Bullying follow up: Should special needs kids be integrated into regular classrooms?

There’s plenty of
outrage over recordings of a New Jersey teacher
bullying an autistic student, but it’s also sparking a
troubling discussion about
integrating special needs kids into public school
classrooms.

“Should we be sending our profoundly disabled kids to
some school to be taken care of by a bunch of strangers as
opposed to dealing with the situation within our own
families and ourselves,” asks Ross and Burbank co-host
Luke Burbank.

The issue hits home for Burbank. His mother was a long
time classroom aide and he has a cousin in Philadelphia
who is
developmentally disabled. He says it can be extremely
difficult for families and teachers alike.

“You’re asking them to care about your kid and not get
annoyed with your kid and treat your kid the way you treat
him,” says Burbank.

In the recording released by enraged father Stuart
Chaifetz, the teacher and aide are heard belittling and
shouting at his 10-year-old son and at one point tell him
to “shut up.”

But Burbank says while he’s not in any way defending
them, teachers and aides face numerous challenges dealing
with difficult special needs students.

“This is not the way you should be dealing with these
kids, some of whom sound like they’re profoundly autistic
or profoundly disabled,” says Burbank.

“It’s also to me though, the sound of somebody who has
been in the classroom for a number of years with kids who
can be really challenging to deal with. It’s not an
excuse,
but it just sounds like someone who’s just over it as
opposed to some sadist.”

Co-host Dave Ross points out many special education
teachers are regularly subjected to physical assault from
out of control students and other difficult physical and
emotional situations. He wonders about those
special needs students placed into regular classrooms in
an effort to “mainstream” them.

“My heart goes out to parents who have to deal with
this and I have no problem with taxing me whatever it
costs to make sure these kids are educated to the best of
their ability and treated well,” says Ross.

“But I don’t think that should be done at the expense
of the education of the other kids in the class if it is
not helping the special needs child.”

Some listeners agree. In a “Magic Message” to Ross and
Burbank, Shannon in Woodinville describes a challenging
situation faced by her 10th grade daughter.

“In one of her art classes the special needs kid will
just sit in his chair rocking back and forth and lick the
wall while his assigned helper does his projects. So much
for integrating the children. Seems like he’d benefit from
a different environment.”

“I understand the desire to have your kid be ‘normal'”,
says Burbank.

“It’s a very hard emotional thing to say ‘my child
isn’t ever going to walk down that aisle at graduation,
isn’t going to the prom in the traditional sense.’ I just
wonder if it’s the best system.”

-Josh Kerns, My Northwest.com Editor