I recently ran into some parents battling a very familiar-to-me fight.
They moved to Spencerville because they had heard that they provide excellent services for children with Autism spectrum disorders. Just like I was told the previous year in the Shawnee schools, they were told, “There just isn’t any room for your child here.”
No room for a child at a public school? A school that you live in the district of? “We can’t provide services for your child here,” they say. You can tell a parent that their child can’t go to a public school because they don’t have a teacher?
Think about that as a new school year is starting, and the school calls and says your kid can’t go because they don’t have a whatever grade teacher. “OK, your kid can come, but we’re putting them on a bus for a 45-minute ride to another school. We will be picking them up at 6 or so a.m.” Also, your child hates car rides.
It sounds crazy. Well, this is reality for many parents in our area. One out of 36 children are diagnosed with autism, yet our local schools just can’t figure it out. They receive money from the state to provide services for all children and more money for children with special needs. Instead of polishing off that fancy football field, why not put it into the minds of the children who need it most?
Raising a child is hard. Raising a child with special needs is harder. Constantly advocating for basic needs within our education system, insurance system and the judgment of others is the hardest.
Kristan Horstman
Lima
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