On Special Education

Back in June, I wrote a blog entry about an Arizona appeals court halting a voucher program for students with disabilities and students in foster care. At the time, I wrote that I understood why people might support a voucher program for students with special needs, but I was a bit more skeptical that foster children have the same need for special schools.

This Houston Chronicle article, however, outlines some of the educational difficulties faced by children who are adopted, and I would imagine that children in foster care might have some of the same challenges.

Because of abuse, genetic issues and a lack of prenatal care, adoptive children are much more likely to struggle with learning disabilities, prompting their families to leave public schools in search of the extra help offered by often costly specialty schools.

While adoptive children account for 1 percent to 2 percent of the population, higher rates can be found in almost every mental health setting, including residential facilities and public school special education programs.

Dan Lips, a senior policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, wrote a paper a year ago (before the Arizona program was stopped) talking about the need for such vouchers.

I'm still left wondering if foster care -- or adoption, as this story outlines -- is the issue. The children don't need extra help because they are adopted; they need extra help because they have special education needs. If you support vouchers, wouldn't a voucher program for students with disabilities cover these kids too?

Posted by Christina Samuels at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Candace Cortiella, the director of the Advocacy Institute and a member of the National Center for Learning Disabilities Professional Advisory Board, had an online chat yesterday about learning disabilities -- the transcript is here.

There's a lot of good basic information and statistics packed in this chat, particularly relating to No Child Left Behind and NCLD's perspective on how the law's testing provisions should apply to students with learning disabilities.

Posted by Christina Samuels at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's something interesting: a college program in Washington state specifically for students with developmental disabilities. Students in the program at Bellevue Community College graduate with an associate's degree in "occupational and life skills."

The idea of a transition between high school and the "real world" sounds great. But the price tag of more than $27,000 is a bit of a show-stopper. There have to be less-expensive transitional programs in many communities. Seven years ago, when I was at another paper, I wrote an article about a woman with developmental disabilities who, after graduation, was going to work at this program. (Unfortunately, the story itself is not on the web, but if you're committed to enriching my former employer, you can buy it here.)

I do agree with one of the people interviewed that higher education for students with disabilities is a growing topic of interest. I have "transitions" down as a major topic that I need to cover sometime during the next school year.

Posted by Christina Samuels at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)