of criticism.

Ellen Chambers, widely considered one of the state’s top special education advocates, will be at Upper Town Hall in Holliston, Mass. on Monday, Nov. 19, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to explain the basics of special education advocacy and provide information parents should know in order to work knowledgeably with school personnel.

In this study, the District Management Council’s Nate Levenson uses the largest database of information on special-education spending and staffing ever assembled to uncover significant variance in how districts staff for special education.

Connie Anderson didn’t know what was bothering her 17-year-old son, a Baltimore-area high school senior with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. He was usually a diligent student, but his grades began to plummet.

“He was starting to go downhill fast,” Ms. Anderson said. “His grades were crashing, and he wasn’t able to focus.”