According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), since the late 1990s, there has been a rise in the number of children and teenagers diagnosed with autism, ADHD and other learning and developmental disabilities[i].
While it is not clear what has caused the increase in diagnosis, researchers have speculated the increased diagnosis may be due to a growing awareness, the availability of early and effective treatments, better reporting, and increased overall acceptance of disabilities. Researchers further speculate the increase in diagnosis may also be due to having children later in life, premature births, and use of fertility treatments. All of these factors increase the risk of a child being diagnosed with a disability[ii].
The CDC study was based on a national health surveys that included interviews with 120,000 and parents across socio-economic, ethnic, and gender lines. The results of the study found that twice as many boys than girls were diagnosed with a disability, children from low-income families and children on Medicaid had a higher rate of diagnosis, and Hispanic children had a lower rate of diagnosis which may be due to lack of access to healthcare and language barriers[iii].
The implications of the CDC study will have a tremendous impact on education. First, school districts will need to hire more special education teachers. The hiring of more special education teaches will alter the dynamics of a school. Schools will have to add additional special education classes in order to meet the increased need for special education programs. Since special education classes in most states average a maximum of 8 students for a Autistic Support classroom and 15 students for Learning Support and Emotional Support classrooms, a number of students in general/regular education classrooms may have to be moved to other schools to accommodate the increased need.
Second, the hiring of additional special education teachers and the creation of additional of special education classrooms may also alter how a district and school order curriculum and instructional materials and supplies. Some special educational classes will have students that require assistive technology such as specially designed chairs, desks, manipulative, and technology such as iPads, iPods, text-to-speech, devices. With increased assistive technology purchases, districts and schools will have to provide professional development training for teachers and classroom assistants in order to effectively support the students’ utilization of the assistive technology.
Third and last, the budget implications due to supporting a significant influx of newly diagnosed children may destroy any chance school districts may have to operate a balanced budget. School Districts will have to consider the costs of inclusion as some of the children will need to be enrolled/rostered in general/regular education classrooms, which means school districts will require teachers with “dual” certifications of general/regular education and special education, or school district may have to transition to a co-teaching model.
The CDC study has provided school district across the country with an opportunity to get ahead and prepare for an emerging trend. There is a great opportunity for school districts to develop innovative programs to support the emerging influx of children who require special education programming. Hopefully, school districts can break away from past practices and fall behind a trend and scramble to catch up.
No comments:
Post a Comment