Comments on: The End of an Experiment

By: Mango

Mango — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:04:58 +0000

I’m sad to see this close, and agree there is a need for programs of this nature. Inclusion and integration are fantastic, but at the end of the day, the students who are different need to know they aren’t the only ones. I teach in a specialized program at my high school that was started 3 years ago… there is supposed to be a classroom like mine in each school in our county. It is slowly getting that way, but the biggest issue is that building-level administration has the last say as to what the teacher does. So, while my school has a teacher with the title (me), I actually don’t get to teach the students I case manage except if they have me for the core subject I also teach. Or they are one of 5 students that have me for social skills. I have seen such growth in most of my students; I wish I could do more.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:42:39 +0000

Maybe it’s just my underpaid Texas teacher ass being angry with (if I may quote C. Montgomery Burns) “those idiots in the state capital”, but after the Texas legislature decided to cut four billion dollars from the education of our kids so oil companies could make more money, it’s been a bloodbath in our ranks. A friend of mine is an upper-level administrator in a district near you. They added a thousand students last year but only THREE teaching positions. The standard line is that no positions are being cut, and as scary as the prospect is, I’m sure Schuyler’s old AAC teachers are happy to still have a paying gig (assuming they do). Low taxes and profits matter to the lawmakers of the Great State of Texas, not kids. I’m thankful that Schuyler is in a place where she can transition to this brave, new world. Thank god this didn’t happen five years ago and may god help the kids that don’t have a similar support system.

By: Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:33:20 +0000

Susan, one of our members and (special needs) iPad expert shared a great list with us on the site, here’s the link! http://supportforspecialneeds.com/2011/05/23/shannon-des-roches-rosas-ipad-app-list-for-special-needs/

Enjoy!

By: Susan Coggin

Susan Coggin — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:36:53 +0000

Hi everyone I am new to this site and to the ACC world. Can you recommend Which iPad apps your kids are using and what you think of them? I have been looking at dynovox etc and my initial reaction is that it seems very cumbersome and slow for dynamic communication. My 2 1/2 year old son is already used to iPad technology and while I am open to considering all options my gut tells me the iPad tech is where the future lies. I appreciate any guidance you can share

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:04:35 +0000

What I find interesting about that is here in San Antonio it seems a few of the districts are real supporters with the iPad. East Central is a very big supporter of them. My son isn’t in school yet so this is all second hand knowledge from other parents in the community. My son got his iPad through DARS. It is surprising to me that Plano being in the same state wouldn’t be moving forward.

By: Elizabeth Aquino

Elizabeth Aquino — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:25:18 +0000

I’m disappointed that that program is going to be discontinued. I am dubious that the inclusion efforts will be fully realized having experienced this system in the Los Angeles Unified School District. There are literally only a handful (less than five) specialists in our entire district and they are spread over the entire school system — it’s ridiculous — highly ineffective — and we’re all left hung out to dry, bumbling through and learning the apps on our own. I went to due process to get non-public funding for my daughter’s AAC needs, and because the District had been so non-compliant, I won the case and continue to go see a private pathologist who specializes in AAC technology. We talk all the time about the need for a class within the school system where kids with these needs might congregate — at least for part of each day.

By: Robert Rummel-Hudson

Robert Rummel-Hudson — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:50:38 +0000

No, because they were simply repeating the district policy. Her IEP team is perfectly happy to try, as long as we understand that the district itself isn’t officially on board.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:53:25 +0000

So what did Schuyler’s IEP team have to say for themselves when you pointed out that most popular and respected AAC apps were indeed developed by speech language professionals? Any backpedaling?

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:17:37 +0000

Although I’m not connected to this school or program, I have mixed feelings about its dicontinuation as well. When I read your book I was already deep into my search for an AAC solution that would fit for my (then 3 year old) daughter. The description of a program that would include children with devices and give them the training, support, and encouragement to become confident and proficient in their use was amazing to me. Despite the fact that I’m an East-Coast-girl through and through, I actually thought “Well, we could always move to Texas.”

Now, months later, we have an app that’s working for us, but I’m going it (mostly) alone (with email support, as I mention below). AAC specialists are few and far between, and although we have lovely, wonderful speech therapists, my AAC knowledge has more or less surpassed theirs at this point—and that’s not a brag about me, that’s a frustration about the gaps in knowledge (of even the most dedicated) of SLPs. There’s just so much to know, and they see so many kids. They can’t know it all.

So, while the elimination of (somewhat more) self-contained classes is no doubt triggered by a well placed desire for further inclusion of our kids (and some $ stuff), it also serves to cut off the access to those highly trained AAC experts that families of nonverbal kids really need. And it leaves parents of young nonverbal kids alone on the other side of a computer screen, scouring the internet for email addresses & twitter handles of experts (to pepper with questions), and SLP online boards, where we read and learn and try to piece a plan together to teach our kids how to “talk” . . . and then to try to bring that knowledge into their classrooms and show the teachers and staff how to do the same.