Autistic children suffer in underfunded, understaffed SC classrooms | Education laboratory

Private, third-party providers pose a challenge to “oversight and accountability,” as well as to the “confidentiality of the other students,” Greenville district spokeswoman Whitney Hanna wrote in an email. The school district is in the best position to hire vetted professionals trained in behavioral health interventions, she wrote.

Additionally, Hanna writes, the school district is required by federal law to allow disabled students to work with non-disabled peers as much as possible. This is known as “least restrictive environment”, what teachers sometimes call mainstreaming or inclusion.

A one-on-one assistant, Hanna wrote, is the most restrictive environment for a student.

However, not all parents agree with this. Warner said a therapist who monitors his son and occasionally gives him prompts to help him participate in class would help him spend more time with non-disabled peers.

Reluctant neighborhoods adapt

For Hogan, the state ABA memos marked a sharp departure from the way she has done her job for years. If someone had asked two years ago about using an outside provider for a child, her answer would have clearly been no, she said.

The state memos mean Hogan should at least consider outside providers, but the district needs time to adjust, she said.

“To assume that there is a large group of people who are not getting services because this new memo came out without the protocol on how to do that, I think that’s unfair,” Hogan said.

In the meantime, the parents are organizing themselves. Seven spoke at the Oct. 22 school board meeting in Greenville, asking for a task force to address poor test scores, staff shortages, overcrowded classrooms, crisis training, alleged teacher abuse and disparities in services between students from vulnerable populations and those whose parents could afford, would tackle. private consultants to push for needed services.

“If a child’s ability to receive the support and services they need to access an education depends on their parents’ ability to advocate for them, then the system is failing,” said parent Tinsley Manus during the meeting.