Just sick! Service dog not allowed in school!

[ktulu]

It does sound like the parents just showed up, but perhaps they simply didn't realize that the school would need advanced notice.

According to the ASDA website, there is a week of home training with the dog with the trainer. That is probably why the trainer is there. On the preschool level, at least in my town, children with autism that severe require a para with them 24/7, and it is my guess that they would train that para how to handle the dog. This is just speculation without knowing more than what the article gave us.

I saw and read the reports, definitely not enough information to start arm chairing this one. I'm sure this will turn out for the best.

[felinefan]

EB, I still think it's a shame that things like that are occurring in this country. One of my former pastors is head of a homeschooling group, and one of the advantages of homeschooling is that the kids are treated individually, they learn at their own rate, instead of being forced to conform to learning by rote only.
Many years ago, I read an article on homeschooling in a popular women's magazine. The author of the article interviewed 12 different families across the country who homeschooled, and she stated at the beginning of her article that she expected homeschooling parents to be rabid religious fanatics. Though all but one family were Christian, they were nothing like what the author anticipated. The parents were concerned about their children getting a quality education, and tests showed the children were doing quite well, often a grade level or two above their peers. The one family that weren't religious lived on a huge farm in Montana, and their sons had been enrolled in public school. But to get there, they had to get up at the buttcrack of dawn, do their chores, get in the truck with their dad, who drove them for 1/2 an hour to the nearest bus stop, dropped them off, and went back home to work. The bus would pick them up, and they had to endure a two hour bus ride to the nearest school. After putting in a six hour school day, it was back on the bus for another 2 hour ride to their bus stop, and their dad would be keeping track of time and go and pick them up. Another half hour ride in the truck to home, dinner, chores, homework, then bed. The boys were good students, but five hours round trip to and from school wore them out--their grades were in the C's. Finally the parents started homeschooling their kids, and they started getting A's and B's. They weren't atheists, just too busy with their big farm to commit to a church.

But regardless of whether one homeschools because of their religious beliefs or not, the laws says that parents must adhere to a state approved curriculum. They must buy the books and materials to teach their kids, the kids do have field trips so they don't lack in the social skills department, and they are required to be tested to see if they are meeting the requirements imposed by the state. Since homeschools are considered to be private schools, they may recieve religious instruction. And home schooling parents must attend a monthly meeting with other homeschooling parents as well as the principal and staff. If you like, I'll PM you with the website address of my former pastor's homeschool organization.

[EeyoresButterfly]

I'm not saying that all homeschoolers are religious fanatics, just that homeschooling is not he savior of the American school system. Certainly some families do really well, but that is not the case of all families.

instead of being forced to conform to learning by rote only.

This type of learning is quickly going by the wayside in some areas. In our program, we are taught what is known as "Best Practice". Basically, learning by rote is considered the absolute worst way to teach. The theories that our program is centered around (mostly progressivist) believe in a more student centered/driven method of learning. We use a lot types of cooperative learning including peer tutoring to teach concepts. We also talk about differentiation (providing different options for students based on things like learning styles, interests, ability levels, and multiple intelligences), and curriculum compacting. I am interested in being a regular classroom teacher, but am working on Special Ed because I have seen too many kids not getting the proper modifications in the gen ed classroom where they spend the majority of their time because the teacher does not have proper training. I am also planning to pursue my gifted certification for the same reason (in Missouri, you have to teach for two years first.)

Curriculum compacting is basically a way to individually pace instruction. Studnets take a pretest on the information being studied. They are only responsible for learning the information they do not already know. This helps students at all ends of the spectrum. One example would be a unit I just designed as the final project in my grad class. It is a thematic unit in fourth grade on Thomas Jefferson and it encompasses reading, writing, social studies, and math. Students take a pretest to determine what they know. This will help me know what to teach them. The students will work on a final research project discussing the Declaration of Independence and Louisiana Purchase and their importance in history. They have a choice of giving a speech, writing a paper, or designing an art project. (That's where the differentiation comes in). Students who score above a certain percentage on the pretest are allowed to choose another aspect of Thomas Jefferson to research. There's a lot more to it, but you get the gist.

This type of teaching is being taught in teacher colleges around the country. The biggest barrier, believe it or not, is NCLB. Schools that are not doing well panic and go to what we call Direct Instruction. This is curriculum that is literally scripted. I have used a D.I. math program when I subbed and it is horrible. The script is unnatural, they are trying to 'teacher proof things'. This is one of the reasons there is high turnover in the profession. There is a growing backlash against D.I., and more schools are allowing teachers to use the kind of "Best practice" learning I have described.

I guess I just get impatient with people criticizing schools without offering any viable solutions other than pull kids out of public school, which not every parent can afford to do. We need more people willing to do something, which is one of the reasons I'm going into teaching. You also have to remember that very few industrialized countries deem to teach all of their students or even attempt to offer all of their students the same educational opportunities the way America does. Our system isn't perfect, but it isn't as bad as people make it out to be.

[felinefan]

I school--60s and early 70s--there were times I'd be frustrated in class. I wanted to learn the material, but the way the teacher did it was boring. Sometimes I would find subjects of interest, but they were few and far between. Small wonder whenever I got called on in class to read, I was elsewhere in the book. No wonder I didn't do too well, except in reading. And it didn't help when the teacher or my classmates thought I was stupid. Which I'm not, of course, but when people make fun of you and pick on you all the time, and then you go home and get more of the same....

I understand Albert Einstein didn't do well when taught by rote, and spoke against it later in life. Then he was transferred to a school that taught students to use their imaginations to solve problems; it was then he really blossomed. He also had dyslexia, which he also later overcame.

My former pastor was fond of saying,"Not every parent can homeschool, but every child should be." Originally, all parents were teachers, then education became the duty of the religious instituion of the area. Harvard University's entire teaching faculty was composed of Doctors of Divinity up until 200 years ago, when they had their first non-DD faculty member. Now, as far as I know, I don't think they have any faculty members with a divinity degree. I'll have to look.

When one isn't a parent, one tends to go by whatever one hears, so thank you for the more balanced view of the state of education.

[hobie16]

I understand Albert Einstein didn't do well when taught by rote, and spoke against it later in life. Then he was transferred to a school that taught students to use their imaginations to solve problems; it was then he really blossomed. He also had dyslexia, which he also later overcame.

Not that it means anything in the grand scheme of things, but he also couldn't sail well enough to get back to his summer house on a lake.

[DisneyMom]

Actually, there are a lot of rumors that Einstein had Asperger's Syndrome....

[hobie16]

Actually, there are a lot of rumors that Einstein had Asperger's Syndrome....

That's probably true. I've worked with a lot of certifiable geniuses with horrible people skills. Turns out most of them exhibited indications of Asperger's. All it really took to work with them was to listen and ask a couple of decent questions. Most turned out to be great guys that could solve the unsolvable.

[SWTexasBelle]

Just an aside re:home schooling. While the popular perception is that home schooled children are often gifted children, I know of many homeschooling parents who have special needs children who felt the school was not addressing their needs, and that is why they choose to home school. While it is true the schools have a legal obligation to provide an appropriate education, many times their definition of what the child needs is not sufficient. My sister has had to fight tooth and nail to get a minimum level of help with her autistic son. It is very dispiriting.

I also know of many parents who choose to home school their underachieving children because they were getting lost in the shuffle of a public school. There's nothing like one on one, or in the case of small classes taught for home schoolers, individualized, attention to help a struggling student. The same holds true for private schools. I taught AP English for 7 yrs. at a private school. I'd often here complaints that we did well because we cherry picked our students. Ha! I can't tell you how many students we got because they were failing public school, and the parents were at their wit's end.


The popular myth of unsocialized home schoolers is gradually being refuted - a long-term study of students from the 90s has shown that in adulthood home schooled students are actually more likely to be involved in their community and active in social groups. I always say to those who want to bring up the question of socialization that public schools are a great place to be socialized if you are going to spend the rest of your life in groups separated by age and arranged alphabetically. Most home schoolers I've known have been very mature socially, largely I think because they spend so much time with adults. They also tend to be very active in Scouts, 4-H, Little League, etc., so they do spend time with their peers.

I always find it ironic that those who loudly beat the "socialization" drum are the same ones who fight the idea of home schoolers participating in extra-curricular activities. I pay my taxes - why couldn't my home schooled daughter try out for the school play, or run on the track team? Her ACT scores were top 5% in the country - but I digress.

Many times school personnel simply don't know, or don't fully understand, the law. That may be the case with this service dog. Also, they often tend to get defensive when challenged. To this day many home schoolers have to continue to educate their public schools on the law in their states. I had this problem while home schooling in Tennessee. If you are interested in home schooling, all sorts of interesting information can be had at http://www.hslda.org.
(Including the laws in your state).

I certainly hope this situation is resolved so the student can get the education he needs.

[CMGUY89]

This story made me angry too when I read it on CNN.
BW told me about a guest with autism with a service animal. Whenever the child got scared or overwhelmed he would put his hand on the dog for comfort. My brother has Asperger's which is in the autistic spectrum and if this had happened to him my mom would have "shown up at that school with her hair on fire".
This is exactly the same as telling someone with a wheelchair that they cannot enter a building with it and it has to be parked outside. In my experience with Disney I have found that service animals play a very VITAL role to those who use them. I have seen service monkeys and rabbits. Some are just for comfort, some perform essential duties for the guests. I saw one service dog who could be handed a credit card, or cash, and literally jump up against a counter to hand it to the cashier. It was very impressive.

Of course CMs need to be educated about proper handling of a service dog. They need to know that they are never to be pet without explicit permission of the person using them. Usually if they are just sitting down taking a break and you ask politely they have no problem with you petting them. Also when it comes to certain attractions animals can not ride in the vehicles. For example, Soarin, Mission: Space, and Test Track. I know a CM was justifiably termed for sending a guide dog on Tower. Luckily the tower operator saw the dog and stopped the ride. These animals are just as essential as wheelchairs and should be allowed in all reasonable places.

[EeyoresButterfly]

SW Texas Belle: You are right. I did not mean to imply that all homeschool children are gifted, religious, and/or unsocialized. There are many reasons parents homeschool: Many times it is due to special needs on both ends of the spectrum because kids needs aren't being met.

I have great pride in our public school system, but I also recognize its flaws and want to help correct them. We can't do that if everybody pulls their children out. There are some absolutely wonderful homeschool parents out there, and their kids do well. Yes, socialization is a bit of a myth, but not entirely. Studies have shown that children who are homeschooled get along better with adults than they do with their peers. I am not entirely comfortable with this. Most children who are homeschooled do participate in extra curriculars and that helps a lot, but I have also known my fair share of homeschooled children who had a hard time relating to kids their own age.

I'll give you a great example: I started college when I was 15 after having completed the 9th grade. (Although I have a BA I am technically a high school drop out). In this program, we had one girl who was very gifted, like all of us, but her parents had tried homeschooling her and had literally dragged her around the world trying to find a place that would challenge her. She had some of the worst social skills I have ever seen. Now, I realize there is more at work here than just the homeschooling, but I have also met kids who were homeschooled in a more traditional way and were not able to relate to their peers. In most schools, kids have plenty of interaction with children from a wide range of ages, iti s not just their age. There is something to be said for exposure to diversity.

I will admit that unfortunately under the current model children who are not doing well but do not have special needs are getting short shrift. Most schools operate under the discrepancy model for special ed. In other words their achievement has to be two standard deviations below their IQ to be considered for services. There have actually been cases of kids with 60 IQs initially being denied services because their performace was commensurate with their IQ. Kids who just have a hard time are completely left out. That is why there is a growing trend to the kinds of Best Practices teaching I described above- it allows you to reach all children. There is also a somewhat new thing called Response to Intervention. It is being used in Kansas City and I am hoping to teach at one of those schools so I can learn it. Basically- as soon as you notice a problem with any student you start working them immediately. You try different interventions to see what works for them, instead of waiting for them to fall behind. This helps kids on all ends of the spectrum. It takes more time and money on the elementary level, but it means that you need fewer and less intense services on the secondary level.

The other issue I want to address when I teach is that of gifted children. I dropped out of high school and started college at 15 precisely because I felt like my needs weren't being met and that I was being devalued. With NCLB, our gifted children are getting left behind. Most states have completely cut fudning for gifted (In Missouri, it went from 25 million to literally nothing in one year). There is so much pressure to get kids to perform well on the standardized tests that if the kid already does well, there isn't any more attention paid to them. I want to change this. This is why I want to be a regular classroom teacher, so that I can help kids on all ends of the spectrum using my special ed experience since that is where most kids spend the majority of their time.

Sorry this got long winded! Homeschooling is cool, and it works well for some but not for others. There is no one sized fits all solution, and I do get impatient with people who indicate that every child should be homeschooled (like the pastor quoted) because there are pros and cons to each. Neither system is perfect, or even necessarily better than the other, it all depends on the needs of the individual kids and families.