A different awarness of autism

Some facts that you won't hear on most "Autsim Awareness" TV blurbs (stolen from Spectrum Siblings, but he says it so well I don't want to change it):

• There are autistic people employed in every imaginable profession.


• Autism is not a synonym for stupid or retarded. In fact, many autistics have average IQ’s, and some have IQ’s far above the normal range.


• Autistics fall in love, get married, and even have children.


• With proper support, most autistic adults can live independent or semi-independent lives. However, the majority of states have little to no support for autistics above the age of 18.


• Autism is incurable. But when asked, many autistics respond that they do not want to be cured.


• Autistic children have a profound effect on their families. Their siblings are more empathetic, nurturing, and accepting of other’s differences than their peers. Their parents learn to enjoy life’s small joys, and celebrate each new development.


• Although their expression may be atypical, autistics can still feel emotions. Autistic or not, it hurts when someone stares at you, calls you names, or belittles your existence.

A step in the right direction indeed

I've got to say I'm pleasantly surprised by this court outcome. I'm hoping that every person who interacts with someone on the autism spectrum is paying attention to the story of Alex Barton and Wendy Portillo. In summary - abuse a kid, get suspended and lose tenure. Appeal if you want, but this type of cruelty has consequences. As Alex's mom commented, “It’s a step in the right direction."

I think the majority of people out there are good and kind, but if you're not, or if you're feeling overwhelmed by your situation there is a lesson to be learned. It is not OK to be abusive towards an autistic person just because you have the power to do so. This case establishes a precedence of pretty severe consequences.

I'm also hoping that others who see this type of abuse take heart in this ruling. There is a reason to object to cruelty that is happening to your kid or that you see happening in your work environment. Your complaints can make it stop. Woo-hoo!

Autism Awareness

We're heading towards April, "Autism Awareness Month." Somehow I always have mixed emotions about this concept. Is Autism Speaks defining awareness in the same way that I do? Is autism awareness a matter of just giving everyone blue wristbands and raising money? Is it enough that people be made aware of the number of people that are on the spectrum that they bump into in a day? Or is there some sort of understanding required?

Amidst these mixed emotions I got an email from one of the Baltimore Saints hockey coaches, marking the end of the inaugural season of the team. The Saints are a Special Hockey team, with lots of autistic members. Here's an excerpt:

When my brother came to me and asked me to help I had no idea what to expect, but as I met parents and players I started to learn that this was going to be something I was going to look forward to every Saturday. As I talked to some parents this weekend in Buffalo I learned a lot about your children. There was a time when I went to a store and saw a child not behaving, all I could think was, "Wow, how could that mom or dad not handle that child?" Now that I have been with your children, all I want to do is see if there is something I can do to help, knowing that the child may be like one of the children on my hockey team.

I've decided that this coach is more than just aware of autism and other neurological challenges. He has a level of understanding, he's involved, and most importantly, he cares. Maybe that's what we should be shooting for in April.

Going on a trip

We're pretty excited about going on a big trip at our house. Sometimes though, excitement can turn to anxiety when you don't really understand what's going on. That's why I made a visual schedule. With a few whiteouts for anonymity (plus all of the pictures are from the web), here it is:

PS - If you know someone in the Baltimore area who would like to do special hockey (i.e. they have a traumatic brain injury or developmental disability such as Autism and Down Syndrome ) tell them to check out the Baltimore Saints.

Another quick link post

Anyone interested in autism really needs to check out this blog. It totally rocks. I especially recommend it to neurotypicals out there who feel tied to the autism = tragedy paradigm. If you honestly read this young man's blog, I don't think you can persist in seeing the autism spectrum in terms of black and white anymore.

One more time

I know I've posted about Wendy Portillo twice already (here and here), but sadly it appears this story is not done with. Now it's turned into a court case pitting parent vs. teacher and those are usually pretty ugly. This case is too personal and disturbing for me to try to see from the teacher's point of view. If you teach special needs kids you have to feel compassion towards them. You can be frustrated that you don't have the time, training or whatever, but for me it's unforgivable to treat a 5 year old autistic child so cruely. Clearly, Ms. Portillo hates kids and it's time to find a new profession. Sorry, no compassion from me. If you even moderately agree, please read and consider signing this petition.

Positive note for the post? My special one is in an inclusive setting that is staffed by teachers that are nothing like Wendy Portillo. They care about him and all of the students in their school. We are very, very lucky.

image above: "Broken Heart" by Fabu

Don't cream twice?

In this on-line chat with Dr. Alonso one of the things that sticks out in my mind was the discussion about Citywide high schools. My interpretation was that he saw the need and value of citywides when he typed “There will always be a place for City and Poly and the others. They are great schools. I certainly benefited from an Ivy League education.” What sticks out to me was the rest of the statement – that the schools have to be held to a high standard and “don't try to cream twice!”

My first hand experience at citywides finished about 30 years ago, and my second hand experience has to do with a 9th grader who has no point of reference. I don’t think I’m an expert; I’m just a concerned party. That being said, I think the analogy is flawed. In my college experience they did cream twice – first the acceptance rate was fairly low and then the engineering courses had a pretty high failure rate. You could argue that failing a class doesn’t put you out of school, but in reality it usually does. Lost scholarships and financial aid puts you out of a school. Parents stop paying college tuition if you fail classes. There was no intervention plans or extra support. Maybe there should have been, but in the end you did what you needed to do or you figured out you weren’t cut out to be an engineer.I’m not saying that a citywide should operate in the same way, but it seemed to me that the threat of being sent to a school that you saw as less desirable was a pretty big motivator when I was at Western.

Another fallacy in the “once you accept them, you need to keep them” concept is that the current acceptance criteria are tough enough and fair enough to really know that these kids are going to be able to make it through four years at a citywide. Maybe an answer would be to have more/better objective entrance requirements.

I’d like to make these arguments to Dr. Alonso, but it seems to me that those with first hand experience (i.e. teachers from citywides with at least a few years experience) probably have a clearer picture of how things stand and how they are changing. It would be nice if some experts would give me some feedback here or better yet communicate directly with Dr. Alonso and let me know what he said.

The picture of Dr. Alonso was shamelessly stolen from baltimoresun.com

Another family choosing Baltimore's Public Schools

I found this post at Baltimore Brew inspirational. I've known many families who have made the same choice that we have - to remain in City Schools while watching friends and neighbors flee. You just don't usually hear the reasons why they make this choice. I'm guessing that many parents share the feelings expressed in the article. It's very nice to see an articulately written piece expressing why a family with options would choose to go to City Schools.

A letter

Dear Governor O’Malley,

I am appalled at the sacrifices you are asking my children to make in the quality of their education, while not asking the children in richer counties to do the same. Considering the disparities that exist in the educational opportunities between Baltimore City and the richer counties, justice demands that the rich be asked to make greater sacrifices. Strangely you have chosen to increase funding in some counties. Weren’t you recently lauding the progress that has been made in the City Schools? Why, at the first glimmer of hope would you ask for such drastic and disproportionate cuts? My family has three children in three different schools in Baltimore and we are committed to being actively involved and supportive of all of these schools. This includes financial support, even though this can be hard to do in difficult financial times. We do this because we know that improving the quality of public education is a fundamental step in turning around the quality of life, long term in Baltimore City. I am asking you, and the State of Maryland to make the hard choices to similarly support our schools.

City Schools have been making progress because of everybody's hard word and because there has been more equitable (I won't say fair, but moving in that direction) funding for Baltimore's schools. These proposed budget cuts are frustrating and frightening to me - after spending the last ten years in the City Schools I finally have a sense of hope for the system as a whole. I'm inspired by what's being accomplished and I feel vindicated in the choices I've made for my kids. I fear that with the budget cuts that you are asking for, momentum will be lost and progress reversed.

Please, reconsider your budget proposal. I know there is a financial crisis that needs to be addressed, but we need a solution that does not take away the educational opportunities of the poorest kids in the state. It’s just not fair.

Sincerely,

You can submit you're own comments here

Stopping the budget axe

Given the bleak picture presented in this Baltimore Sun article and this letter from Dr. Alonso is there something we can do to change this budget decision? I won't argue that the state is in a desperate situation, but there's no way that it's fair to pass this on so harshly to the poorest school districts in the state! City Schools have been making progress because of everybody's hard work and because there has been more equitable (I won't say fair, but moving in that direction) funding for Baltimore's schools. I was just about to send off letters to every politician that I thought would listen, but I'll pause to see if anyone has suggestions for a more unified and organized response.

This is so frustrating and frightening to me - after spending the last ten years in the City Schools I finally have a sense of hope for the system as a whole. I'm inspired by what's being accomplished and I feel vindicated in the choices I've made for my kids. Now it seems like the rug is being pulled out from under our feet! Here's an idea for an economic stimulus - invest in our schools! We could put the money to use and there's no question about the long term pay-off. There are enough building repairs that need to be done to keep the whole state's construction industry occupied.

Sorry, I'm starting to rant, but I feel like this is an attack that is hitting too close to home and family.