Posted by Patti Abelson on December 07, 1999 at 11:35:05:
We are committed to upgrading the inadequate program in the public high school our son will attend next year. It is a "jobs program" that has not successfully placed a single gradute in full time or long term employment in its seven years. The "jobs" that are available as training opportunities include stocking shelves in a variety of settings such as CVS, Blockbuster and the HS Library. There is one computer in the classroom that is rarely used. When the students do utilize technology, it is to word process documents they have already written in long hand. There are only low level "functional academics" that fail to teach the problem solving and other skills necessary to maximize participation in our society
Dev. Dis. teens today are the beneficiaries of high hopes and high expectations implicit in early intervention and other new special ed strategies.
We would love to hear about models that build on students' stengths rather than reinforce the sterotyped expectations about "retardation."
Thank-you so very much.
Patti Abelson