Schools Now Take The Place of Mental Health Institutions

By Anne Dachel

Disabled children are changing the face of education in the 21st century, and the evidence is overwhelming. And yes, the impact of the ever-increasing autism rate is a big part of the story, but it’s not just about autism. Intellectually, behaviorally and emotionally students today are noticeably different from past generations.

Below is just a fraction of recent coverage in the mainstream press that clearly documents the decline of children everywhere. Incredibly these are increases without explanation. Exploding numbers and soaring costs are accepted without question by today’s reporters and educators. The only solutions talked about involve more money for more programs, schools and therapists as if these things can continue indefinitely.

What is never discussed is the future when this disabled, costly population does to adult social services what they’re doing to schools worldwide.

These stunning reports should have everyone’s attention.

RESTRAINT/SECLUSION

Rockford (IL) Register Star: Schools aren’t supposed to forcibly restrain children as punishment. In Illinois, it happened repeatedly An analysis of more than 15,000 physical restraints in 100 Illinois school districts from August 2017 to early December 2018 found that about a quarter of the interventions began without any documented safety reason. … Records show that most of the children that were restrained had behavioral or intellectual disabilities…. …Together, districts used these restraints nearly 1,800 times in the fifteen month period examined. Thirteen-hundred of those floor restraints were in the prone position, and three districts accounted for the majority of those incidents.

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(UK) Motherwell Times: Inspectorate’s concerns over special schools in Motherwell, Uddingston and Coatbridge Three North Lanarkshire special schools have received some harsh assessments from inspectors…. Clydeview School, hit the headlines last March as North Lanarkshire Council called in police to investigate allegations of use of improper restraint involving an autistic child. This resulted in four members of staff being suspended…. In the report from this further inspection they wrote: “A number of children display challenging behaviour as a result of their social and emotional needs. This leads to a significant number of incidents of conflict and disruption to learning on a regular basis. Staff’s approaches to promoting positive behaviour are not having an impact on improving relationships and behaviour across the school.”

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SCHOOL VIOLENCE

Lakeland (FL) Ledger: Student assaults on Polk County school officials skyrocket Between mid-August and early December this school year, there have been 26 incidents…. The numbers also show a trend: more than 60 percent of those assaults each year are routinely committed by special education students — those students who have learning disabilities or behavioral issues and are receiving special accommodations to help them…. Judd said there has been a breakdown in society and some parents are not holding their children accountable for their bad behavior. Deputy Superintendent John Hill, who has worked in education for 25 years, said a number of factors have developed over the last few decades that has adversely impacted children. “I often tell people that children have not changed; what has changed is our society, environment and popular culture,”…

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SPECIAL EDUCATION INCREASES

(UK) Newcastle upon Tyne Chronicle: New £6.3m [$8M US] Sunderland specialist autism school vows to provide ‘the very best education‘ A new multi-million pound school is set to provide specialist education and support for children with autism in Sunderland. Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for Children, Learning and Skills, Councillor Louise Farthing, said: “Demand for school places for children with autism has been rising. These are children with complex, social, behavioural and emotional needs. As there is increasing demand for specialist school places, it is right and correct that they are met locally….

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(UK) Peterborough Today: Extra £3.5m funding for children with special educational needs in Peterborough An extra £3.5 million [$4.5M US] will be made available for special educational needs and disability (SEND) children in Peterborough next year, a meeting has heard….

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(UK) Exmouth Journal: Planning approval for new school building at Marpool Under delegated powers, district council planning officers gave the green light for the construction of a school building for children with social, emotional and health needs on the grounds of Marpool Primary School.

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(UK) BBC: Education review 2019: A year of stretched school budgets [NI] Diane Dawson said she had struggled to get help for some pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and claimed the EA was in “meltdown” of children with autism in Northern Ireland schools has almost trebled in a decade, according to the Department of Health. A number of parents also spoke out about the problems they had getting appropriate help for their children with autism and other special needs.

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(UK) Weston Mercury: Special school ‘bursting at seams’ due to increasing demand The headteacher, of a special school in desperate need of expansion, is appealing for people to support the proposal to help children with the highest care needs in North Somerset. Baytree School, in Locking Castle, is ‘bursting at the seams’ and in desperate need of expansion due to the growing demand for places. The school needs to expand to enable it to accommodate the increasing number of children with highly complex physical needs and learning difficulties….

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(UK) Buckinghamshire Shopper: Local and national rise in families seeking council help for children with special needs The number of families seeking help from their local council for children with special needs has surged nationwide and locally in the last year, but thousands are being denied assistance, an investigation has found.

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