Tips for the holidays; NYC mayor failed on SpEd promises; Alabama lawsuits expand; U.K. parent carers demand more financial support
News roundup for the week of Dec 17
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Medical Motherhood’s news roundup
Snippets of news and opinion from outlets around the world. Click the links for the full story.
• From The Paulding Progress (Ohio): “10 Tips to Help Children with Special Needs Enjoy the Holidays”
[…]Tip #1 – Make a plan for the holidays and share it with your family.
[…]Tip #2 – Remind your family about holiday plans.
[…]Tip #3 – For holiday gatherings, give your child a job and a plan.
[…]Tip #4 – Maintain routines as much as possible.
[…]Tip #5 - If your child is sensitive to unfamiliar smells, help manage them.
[…]Tip #6 – Eat healthy foods and consider how new or special foods impact your child.
[…]Tip #7 – Take breaks when needed.
[…]Tip #8 – Do not allow presents to be a hindrance to enjoyment.
[…]Tip #9 – Get your child into the spirit of the season through gift giving.
[…]Tip #10 – Give your child the gift of your attention.[…]
• From The New York Times: “Her Son Was Promised a Special Education Class. He’s Still Waiting.”
Taslima Amjad has called, emailed or visited government offices in New York City nearly every day for months, in search of help for her 3-year-old nonverbal son.
Her son has physical difficulties and developmental delays and needs one-on-one help and therapy sessions to learn. He also has the right — enshrined in federal law — to attend a special preschool class with only six students, for free, to get that support.
But this school year, officials told Ms. Amjad that no spots were available. Months later, he remains in a regular large class of about 15 students. He is not eating his lunch and rarely participates. Until recently, the program required him to leave early — at 11 a.m. — since his teacher is unequipped to support him.
“They have no idea how much my son is suffering,” said Ms. Amjad, who lives in the Bronx. She added: “I cry all day, every day.”
The family is searching for a special education preschool spot a year after Mayor Eric Adams pledged to provide access to every student who required it. While many 3- and 4-year-old students with disabilities learn with their general education peers, those with more advanced needs are often entitled to small classrooms with additional staff.
But at the end of last school year, more than 1,110 children were waiting for a seat, according to Education Department datareleased this week. Over 40 percent of preschool students never received a single session of a required support service — like speech therapy — in their special education plans.
[…]At a news conference last December, Mayor Adams pointedly criticized the previous administration. He said the disparities were evidence of dysfunction “at its highest level” and promised to fix them. Every preschool special education student, he said, would “have the supports they need to flourish” by the spring.
“The previous ideas of universal 3-K and pre-K did not account for children with disabilities,” the mayor said at the time. “It was unfair, and it was wrong.”
[…]One year later, though, the city has failed to follow through on Mr. Adams’s pledge.[…]
• From Alabama Political Reporter: “Alabama faces expanded lawsuits for discrimination against disabled children in state care”
A series of lawsuits alleging systemic discrimination of children with disabilities in childcare facilities across Alabama have been broadened to include several key state agencies. The Alabama Department of Human Resources, the Alabama Department of Education, the Alabama State Board of Education, and several county DHR offices and directors have been added as new defendants in the lawsuits.
“These lawsuits are long overdue,” said Caleb Cunningham, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. “These children, like thousands of others, were entrusted to the custody of the State and, instead of learning and growing, were warehoused and stunted. Every child has the right to an education, and to deprive them of that is not only shameful but also in violation of the law.”
[…]“I am proud to represent these children,” said Tommy James, another attorney representing the plaintiffs. “Giving voice to the voiceless, these lawsuits are about bringing systemic change. So many children are locked away and never given the tools to succeed. It is time for Alabama to do the right thing.”
[…]In their initial filing, attorneys for [the head of the state’s Department of Education] stated, among other things, that [Superintendent Eric] Mackey was unaware of the specific suffering of each child and, therefore, the cases should be dismissed.
[…]“Rather than working with us to find a solution to these problems, the State has regrettably chosen to hire private lawyers, which will waste tremendous amounts of taxpayer dollars,” James said.
• From i News (United Kingdom): “I was a parent carer who helped save the economy billions. Where’s our support? (Opinion)”
[…] I spent 10 years as my daughter’s primary carer and as she went through crisis after crisis, so did my mental health. So it is often disheartening to hear politicians blaming parents like me for “gaming” the system and being behind the financial struggles of local authorities up and down the country.
In truth, parent carers contribute more to society than they take. We only make such easy targets because we are drowning in the day-to-day struggles of caring for profoundly disabled children and don’t have the strength to fight any more battles.
[…]Families with dual incomes often end up becoming single-income families, with one parent carrying the care burden. Reduced income brings its own stress, and often relationships don’t survive.
[…]Within five days of our daughter’s death, our carer’s allowance was stopped and I was asked to arrange an appointment with a work coach to discuss my obligations for finding work if I was to receive universal credit. There was no period of mourning, just a bureaucracy lacking compassion. With proper bespoke support, parent carers could be easily supported in returning to work, or simply having some semblance of a normal life. A life that gives them the tools and support to deal with the trauma they have gone through.
[…]Part of the problem comes from the fact that parent carers and disabled children are undervalued in society. Yet parent carers save the economy £160bn per year, providing enough unpaid care that without them, the NHS would collapse. They do this with minimal financial and emotional support, and we should look to remunerate them for the work and benefit they provide to society.
Whenever the budget comes around, parent carers wait for news that what they do will finally be valued. Sadly it never happens, no matter which party is in power.[…]
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