Special Ed for Asian Students
In my son Charlie’s classroom, three out of the five students (including him) are Asian and, from noting attendance at community activities for special needs children, there are a lot of Asian families with special needs children in our school district. The district has gained recognition for excellent schools for all students and the Asian student population has been growing in the past few years—-Charlie is half-Chinese American and this is the first time he has been among other Asian students, and I think he’s it (though Charlie, being half-Irish American, is taller than by a head or than the other two Asian boys, though Charlie is younger than them). I was born in California (as were both of my parents); still, when Charlie was first diagnosed, an evaluator asked if we thought that Charlie was not talking was because perhaps “English was not spoken in the home.”
(I did resist the urge to say, no, just Latin from time to time.)
Today’s Boston Globe reports that 2.3 percent of students in Massachusetts receiving special education services are Asian, while Asian students make up 4.8 of the public school student population; in Boston, Asians make up 9 percent of public school students, while only 3 percent are enrolled in special education. 16.7 of Massachusetts students require special education and “statistics show that black, Hispanic, and white special-education students pretty much reflect their demographics in the schools.” Asian parents who have special needs children have signed IEPs without any idea of what is described in them—-in a number of cases, translation services, have not been offered. University of Massachusetts (Boston) special education professor Lusa Lo helped to create the Chinese Empowerment Coalition, which has been holding workshops for parents in Boston’s Chinatown to explain special education law to them.
“Chinese people are a little ashamed to let others know they have a child with special needs at home,” said Zhong Ruan, who reaches out to Chinese families on behalf of the Federation for Children with Special Needs and whose sons have pervasive developmental disorder and Asperger’s syndrome. “A lot of parents think their child is just a slow learner, that they don’t need special education, and that they’ll catch up to their classmates when they get older.”
Often, parents may attribute children’s learning difficulties to lack of English proficiency, rather than a disability, Lo said.
Through the workshops, Lo hopes that parents will make connections with other families facing similar difficulties. Parents told stories about their children being rejected for after-school programs because they don’t offer special education services. Lo urged them to file appeals and to voice their concerns during school meetings about their children’s education plans.
Richard Robison, executive director of the Boston-based Federation for Children with Special Needs, said the group saw the need to connect with Chinese families two years ago when the few families who came to support meetings shared stories of discrimination by Boston school officials. They were told not to bother showing up for their children’s education plan meetings because school officials were not going to translate, Robison said. Schools simply asked parents to sign and mail in the plans.
“They were being short-changed,” he said. “The families themselves didn’t know how to ask. They come from a culture that respects teachers and authority, without question.”
When we found out that Charlie had autism, it was at first hard to get my family to understand and accept the diagnosis. Everyone just seemed baffled and disbelieving—-but over time, my relatives have become stalwart supporters of Charlie and have contributed much to his education, and have a place for him at the table, literally and figuratively. Chinese culture—certainly my own family—puts a huge value on education before everything else, and Charlie’s education is our top priority.
Just as we’ve had to learn to understand and “translate” Charlie’s non-verbal and other forms of communication, so do school districts need to learn the language of their students and their families.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism spectrum disorder, boston, cantonese, children, China, pdd-nos, Psychology, special educationRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Asia, China, Education, Legal Issues
14 opinions for Special Ed for Asian Students
Matt
Feb 9, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Today’s Boston Globe reports that 2.3 percent of Asian students in Massachusetts receive special education services, while Asian students make up 4.8 of the public school student population
Kristina,
To me, this doesn’t read correctly. I think that it is 2.3% of special education students are Asian. This would be an under-representation by about 1/2 since 4.8% of the overall student population is Asian.
Since special ed in many states (I don’t know Mass. in specific) is about 10% of the total student population, 2.3% would be an even greater underrepresentation (about 1/4).
Matt
Regan
Feb 9, 2008 at 6:29 pm
“…shared stories of discrimination by Boston school officials. They were told not to bother showing up for their children’s education plan meetings because school officials were not going to translate, Robison said. Schools simply asked parents to sign and mail in the plans. ”
How convenient for the school officials. I am speechless at this discrimination. I’m glad that someone is working with these families to help them exercise their legal rights.
Ms. Clark
Feb 9, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I know a mom here who was told her kid didn’t need to be evaluated, that his problems stemmed from her being a bad mother. She’s black. I know how this town works, they would not have dreamed of saying that to a White woman, or but they might have come up with another excuse to deny the kid extra help. I know another black mom who was told her kid had RAD (basically another accusation of the mom being a bad mom). The girl was obviously autistic and obviously had some kind of genetic disorder. Racism is alive and well, as far as I can see.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Feb 9, 2008 at 9:44 pm
@Matt, you’re right, and it’s fixed!
Kristina Chew, PhD
Feb 9, 2008 at 11:59 pm
A friend who is an advocate in New England has helped several Chinese families and it’s more than once (as she tells me) that the districts have not provided translators. I find this scandalous.
KimJ
Feb 10, 2008 at 12:51 am
I have heard the myth of English as a Second Language being the reason for autism (or severe language delay). I don’t know why it’s applied to Asians and not Mexicans. Well, perhaps I do know why. Having studied foreign languages (and by default, linguistic arts), it’s common knowledge that being raised bilingual produces the opposite effect.
Growing up in California with a growing Mexican population, it wasn’t unusual to see kids not older than 5 translating for their parents. In fact, there was an article about child translators being a problem in the medical industry. Parents were having their kids translate very complicated information from the doctors and nurses about their own care. That is, Mom is sick and is taking a very young child along with her to translate the info and any medicine prescriptions.
Veering off topic. Children and infants hearing more than one language are said to be open to those phonemes later on. It actually uses more brain cells (in a good way) and promotes language development. (the theory behind Baby Einstein)
Karen
Feb 10, 2008 at 3:22 am
I live in CA and worked as an aide in special ed before I had kids of my own. There were several families I knew who did not speak English as a first language (specifically Vietnamese and Mexican families) and truly had no idea how to advocate for their children. As an aide, I had no power whatsoever to even talk to the parents; I also remember the teacher that I worked with telling me that the county we worked for did not want us to help the parents learn how to push for more services for the kids. AWFUL.
I am really glad I moved and no longer live in that county.
Regan
Feb 10, 2008 at 8:40 am
Parent Handbook for Individualized Education Program [English with Chinese translation]
Yun-Ching Tsou Lin
http://clas.uiuc.edu/fulltext/cl00145/cl00145.pdf
Reviews and comments on the handbook
http://ecap-webserver.crc.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/clasSearch/viewitem.cgi?id=145
Regan
Feb 10, 2008 at 8:41 am
ISSUE BRIEF FOR LEGAL ADVOCATES
Rights of Limited English Proficient Students to Quality Education: An Introduction for Disability Advocates
“Other provisions of IDEA protect limited English proficient children in the special education evaluation process, REQUIRE that parents be provided notices in their native language, and OBLIGATE schools to provide interpreters at meetings held to plan or review a student’s special education services.”
20 U.S.C. §§1414(b)(3)(A)(i) - (ii), 1415(b)(4); 34 C.F.R. §§300.345(e) (1999), 300.503(c)(1), (2) (1999), 300.504(c) (1999), 300.532(a) (1999).
http://www.cleweb.org/IssueBriefs/factsheetLEP.htm
———————
Public agencies are required by other Federal statutes to take appropriate actions to ensure that parents who themselves have disabilities and limited English proficient parents understand proceedings at the IEP meeting. The other Federal and statutory provisions that apply in this regard are Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations in 34CFR Part 104 (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability by recipients of Federal financial assistance) and title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act and its implementing regulations in 28 CFR Part 35 (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities, regardless of receipt of Federal funds), and title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations in 34 CFR Part 100 (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin by recipients of Federal financial assistance).
Regan
Feb 10, 2008 at 8:46 am
Lastly, this is not a new issue for Massachusetts.
(On scanning various sites for different states, I noted that not all school district flow sheets for the IEP process include the provision of providing written translations OR verbal communication in native language/understandable language with documentation of such, so it could be the case that schools think that they are not obliged to provide this accommodation to non-English speaking, or those parents with disabilities.
However the report below is posted on the MA Department of Ed website.
OSEP’s Report on the Monitoring of Massachusetts
DATED 1999
VI. Part B: parent Involvement
…2. Participation of Non-English Speaking Parents
Part B clearly intends that public agencies take whatever action is necessary for parents to understand the proceedings of IEP meetings and the content in prior written notices. (See 34 C.F.R. §§300.345(e) & 300.503(c); 20 U.S.C. 1415(b)(4)).
…
Parents also stated that there is a concern that IEP notices and progress reports are generally written in English, which is not always the native language of the parent. The State is not providing parents with information written in their native language. Many parents cannot read or write in English, but receive letters and notices in English. When OSEP questioned a special education director regarding the records of a student whose parent spoke only Portuguese, they were told, “There are no interpreters provided and there is no alternative printed information.” Although OSEP was unable to directly validate systemic noncompliance regarding this issue, OSEP has serious concerns because sufficient comment was received by OSEP during Validation Planning to note it as an issue. It is suggested that MASSDE review practices across the State, including in charter schools, to accommodate non-English speaking parents regarding notices and letters and the provision of interpreter services…”
http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/osep/2000/6b.html
Rita
Feb 12, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Regan,
Thanks a lot for sharing the manual. My son goes to a preschool - children’s village, Philadelphia which has a large Chinese population. This school’s staff are active advocates for the special needs kids. I forwarded the link for IEP guide with cheinese translation for their reference. They are extremely happy with this document - The family service director wrote to me
“Wow! I’m so impressed with this document. It is thorough, extremely professional (I love the English / Chinese alternation by page), and the text is fabulous; culturally responsive, advocacy-based, child-centered. Thank you so, so much for passing it on. I will forward it Dr. Wolf, our family services department, education department and several other community members I know who will appreciate using it as a resource! Thank you!”
Thanks a lot.
Rita
ps Christina, thanks for starting this thread.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Feb 13, 2008 at 12:29 am
Thanks to you and Regan, Rita—–this is an issue that means a lot to me. I just find it unfathomable that parents who don’t know English well end up signing IEPs with no idea what is said—am also very concerned at the attitudes of some school personnel, as far as an understanding of cultural differences and understandings of disability.
thanks for sharing the note from the family service director, too—
Regan
Feb 13, 2008 at 1:50 am
Rita,
You’re welcome, but I think the real thanks should go to Yun-Ching Tsou Lin for taking on the task of writing the guide and translating the language and the “bureaucratese” into a culturally relevant framework.
Glad that it looks helpful to you and hope that it helps many! I have a few groups that I plan to share it with myself :-).
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Feb 17, 2008 at 2:03 am
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