Tell Duval Public Schools not to build an Autism Center that would cause unnecessary segregation.
53 Comments
W
Wanda Hedrick
10 years ago
The idea of segregating children with disabilities is taking Duval backward. I support rejecting this proposed plan.
J
Jocelyn Popick
10 years ago
Building an Autism Center is ruining the chances of any student to gain better communication and social skills in a regular public school. It is also impacting non-autistic students who do not get to experience having special needs students in their school and will not know that any child with special needs can thrive and be a working and loving part of society. That they should not be isolated.
D
Dena Willard
10 years ago
We can never learn, if our children are taught to keep a distance. Embrace and teach all, and the young ones will surprise you!
G
Gordon Walton
10 years ago
Friends with kids who suffer Autism asked me to sign the petition - they want their children to interact with non-disabled kids. Having raised four children (none of them disabled) my view is different - you should not segregate my kids from kids with disabilities (i.e.the real world). Nothing made me prouder then when my youngest child told me how she related to the kids less fortune her class. Children are never too young to learn this valuable life lesson of charity and love to all.
S
Samantha Boronell
10 years ago
A separate autism school is not the answer nor the education these kids need. They need trained staff and provide the tools required to teach them and let them thrive with the general population of students. I don't have an autism child but I have a cousin who does and he's is sooooo loved by our entire family. He's level of austin is severe but he loves to learn and loves his teachers and peers but most of all... he understands that being different is just the same as being equal with all kids. Give our children a chance to thrive with better choices and experiences in life. DO NOT PUT LIMITS to their already fragile environment.
R
Robyn
10 years ago
What happened to offering students least restrictive environment? All students need models of language and appropriate social behavior no matter what. Spend the money to train teachers better.
J
Jeff Burgess
10 years ago
Go Melissa: You are a great advocate for these kids!
A
Alisha Pennington
10 years ago
Didn't this country put an end to segregation decades ago? Let's not allow negative history to repeat itself. Our children, all of our children, deserve the opportunity to learn in an inclusive, diverse environment.
D
Darlene miller
10 years ago
An autism center is illegal. The main goal is least restrictive environment. With a separate school there is no chance of any kind of interactions with an average student.
A
Anonymous
10 years ago
I don't want this. Keeping the children with Autism separate will hurt not help them.
M
Melissa Lenertz
· petition starter
10 years ago
I have fought with Duval County for years trying to get inclusion for my son. Currently, it is not a pro-inclusion school culture. Finally, I had to make a better choice by putting my son in private school that offered blended learning (access to non disabled peers in language rich environments). If Duval County wants to help the Autism community, they need to focus their efforts towards providing smaller student to staff ratio, increased number of services (OTs, PTs, and SLPs), Certified Applied Behavior Analysts, sensory rooms, specially designed therapy rooms, and enhanced access to technology for instruction and communication within their site locations that primarily serve the students with Autism. They don't need to segregate them out of an administrative convenience.
S
Sheri Shank
10 years ago
This is a bad idea, these students need inclusion, not to be seperated. Listen to the parents and teachers before you make your decision.
M
Michelle Crow
10 years ago
Featured
Children with Autism should NOT be segregated into a center exclusively. My son has taken great strides in being able to participate with general education students. He is at Westview School and is in 8th grade. It would be a shame to segregate them in a center.
The idea of segregating children with disabilities is taking Duval backward. I support rejecting this proposed plan.
Building an Autism Center is ruining the chances of any student to gain better communication and social skills in a regular public school. It is also impacting non-autistic students who do not get to experience having special needs students in their school and will not know that any child with special needs can thrive and be a working and loving part of society. That they should not be isolated.
We can never learn, if our children are taught to keep a distance. Embrace and teach all, and the young ones will surprise you!
Friends with kids who suffer Autism asked me to sign the petition - they want their children to interact with non-disabled kids. Having raised four children (none of them disabled) my view is different - you should not segregate my kids from kids with disabilities (i.e.the real world). Nothing made me prouder then when my youngest child told me how she related to the kids less fortune her class. Children are never too young to learn this valuable life lesson of charity and love to all.
A separate autism school is not the answer nor the education these kids need. They need trained staff and provide the tools required to teach them and let them thrive with the general population of students. I don't have an autism child but I have a cousin who does and he's is sooooo loved by our entire family. He's level of austin is severe but he loves to learn and loves his teachers and peers but most of all... he understands that being different is just the same as being equal with all kids. Give our children a chance to thrive with better choices and experiences in life. DO NOT PUT LIMITS to their already fragile environment.
What happened to offering students least restrictive environment? All students need models of language and appropriate social behavior no matter what. Spend the money to train teachers better.
Go Melissa: You are a great advocate for these kids!
Didn't this country put an end to segregation decades ago? Let's not allow negative history to repeat itself. Our children, all of our children, deserve the opportunity to learn in an inclusive, diverse environment.
An autism center is illegal. The main goal is least restrictive environment. With a separate school there is no chance of any kind of interactions with an average student.
I don't want this. Keeping the children with Autism separate will hurt not help them.
I have fought with Duval County for years trying to get inclusion for my son. Currently, it is not a pro-inclusion school culture. Finally, I had to make a better choice by putting my son in private school that offered blended learning (access to non disabled peers in language rich environments). If Duval County wants to help the Autism community, they need to focus their efforts towards providing smaller student to staff ratio, increased number of services (OTs, PTs, and SLPs), Certified Applied Behavior Analysts, sensory rooms, specially designed therapy rooms, and enhanced access to technology for instruction and communication within their site locations that primarily serve the students with Autism. They don't need to segregate them out of an administrative convenience.
This is a bad idea, these students need inclusion, not to be seperated. Listen to the parents and teachers before you make your decision.
Children with Autism should NOT be segregated into a center exclusively. My son has taken great strides in being able to participate with general education students. He is at Westview School and is in 8th grade. It would be a shame to segregate them in a center.