I needed a bright spot today, and this is most definitely it.
I am glad that I was wildly wrong some weeks ago when this case was announced to be headed to SCOTUS. Back then, I was all but convinced that five justices would see "deaf" and "immigrant" and rule against him on that alone.
Also: I can't speak for classroom aides in every school district, but in the district I went to school in, aides were little more than stay-at-home moms who wanted to help out a little. No formal education required--they were there to assist special-needs students with stuff like small tasks and lunchtime. A few aides I've known were assigned toileting duties as well. But, again, none of them were required to have any formal training. And that needs to change. We need to ensure that the people we trust to assist our most vulnerable students are actually qualified to do what they are assigned. And while we're at it--we should be paying schoolteachers and aides WAY more than we are.
I was a TA in grad school, and most of my time was spent grading papers from freshman students. Holy gods alive you're not kidding about some students being waaay behind. Like, you're at a pretty big university and you write--according to Microsoft Word--on a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Credit where it's due, these students would get more or less the right idea, but the grammar and the spelling errors were egregious.
There was a story out of Georgia yesterday that a sheriff's deputy in one of the counties had sued the county for not providing health coverage for certain procedures because she is transgender. The lawsuit so far has cost the county $1 million. How much would the procedure have cost them?
I was a special-needs student. My mother fought for me whenever there was opposition or a problem in my education or accommodations. Thankfully, there were very few problems she had to fight against, but when they came up...well, she was feared.
And the weird part? Until I was halfway through sixth grade I went to a Catholic school.
Couple minor quibbles here. Cell phones from 1997 have far and away more computing power than the Apollo 11 spacecraft. And...hearing aids do more than amplifying sound. You could go and buy sound amplifiers for maybe two hundred bucks. But hearing aids pick out the specific frequencies that users have difficulty or even no ability to detect naturally and amplify those. Hell, some hearing aids even produce specific frequencies as a kind of white noise to reduce the effects of tinnitus.
I'm not saying that means they should cost so much goddamn money, but it's a bit more than just boosting the decibel level.
But only because the defendant is the public schools, which the Roman Reich Wing of the SC abjectly hates. If any private, or religious school did that, they'd give them a pass.
Except some private and religious schools have accepted federal funds passed through the State and are therefore obligated to comply with federal nondiscrimination requirements.
Agreed on the thank you for the follow up. Of all the enraging articles, this one really got to me. This young man with so much potential was failed in such a horrific way as to leave him without the ability to effectively communicate with other people.
I needed a bright spot today, and this is most definitely it.
I am glad that I was wildly wrong some weeks ago when this case was announced to be headed to SCOTUS. Back then, I was all but convinced that five justices would see "deaf" and "immigrant" and rule against him on that alone.
Also: I can't speak for classroom aides in every school district, but in the district I went to school in, aides were little more than stay-at-home moms who wanted to help out a little. No formal education required--they were there to assist special-needs students with stuff like small tasks and lunchtime. A few aides I've known were assigned toileting duties as well. But, again, none of them were required to have any formal training. And that needs to change. We need to ensure that the people we trust to assist our most vulnerable students are actually qualified to do what they are assigned. And while we're at it--we should be paying schoolteachers and aides WAY more than we are.
Wow. I guess the (tiny) squeaky wheel does get the grease.
I was a TA in grad school, and most of my time was spent grading papers from freshman students. Holy gods alive you're not kidding about some students being waaay behind. Like, you're at a pretty big university and you write--according to Microsoft Word--on a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Credit where it's due, these students would get more or less the right idea, but the grammar and the spelling errors were egregious.
There was a story out of Georgia yesterday that a sheriff's deputy in one of the counties had sued the county for not providing health coverage for certain procedures because she is transgender. The lawsuit so far has cost the county $1 million. How much would the procedure have cost them?
$25,000.
I was a special-needs student. My mother fought for me whenever there was opposition or a problem in my education or accommodations. Thankfully, there were very few problems she had to fight against, but when they came up...well, she was feared.
And the weird part? Until I was halfway through sixth grade I went to a Catholic school.
Couple minor quibbles here. Cell phones from 1997 have far and away more computing power than the Apollo 11 spacecraft. And...hearing aids do more than amplifying sound. You could go and buy sound amplifiers for maybe two hundred bucks. But hearing aids pick out the specific frequencies that users have difficulty or even no ability to detect naturally and amplify those. Hell, some hearing aids even produce specific frequencies as a kind of white noise to reduce the effects of tinnitus.
I'm not saying that means they should cost so much goddamn money, but it's a bit more than just boosting the decibel level.
They did get it right.
But only because the defendant is the public schools, which the Roman Reich Wing of the SC abjectly hates. If any private, or religious school did that, they'd give them a pass.
Yes - and that is why they and other 'we get to choose the students' should get NO public funding, ever.
Except some private and religious schools have accepted federal funds passed through the State and are therefore obligated to comply with federal nondiscrimination requirements.
Yes, but special ed is a whole different thing. They might not be (probably aren’t) set up for it.
Sucks for them. I guess they better give the money back.
You beat me to it.
Agreed on the thank you for the follow up. Of all the enraging articles, this one really got to me. This young man with so much potential was failed in such a horrific way as to leave him without the ability to effectively communicate with other people.
I'm so glad something like this could never happen in our nation's capital. He said. Archly.
Yay! I still got it!
THIS makes me cry!