Telegraph-Journal: New Brunswick Public Education Must Be Inclusive and Flexible

A New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal June 16, 2012 editorial, reprinted in its' entirety below, has called for a flexible model of inclusion for New Brunswick public education.  The editorial references education policy analyst Paul Bennett who gave a presentation Thursday at the Atlantic Human Rights Centre conference on inclusive education.  

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EDITORIALS

BE INCLUSIVE AND FLEXIBLE

TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

EDITORIAL

17 JUN 2012 05:14AM

It is imperative that public education be accessible to all students. While the Alward government’s $62 million investment in new resources to support inclusion should help, critics say the province’s vision of inclusion itself needs to change.

One of those constructive critics is education policy analyst Paul Bennett. Mr. Bennett gives New Brunswick high praise for its commitment, but he does not believe equal access can be met within the walls of a single classroom. We’re inclined to agree.

The one-classroom model of inclusion cannot meet the needs of all students, as countless parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and severe dyslexia can attest. Why not acknowledge that hundreds of families are not being well-served, and open the door to private schools or transition programs, funded by provincial vouchers, as Nova Scotia has done?

This would give parents greater choice in their children’s education. It would also serve as a better incubator of innovative and effective education practices than public schools can provide, while still being accessible to all.

The education department seems determined to train more teachers who are interested in special needs instruction. Given the low performance of New Brunswick schools generally, though, we’re not hopeful that New Brunswick can train its way out of this problem.

The average quality of schooling in New Brunswick is among the poorest in Canada. It is unlikely that the turnover in teachers who are better trained will occur fast enough to meet the needs of average students, let alone those who require specialized instruction.

Wouldn’t student needs be served better by permitting the creation of new schools and programs specifically for students with special needs, staffed by professionals who specialize in this area of education?

These schools would not replace classroom inclusion, but augment it by providing alternatives for those students whose needs are greatest.

In Nova Scotia, parents already have access to private, independent special education schools. Since 2004, when the Nova Scotia Tuition Support Program was created, the provincial government has even provided short-term funding for students to attend designated special education private schools, with the goal of transitioning back into public schools at a later date.

We are proud to live in a province which has affirmed that all students have an equal right to education. Surely it is not a big step to admit that to achieve this equality of opportunity, some special needs students will require resources outside the standard classroom.

What Do NB Teachers Really Think About The Porter-NBACL Full Inclusion Model?

What do New Brunswick teachers really think about the full inclusion model  which has been pushed relentlessly in NB schools by Gordon Porter and the New Brunswick Association for Community Living since the mid-1980's? The truth is many teachers recognize that extreme, everyone in the regular classroom inclusion does not work.  Teachers know this but they are afraid, for good reason, to speak up while they remain employed in New Brunswick schools. Speaking up and openly criticizing  the Inclusion Illusion would be detrimental to their careers and livelihoods and they know it.

Full inclusion, as defined by Gordon Porter, means "everyone in the mainstream classroom" as Mr. Porter preached to a Newfoundland audience a few weeks ago:


"Porter’s session revolved around the theme of parents and teachers working together to make inclusion work.“It means kids go to their neighbourhood schools with kids their own age in regular classes,” said Porter.“If you’re seven years old you go to the school just down the street. You go in a class with other seven-year-olds, and you’re supported if you have extra needs. “It’s so simple, it’s that simple,” said Porter."

I am a supporter of flexible inclusion and I am a critic and opponent of the full inclusion, everyone in the mainstream classroom inclusion, of Gordon Porter and his followers with the NBACL.  This father of a son with Autistic Disorder, and profound developmental delays learned long ago that Mr. Porter's  regular classroom is not appropriate for my son's learning requirements. It caused him harm and resulted in self injurious behavior repeated, severe biting of his hands and wrists. Today he is very well accommodated by a flexible inclusion which sees him receive his instruction in a quiet area outside the regular classroom.  He starts his day, has lunch, and has friends in a resource center in his high school with other students with challenges, challenges which Gordon Porter's full inclusion model would not accommodate.  He attends many events with his group from the resource centre and he loves, he absolutely loves going to school.

On my son's behalf and as a representative of the Autism Society New Brunswick I participated in the MacKay and Ministerial Inclusion reviews.  During these proceedings I was approached by teachers who thanked me for speaking out for a flexible model of inclusion.  Some children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder can function in the regular classroom, some can not.  Teachers can see that in their daily work, in respect of autistic students and others with severe challenges. Teachers though,  like most employees, know which way the wind blows where they work.  They know that if they preach the full inclusion gospel according to Gordon Porter they will be viewed favorably by the higher ups in the education department and the de facto education department ... the New Brunswick Association of Community Living. They know that if they publicly criticize full inclusion their careers could suffer. 


My experience during the inclusion review proceedings has been replicated after I have spoken publicly on television and radio.  I have been approached by many teachers who told me that they and their colleagues support my efforts in speaking up about the shortcomings of full (extreme)  inclusion. I have been encouraged by many teachers to continue critiquing the full inclusion model which governs the mindset of those who determine how our children will be educated.


I don't expect anyone in the office of the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development or at the "bricks and mortar" building of his colleagues at the NBACL to believe what I have stated.  They do not accept actual direct evidence that conflicts with their full inclusion model and they will certainly not accept my hearsay evidence based on undisclosed witnesses to what actually happens in our regular "inclusive" classrooms. The full inclusion true believers simply ignore such evidence and blame problems on the students themselves or argue that more resources are needed in the classroom under the guidance of classroom teachers.  Then everything will work smoothly.  


The full inclusion model of Porter and the NBACL is not an evidence based approach to education.  It is at best a  feel good philosophy.  At worst it is an illusion.  The full inclusion illusion.  One that can literally cause harm, mental, emotional, even physical harm, to some children for whom it is not an appropriate learning environment. This father of a son with severe challenges knows it.  The teachers who work on the front lines educating our children also know it.


The attached document is the 2005 report of an executive committee of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association which describes New Brunswick schools as being in a state of crisis.  The NBTA's report talks about the classroom composition concerns expressed by the teachers they represent but denies that the issue is classroom composition; the issue for the Association is the need for more support in the classroom.   If you look under the politically correct tap dancing of the NBTA's report though there is an honest recognition in many of the statements of its' members that classroom composition is in fact the issue.  I have posted the 5 page summary of the committee's recommendations following my comments in case the document is removed from the NBTA web site in future.

Autism at School: Smaller Classrooms for Autistic Children

Neuroscientists at a meeting of the International Multisensory Research Forum held held at The City College of New York (CCNY) have argued that children with autism require smaller class sizes because of sensory integration dysfunction. I agree with the learned neuroscientists although I would add that some autistic children also have Intellectual Disabilities and serious lack of understanding and communication skills. Some require ABA based instruction to learn. For all these reasons the larger mainstream classroom is not appropriate for some autistic children. I have stated that position many times on this blog site, in the Wayne MacKay review of inclusive education here in New Brunswick and in other public meetings with education officials.

My son, at our request, receives his academic instruction in a small room with a teacher assistant. He visits common areas of the school such as the gym, kitchen, library, pool etc where he is around other children. Several children say hi to Conor when they see him. One of these students who lives nearby even visits him at our home now and plays with water balloons on the step with Conor. Prior to being removed from the mainstream classroom Conor was coming home with bite marks on his hands the result of over stimulation in the classroom.

Science Daily quotes Dr. John J. Foxe, Professor of Neuroscience at CCNY :

“Sensory integration dysfunction has long been speculated to be a core component of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but there has been precious little hard empirical evidence to support this notion. Viewing a speaker’s articulatory movements can greatly improve a listener’s ability to understand spoken words, and this is especially the case under noisy environmental conditions.”

“These results are the first of their kind to verify that children with autism have substantial difficulties in these situations, and this has major implications for how we go about teaching these children in the classroom,” he continued. “Children with autism may become distressed in large classroom settings simply because they are unable to understand basic speech if the environment is sufficiently noisy.

“We should start to pay attention to the need for smaller numbers in the classroom and we need to carefully control the levels of background noise that these kids are exposed to. Imagine how frustrating it must be to sit in a classroom without being able to properly understand what the teacher or your classmates are saying to you.

“Being able to detect speech in noise plays a vital role in how we communicate with each other because our listening environments are almost never quiet. Even the hum of air conditioners or fans that we can easily ignore may adversely impact these children’s ability to understand speech in the classroom.

“Our data show that the multisensory speech system develops relatively slowly across the childhood years and that considerable tuning of this system continues to occur even into early adolescence. Our data suggest that children with Autism lag almost 5 years behind typically developing children in this crucial multisensory ability.”

Actually this research simply confirms what many parents, including me, have observed directly for many years.

When your child comes home every day with bite marks on his hands it is evidence that can not be ignored by a parent.

When your child is moved to a quieter, less stressful environment and the biting ceases the conclusion to be drawn is obvious and all the feel good rhetoric of the mainstream classroom for all crowds such as we have here in New Brunswick will not cause you to change your mind.

autism

Hi Conor

Conor is diagnosed with Autistic Disorder, with profound developmental delays. In school he was overwhelmed and came home with self inflicted bite marks on his hands and wrists. At our request he was removed from the mainstream classroom and his education in a separate room began. The bite marks were no longer present and he began to actually like school. We very much appreciate the accommodation of Conor's autism disability by educators in our schools and district.

This "segregation" that we requested as his parents has been of great benefit to him in many areas including his own health and his learning. And, despite the concerns of the total inclusion advocates from the New Brunswick Association for Community Living and the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission (the current NBHRC Chair is a very prominent, decades long advocate for New Brunswick's total inclusion model) it has not harmed, and may in fact have helped, Conor socially.

Today, in grade 7 his primary instruction area is still a small separate room. But the education assistant who works with Conor takes him into the gym and other common areas of the school for specific activities and for limited periods of time. The Youtube videos on the sidebar of this site include two short clips of Conor in the middle school gym. Although no other children are visible there were many children in the gym that day when I video'd some of Conor's gym activities while being careful not to capture other children in the videos.

When I take Conor to school each day there is a boy who often speaks directly to Conor and asks me questions about him. Last week as I approached the entrance doors to the school with Conor a girl approached and walked towards the school beside him, saying "Hi Conor" playfully trying to tickle him and engage him in small talk.

Conor's experience at middle school is consistent with his experience at grade school. Having Conor in the local neighborhood schools but not in the mainstream classroom all day has not prevented other children in the schools from getting to know him or wanting to get to know him.

I don't know if the children would be as nice to Conor if he was in their classroom all day, overwhelmed by the noise, sights and activity and suffering periodic meltdowns.

Now they see Conor when it is best for him. His periods of public interaction with other children are designed to succeed. A simple principle of ABA ... and common sense ... that is often ignored by the ideology of the total inclusion advocates.

autism

Some Autistic Students Do Well In The Mainstream Classroom and Some Do Not

KESQ.com in Palm Springs, California reports that an increasing amount of autistic students are leaving special education classes and integrating into mainstream classrooms. Educators in the area provide the support necessary and they recognize that the mainstream classroom does not work for ALL students with autism. They look at what works best for each student:

"In the past we had children undiagnosed in general education, coping or diagnosed incorrectly without the support needed," says Palm Springs Unified Schools District's Autism Specialist Sally Talala.

Entering into a traditional classroom isn't for every child with autism. Specialists say it takes a team approach to find out what is best for each individual.

The assistance team is growing. Parents, schools and specialists work together to place each child in the right class for their specific needs. They take a look at social skills, communication and behavior, integrating those with more mild cases.

Here in New Brunswick, in recent years, much has been done to further the education and well being of autistic students. Teacher assistants and resource teachers have been receiving autism specific training through the University of New Brunswick College of Extended Learning Autism Intervention Training Program. The autism specific training has helped provide many autistic students receive a real education. Some autistic students can receive their education in the classroom for all or part of the day.

Some of our schools have also begun to accommodate the needs of those autistic children, like my son Conor, for whom education in the general classroom for most of the day is an overwhelming, counterproductive and even harmful experience. They are taught in smaller, quieter, less busy areas where they can receive one on one instruction, by autism appropriate learning methods and with a curriculum suitable to their development level. They are also brought into the mainstream classroom for brief periods for activities within their individual ability ranges.

Despite this progress there are those in New Brunswick who insist that the mainstream classroom is the right place for all students. Their intentions are noble but their understanding of autistic children is lacking. Their beliefs are part of a philosophy of total classroom inclusion for all students that has dominated the New Brunswick education system for the past thirty years. The recent efforts to accommodate the needs of autistic students has been met with determined resistance by the total inclusion advocates who include the current Chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission who was instrumental in promoting New Brunswick's total inclusion philosophy, the Executive Director and other representatives of the New Brunswick Association for Community Living, and some senior Education Department officials.

Despite the efforts of these very influential, well connected advocates of total mainstream inclusion progress has been made. There are people in government, in the Department of Education, school districts and schools who have made decisions in the best interests of autistic children notwithstanding pressure from the total inclusion advocates.

Hopefully those autistic children who can learn in the mainstream classroom will continue to be educated there while those autistic children for whom the mainstream classroom is not appropriate will continue to be accommodated in learning environments suitable for them in light of their autistic conditions.

Hopefully the best interests of autistic children will continue to prevail over the rigid philosophical beliefs of the total mainstream classroom inclusion advocates.

autism

Autism Education; The Inclusion Illusion In New Zealand

In New Zealand schools, parents and students are wrestling with the realities of inclusive education for autistic school children. Stuff.co.nz reports in Schools failing disabled that many students are being sent home from school early in the day or being told to stay home when there is no teacher aide.

A mother of an autistic 12 year old boy tells of him being sent home regularly, and being placed on shortened school days, for disruptive behavior, including hitting. Parents now tend to enroll their children in special education units. Teachers and parents talk about the need for more resources.

Here in New Brunswick, Canada, the inclusion lobby has been very powerful, and successful, at pushing the philosophy that all children benefit from mainstream classroom education. This mainstream classroom education benefits all philosophy is not supported by evidence and is not supported by the experience of some autistic children including my 11 year old son Conor.

Conor was being educated in a mainstream classroom and was frustrated each day, coming home with self inflicted bite marks on his hands and wrists. He was removed from the classroom to a quieter location where he receives instruction with the assistance of a teacher aide. He visits the mainstream classroom for visits with his peers, for defined periods of time and for activities within his range of abilities. Sometimes they visit him in his area for reading buddies and other similar activities.

The point is not that what works for Conor would work for all autistic children. The point is that it is necessary to take an evidence based approach to determine what works for each child. Some autistic children can function well in the mainstream classroom; some do not. Some require one to one ABA based instruction or other types of individualized instruction in a quieter area where they are not overwhelmed by their environment.

The belief that mainstream classroom inclusion works for all, including all autistic children, is an illusion. It is not supported by evidence. Look at what works for each child and educate the child accordingly.

School for Autistic Children in New York

In New York a school for autistic kids is opening. The school will feature an evidence based, ABA approach, using discrete trial training and also utilizing elements of speech language therapy, occupational and physical therapy, PECS and some elements of TEACCH. The classrooms will be adapted with special computers, monitors and programs. This school appears to be an extension of a successful pre-school program offered by the same HeartShare school. This is an amazing development that is highly unlikely to ever occur in any school district in the Province of New Brunswick.

In New Brunswick over the past 30 years the education of all children has been dominated by a philosophy that dictates mainstream classroom inclusion for all students regardless of their disabilities or abilities. There are exceptions. Some districts and schools have cooperated with parents and allowed autistic children,particularly severely autistic children such as my son, to receive the greatest part of his learning in a separate area with visits from classmates for activities such as reading buddies and with Conor visiting the mainstream classroom for specific defined activities for limited periods of time. By and large though in New Brunswick's education system educators and parents are pressured to place all children in a mainstream classroom whether it is suitable for them or not.

At major events such as the teachers development workshop which was held to review the MacKay Inclusion review process the Department of Education partnered with the New Brunswick Association for Community Living which aggressively promotes the philosophy of mainstream classroom inclusion for all students. Requests by the Autism Society New Brunswick to participate as a partner in the workshop were rejected by the Department of Education notwithstanding the number of autistic children in New Brunswick schools and the severity of the challenges posed in educating them. The NBACL philosophy of total mainstream inclusion is also promoted by the presentation by that organization of awards to teachers who exemplify what the NBACL considers to be best inclusion practices. The mainstream classroom philosophy for all is also well represented by NBACL participation on the Premier's Council on the Status of Disabled Persons and in the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission whose current chair, Dr. Gordon Porter, was instrumental in the implementation of the mainstream classroom for all philosophy in New Brunswick schools and is touted as an expert on the inclusion of students with a disability into regular classes on the commission web site.

With such an entrenched mindset in favor of the mainstream classroom inclusion philosophy I am thankful that school and district educators have, at least to date, cooperated with us in creating an alternative learning arrangement for my son. In the big picture though the emphasis on classroom inclusion has kept many children in the mainstream classroom even when it is not suitable for them. It also makes it extremely unlikely that an option such as a school for autistic school children will ever see the light of day in the Province of New Brunswick.

http://tinyurl.com/27g8xf



New school for autistic kids

02/01/2007

You hear it again and again—the incidence of autism is on the rise. In fact, according to the latest statistics, 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with autism and reported cases are growing at a rate of 10-17 percent each year.

With all these children needing services, HeartShare Human Services of New York is proud to be responding to the needs of the community by opening its new HeartShare School. This program is for school-age children with autism and mental retardation from all five boroughs.

Located at St. Finbar’s School, 138 Bay 20th Street in Bensonhurst, children ages 5 through 14 are eligible for services.

Scheduled to open in February, this program is unique to Brooklyn in that it will primarily follow the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approach with the emphasis on discreet trial learning. Some components of the TEACCH methodology and Picture Exchange Communication System will also be used.

Started at the urging of parents who had gone to NY State Senator Martin Golden to seek ABA-based educational services for their children, the program will have five classrooms, each structured with class-room style learning and speech, occupational and physical therapies.

Additionally, each classroom will have adapted computers, touch screen monitors and specialized program software that addresses the learning needs of children with disabilities.

“HeartShare has had a great deal of success teaching children with autism in our four pre-school programs,” noted President and CEO William R. Guarinello. “That is why parents turned to us to start a program for older children. There were no appropriate educational services in Brooklyn for many of these families.”

Golden stated, “I am excited that as a partner with HeartShare Human Services, the dreams of the parents who have approached me seeking the best educational opportunities for their autistic children right here in our community will come true. For too long, Brooklyn’s autistic community has been underserved despite the rising numbers of those diagnosed. In that notion, we are going to provide at St. Finbar’s School a state of the art school that is ready to teach the autistic children of our community. We have done a unique and important thing in the planning and establishment of this school. In doing so, we will make better the lives of many now and in the future, for through HeartShare, they will receive an excellent and solid education.”

When at full capacity, The HeartShare School will provide full-day educational services to 48 children. “We still have open placements,” said Carol Verdi, vice president of Educational Services at HeartShare.

“Children from all five boroughs are eligible, but must be on the Pending Needs list through the Central Base Support Team within the New York City Department of Education. HeartShare is excited about the opening of this new program to meet the needs of students in the community.

“Families have been an integral part of the planning process,” said Verdi, “and we will ensure that they remain involved as we move forward.”

For more information about The HeartShare School, contact HeartShare Human Services at 718-323-2877 or visit www.heartshare.org.