Special Education

The number of pupils suspended 10 times or more in a year more than doubled between 2004 and 2007, while permanent exclusions fell by 13%. Disruptive pupils are being given repeat suspensions rather than being permanently excluded from England's schools, official figures suggest.

By KATE ZERNIKE
Gov. Sarah Palin vowed that a McCain administration would allow all special-needs students the choice of attending private schools at public expense.

State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, speaking Thursday morning alongside seven experts tasked with studying the problems at the Louisiana School for the Deaf, reiterated his pledge to reopen the school on the tentative date of Nov. 3.

Doctors Amazed by Carly Fleischmann's Ability to Describe the Disorder From the Inside
By JOHN MCKENZIE
Carly Fleischmann has severe autism and is unable to speak a word. But thanks to years of expensive and intensive therapy, this 13-year-old has made a remarkable breakthrough.
Autism Resources

Huge scope to end under-achievement and improve mental health of nation. Children's wellbeing is a key issue for the government and the schools minister, Baroness Delyth Morgan, recently outlined plans to measure schools on their efforts to promote it.

Acting deputy chancellor for special education says backlog of D.C. children awaiting services is lengthy in part because staff don't show up for meetings, leaving cases unresolved and parents in the lurch.

AP – In Washington state, Reza and Arzu Forough pay more than $1,000 a week for behavior therapy for their 12-year-old autistic son.
Autism Resources

By MELISSA FAY GREENE
A school in Georgia believes that it’s not too late for boys like Sam Gross to make emotional connections. All you need is a lot of energy and, sometimes, a magic box.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - After failing to finish a reading assignment, 8-year-old Isabel Loeffler was sent to the school's time-out room - a converted storage area under a staircase - where she was left alone for three hours. The autistic Iowa girl wet herself before she was finally allowed to leave.

When Nyriek Alleyne wasn't keeping up with his first-grade special education class, his mother asked the East New York school to reevaluate her son. Instead, Education Department officials tried to pass off a photocopy of a previous report as a new evaluation of her son, the boy's mother charged.

IT'S LITTLE wonder that the No Child Left Behind law, its overall benefits notwithstanding, gets such a bad rap. Just consider the mindless way some of its rules get interpreted -- case in point being the experience of a Montgomery County school punished because of unavoidable absences by its students, many of whom have severe disabilities.

By CHRISTINE GRALOW
A special education teacher working with autistic children looks to bridge the gap between their repetitive speech patterns and the typical conversation of other children. Two of my preschool students with autism are currently going through stages of repeating their favorite words and phrases over and over again. Both students repeat lines from their favorite children’s videos and books — stories and episodes of “Dora the Explorer,” “Blue’s Clues,” and “Max and Ruby.”

Parents and teachers at nearby primary oppose merger with threatened school. Julie Bindel reports

Pupils with learning disabilities would like safe areas in school to counter their vulnerability between lessons and at break times, a report has said. Often problems could be avoided if the young people were consulted - boosting their skills and self-confidence.