The parents of special needs children in Greensboro, NC found out that the programs for their specific disability are being disolved.  Many students will return to their home schools and where there is currently an AU separate setting classroom, an IDMI (intellectual disability – mild) separate setting classroom, and a DD (developmental delay) separate setting classroom, there will now be one cross-category separate setting classroom.  The autistic children who are at these schools will be sharing a classroom with children who have very different disabilities ranging anywhere from a mild intellectual disability to students who struggle to feed themselves or go to the bathroom appropriately.  A single teacher, who might be trained and experienced with one of these types of disabilities but certainly not all three, will be responsible for the education of this extremely diverse group of children.

As one might suspect, this revelation has caused no small amount of stress and concern from the parents of the children with special needs.  For parents of children with a disorder that is perhaps most widely known for its struggles with change and transition, there might be no greater fear than to face a new teacher, new classmates, and for many a new school, only to be forced to do it again in a year or two when the student heads to middle school.  But if that is the greatest fear, a close second is the anxiety that our child is getting ready to be lost yet again in the shuffle of a classroom where a teacher simply cannot devote the necessary time to them given the various needs of students with vastly different disabilities.

Without any reasons for the change forthcoming from the Exceptional Children Department Administration, the parents are left to speculate what the driving force might be.  Is it money and budget concerns?  Is it something more sinister such as a dislike of these particular teachers, parents and students?  Or is it that this administration just fails to recognize what is so clear:  instead of getting rid of these exemplary classes and programs, Guilford County Schools should be trumpeting their successes and recommending that other school districts throughout the state follow their shining example!

Each one of these parents, each one, will tell you that they have finally found the academic setting that works for their child.  They will tell you of the joy of seeing their child reach new levels of academic achievement, the comfort of knowing that their child is in a place where the child’s special needs are met and the relief that child is safe and understood.  They will tell you that their child no longer hates coming to school.  And they will each tell anyone who will listen what a blessing it is that Guilford County Schools has been at the forefront of the autism/special needs challenge by having these separate setting classrooms led by teachers who are highly trained to specialize in this particular disability.  GCS has been a model of how a public school system can adapt to the needs of an ever-growing number of students with autism and other disabilities.  We strongly urge that you keep these classes intact!!