Ok, I'm on a roll with the blog thing, but something has been eating at me so feverishly these past few weeks now and I finally am able to put it into words.
As every one has been noticing in the media, that there is the sudden hype, reports, articles, what-have-you, on Autism. The statistics now show that what was once *1 in every 166* kids, have gone down to *1 in every 150* kids to be diagnosed with Autism. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? This sudden increase and influx of kids diagnosed with Autism/PDD/Aspergers, where does that leave us (parents and kids)? What is going on here?
Yes, there are special schools that are specifically designed for those diagnosed with Autism, but how can the average-joe parent afford it? I know that *I* can't afford it. So, my son is in special education day school, provided by the public school system. That's not a problem. I am GRATEFUL that he does have these services. However, with all of these new cases of Autism coming out, what does that mean for our special education classes? While teachers have gone thru college, getting their degrees in Special Education, it sounds too generalized for the public school system. Although I appreciate and value my son's teachers and teachers aides, they are not current with all facets of the autism spectrum. They are not aware that a child who may be autistic can exhibit traits of AD/HD and or feel like they're Oppositional Defiant. It's just another label the teachers give the kids, making us parents feel like failures. There is NOT a perfect *test* to assess for Autism. It's such a wide spectrum, but they narrow it down if the child exhibits at least 3 of the characteristics. I'm NOT knocking down the special education teachers, but I think with this influx of cases, what does that mean? It sounds like there will be an influx more students into Special Education? Does that mean that with all these children being diagnosed with Autism, that the resources and therapies will be more costly to parents who can not, in a sense, afford it? A new legislation was signed for more extensive research, but where does that leave us parents?
My son was in a class with more serious cases of Autism. He didn't fit in, b/c he was too social, but lacked the speech. He's in a class now, but he can't seem to follow the structure. He's stuck in b/t. What is it I'm supposed to do? I want to find something that is more appropriate for him, but if we can't afford a special school for him, what do we do? I don't want to hear *well, if you can't take care of your kids, you shouldn't have had them*. That's a moronic thing to say. These kids didn't ASK to be born with special needs. They're here, so what do we do?
I was watching the news this morning how more teachers are quitting due to violent and aggressive students in the classroom. A 14 year old student broke her teachers neck. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?? Could it be that the United States insists that with our economy, it's necessary to have a dual income household. And, that the average person does not necessarily work 40 hours a week, but we're feeling the pressure to put in 50 to 60 hours a week just to catch up on everything. And more so, while both parents are working excessive hours a week to survive and support themselves and their families, where are the children? At daycares or whatnot. In the report, they mentioned that this new generation lacks the discipline and the respect for authoritative figures. Why is that? Because the parents have to WORK!! What happened to teaching kids the simple act of saying "Thank you" and "Please" and to "Not Talk Back to your elders". I got a good ol' spanking when I was disrespectful to any of my elders. Not only do we not have the time to teach our kids these simple, yet important lessons in life, when we're so tired from a long day at work, not to mention dealing with a commute as well, we also lack the patience.
Please forgive me, I'm NOT speaking for ALL parents, but I am speaking for SOME parents, who I DO hope know where I am coming from. I don't believe I'm TOO off the mark. So please, enlighten me, someone, please? What is our children's future to be like?
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2 comments:
Your concerns demonstrate an underlying disconnect within our society. On the one hand, we have a majority of people who believe in "family" and "family values," and choose to condemn those who do not adhere to them. On the other hand, many of those same people--certainly those who choose to politicize this issue--promote a policy in our nation that is antithetical to supporting these so-called family values. This includes a lack of reasonable (not even generous, just reasonable) access to basic/universal health care, and family leave opportunities (there are some developed nations that allow new moms (and some dads) to remain away from work for a YEAR without fear of losing their job to care for a child). A recent report rated the U.S. (along with Great Britain) as among the worst in caring for its children among developed/industrialized nations. Unless the government begins paying lip service to its moralizing, and instead stops providing corporate welfare to the multinationals, things will only worsen. This will be the first generation that will NOT do better than its parents.
My parents are immigrants and both always had to work to support my brother and I. However, you better believe that we were disciplined and were always the best-behaved kids anywhere my parents took us.
Lots of children of immigrant parents will tell you that they didn't have a stay-at-home parent. As a matter of fact, most of my friends were daycare/latch-key kids, yet we respected our parents and did quite well in school.
So, yes, there are definite large-scale factors at work here, but I also believe there's just a whole lot of bad parenting too. People who were raised to be the center of attention when they were kids are reproducing because that's what they think they're supposed to do, however, they're not ready or willing to put their own hopes/dreams/career expectations in perspective, as all parents are wont to do. Once you have kids, it's not all about you anymore. We know that, but a lot of parents aren't willing to accept that. And, unfortunately, society at large has to suffer when their mal-adjusted, self-important, under-disciplined, entitled brats are inevitably inflicted upon us.
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