Left Behind
While the rest of his classmates went on a field trip, an autistic student at Stephen Decatur School in Philadelphia sat in class with a bus aide, CBS3 news reports:
While his classmates went on the trip, Jimmy was supposed to enjoy a day of learning, but that was not the case.
Dawn said her son was left in a classroom with only his bus assistant who is not trained to teach autistic children.
“I cried, I cried first and I just had it,” Dawn said. “I thought you had a choice, you could just sit there and take it or you do something about it.”
In addition to a bus assistant, Jimmy is supposed to have a special education teacher and a therapeutic support worker.
In the wake of what happened to Alex Barton, I’m wondering if more stories about autistic and special ed students being excluded —- which would be for the better, if it leads to pressure on school districts to provide the necessary supports and services for students.
Tags: adam race, adults, alex barto, alex barton, asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, catholic, disabilities blog, exclusion, Family, family blog, left behind, Parenting, pdd-nos, philadelphiaRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Disability Rights, Education
11 opinions for Left Behind
Bonnie Sayers
May 30, 2008 at 10:53 pm
My son stays home on field trip days. I did not know there was an option if you do not participate in the off site field trip. How is it worded n the school or district handbook?
B
May 30, 2008 at 11:53 pm
These news stories trouble me, obviously. But I’ve always had to take sick days or vacation days to accompany my little one on trips. I’ve never relied on aides, and like Bonnie if I can’t go, the little one doesn’t go. My expectations are low, I suppose.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 31, 2008 at 12:05 am
Mom-NOS‘ latest post is about just this thing (as well as inclusion): She goes to a farm field trip with her son.
Charlie actually recently went on a farm field trip too. Each child had a 1:1 instructor and I did not need to go……….. And I believe a good time was had by all.
Bonnie
May 31, 2008 at 1:18 am
I often wonder how much of anything happens that we as parents don’t know about, and the schools get away with simply because they know our children don’t tell us things.
VAB
May 31, 2008 at 1:25 am
Going along on field trips is an excellent opportunity for observing social dynamics in the class, talking to other kids about your kid (in younger grades, they all wanted to ask me why our guy is the way he is) and chumming around with the teachers and aides.
Jill
May 31, 2008 at 8:20 am
I am with Bonnie there. I, too, wonder what goes on when I am not there. Every time I hear a story like this, I wonder how the parent found out about it.
Karen
May 31, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Pete went on a field trip (to the zoo!) and an aide accompanied him. It went very well. I demanded this last year at his IEP. I think it’s wrong that disabled kids never get to go on field trips — Pete’s SDC teacher last year refused to do field trips with her kids (ugh, don’t get me started) but that’s not the case this year. The zoo trip was with Pete’s mainstream class, however, and every accommodation was made to ensure Pete being able to enjoy the trip.
Melanie, Bobby's mom
Jun 2, 2008 at 10:22 am
I have gone on most of Bobby’s field trips in his two years of pre-k, but since I work from home it’s not as big an issue for me as for other parents. In a lot of situations, he requires a 2 to 1 ratio to not have a meltdown, so that’s why I have gone whenever possible. His class this last semester had 6 children, so usually we would have 1 lead teacher, 2 aides and 3 or more parents from his class, as well as the typical pre-k with about 20 kids, those 2 teachers and 7 or so parents from that class. Since he’s in a self-contained class, I have never kept him out of a field trip - adapatations are built-in. As a previous poster said, field trips are great for socialization if your child can handle the change in routine and sensory stuff. Being pre-k, most of the field trips ended with a picnic in a local adapted park so all the kids could run and play like crazy, and Bobby played with the “typical” kids as well as his classmates. Smart planning! I do wonder how this will change once he’s mainstreamed, though. We are a few years away from that, though…
Bonnie Sayers
Jun 5, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I got notice the other day of a fifth grade trip next Fri (the 13th) to go to Griffith Park. This is a very large park probably similar to Central Park. I put a post it on the form asking for the itinerary before I decided maybe to send Matt since he now has a male aide. I then learned that it is the entire fifth grade class going for the day, so I told aide Matt not going and he said he figured that. I also told him that I did not want the first field trip to take place on Friday the 13th!
Than I remembered this post and also forgot that his autism class has two fourth graders so I asked what about them and turns out they will go to another SDC class with younger students and once I get the particulars and speak with AP Matt can go that day and not on field trip. I also wanted to make sure that his aide stays with him and does not attend.
Bonnie Sayers
Jun 7, 2008 at 12:38 am
I just read another news story on a kid that could not go on a field trip since he is in a wheelchair and the class was taking amtrak to the Zoo for a year end trip and they are not accessible.
The story is called:
Child misses field trip due to handicap
It is in Illinois. It can also be found on news anchor mom dot com.
Shash
Jun 8, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I work in an EMH unit and have a son who is in middle school and Aspergian. It wasn’t until middle school that I got the 1:1 aide. On EVERY field trip he goes on, that aide goes with him. He hasnever missed a trip yet, even when they didn’t have a 1:1 aide.
For the kids in our unit, we go on field trips that the grade level goes on. As the Assistant in that class, I travel with the teacher and offer assistance to all the children in our class. We are also blessed with parents who can and do accompany thier children on the trip as volunteers. In our experience, it has worked out very well.
Before I worked in the school system I would volunteer and travel to the field trips and I highly recommend it if it is possible. It’s also a great way for you as a parent to see how your child interacts with the teacher and the staff.
Shash
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