Autism And Education

I am very glad Newsweek has brought this fact to light. I have an exceptionally gifted daughter and there is little or no accomodation for her to excel in the public school arena. Yet, there is a child in her class with Aspergers Syndrome (form of autism) who has a paraeducator dedicated to keeping him from disrupting the "rest" of the class.
I have met resistance from her teachers and principal whose defense is "what more do you want?, she's already reading above grade level"
This is a setup for failure among our brightest minds of the future.

???Are you kidding me? Spending your time worrying about how much MORE your "gifted" daughter can learn, when you have a son with autism struggling in the real world? As a mother of a 10-yr-old low functioning son with autism, I am disgusted with your concerns!???

I think that the comment made in this post clearly illustrates what the author of the article was trying to convey to us. YES! We do need to be just as concerned about meeting the needs of our gifted children as we are about meeting the needs of those who aren???t. Is it any less of a travesty to let a gifted child muddle unchallenged through the educational system? Many of you commenting on this article do not seem to understand that being gifted is not the same as winning the lottery. Gifted children have to struggle just as hard (if not harder) as those with ???disabilities.??? The struggles are just different. Gifted children in our society are often ostracized by their peers because they are different. Gifted kids are intellectually aware of more of the nuances around them and often communicate on a much higher level. Because of this, they often lack the social skills and maturity to deal with their peer groups in school. So what happens to these gifted kids? They often shut down and withdraw from their potential because they can not cope with being different from their peers. You all may be disgusted with this mother???s concern, but I for one applaud her for acknowledging that she has a duty to help each of her children reach their full potential as human beings.

???Are you kidding me? Spending your time worrying about how much MORE your "gifted" daughter can learn, when you have a son with autism struggling in the real world? As a mother of a 10-yr-old low functioning son with autism, I am disgusted with your concerns!???

I think that the comment made in this post clearly illustrates what the author of the article was trying to convey to us. YES! We do need to be just as concerned about meeting the needs of our gifted children as we are about meeting the needs of those who aren???t. Is it any less of a travesty to let a gifted child muddle unchallenged through the educational system? Many of you commenting on this article do not seem to understand that being gifted is not the same as winning the lottery. Gifted children have to struggle just as hard (if not harder) as those with ???disabilities.??? The struggles are just different. Gifted children in our society are often ostracized by their peers because they are different. Gifted kids are intellectually aware of more of the nuances around them and often communicate on a much higher level. Because of this, they often lack the social skills and maturity to deal with their peer groups in school. So what happens to these gifted kids? They often shut down and withdraw from their potential because they can not cope with being different from their peers. You all may be disgusted with this mother???s concern, but I for one applaud her for acknowledging that she has a duty to help each of her children reach their full potential as human beings.

Actually, as a teacher myself, I find these concerns very valid. What is so "disgusting" and repellant to discuss why we as a nation are ignoring our best and brightest. Instead of trying to make everyone achieve at the same level, we need to recognize that student achievement will always be leveled between gifted to low functioning. Why can't we spend as much time on the gifted kids as we do on the special needs kids? How dare you insult teachers who work very hard and threaten them with their livlihood. Just because she has a belief does not mean she shold lose her job. Do you believe everything at your company that they shove down your throat?

As a mother of two wonderful sons--a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome at our public high school and a twelve year old in a gifted program at his middle school, I would never quibble about taking the gifted program away in favor of greater money spent on educating children with disabilities. My "gifted" son would manage just fine in a classroom, with or without the program. My older son owes much of who he is today to the efforts of his various educational teams along the way. My hopes for both of them may be different, but I haven't given up hope on either. To reduce or deny funds for gifted children is not in our country's best interests, to be sure. But, to reduce or deny funds to our special needs children is a travesty.

I completely agree! I truly hope that this administration will look at this horrible law and make changes so that our nation does all we can within reasonable limits to aid those with diminished capabilities, but also that we don't deprive ourselves of the next generation of brilliant minds...we need doctors, business people, and other highly skilled professionals to ensure the best of America continues to be among the best in the world!

The allocation of eductional funds in the US is flawed (I think Stephanie Lindsey did a great service by highlighting the discrepancies). As a country, the US spends woeful little time and monetary resources on identifying and addressing the abilities of our brightest children. It will be to the detriment of our society. It is not a question of who deserves more, rather what benefit our society will gain from simply challenging bright students, especially at younger ages. The US is at risk for falling farther behind as we post dismall graduation rates in physics, math, etc. which is why many immigrants come to learn at our universities and then depart with their knowledge (it actually is a national security issue). As a country, we must open dialogue regarding fixing the problem. It doesn't have to mean reducing special ed children's funding, but we need to start allocating more time to our bright children. It is a sad day that so many posters are angry that Ms. Lindsley simply pointed out how the US spends its resources and questioning if it is wise. I would say she is searching for knowledge and a better way. Invoking a discussion is to everyone's benefit.

i have 6 children. All have gifts to share altho only 2 were identified as gifted while still in school. Those two were diverted to after school giofted programs and given additional work in their regular classroom. Would they have benefitted from a 'special gifted program'?? MAybe - but they are spending their adult lives working with all kinds of people. Their education has been (in one case) clear thru to a PhD. Most of their learning has been self directed and actualzied. They didn't need 'special' to achieve and succeed.

My 2 identified special needs children were in need of intervention in school and specialized methods for learning without which they could not achieve any siccess. They were not able to self-learn. Government money spent on IDEA enabled them to reach for an ability that would never have happened on their own. They are now living lives as adults with the ability, in one case, to live and support himself and in the to be self sufficiant to a level not possible without years of school intervention.

my gifted children have come to appreciate that many different minds help our world function. Their siblings helped them to understand that learning doesn't come easily to everyone. Government funding allows each to participate to the best of their abilities.

We are in almost the exact same situation. Our 17-year-old son with autism tests at about a first grade level, while our 11-year-old daughter scores in the top 1 to 2 percent on standardized tests. But I don't think the answer is to take money away from disabled students. I do not think my son would ever have a chance of living even semi-independently without the years of intensive therapy he has received. I think the answer is to put more funds into accelerating education for gifted students, including helping them with the social difficulties they face from being so far ahead of their peers intellectually. Some my knock this as an added expense that we can't afford. But if we are to progress as a society and as a country, it is an investment we cannot afford to pass up.

I share your pain. I'm blessed with 2 beautiful daughters one is 8 on autism spectrum and the younger one is 4 1/2 but brilliant for her age. She is reading adding and substracting she can discuss nature, solar system .. take any topic and she'll have her own 2 pennies worth to add to it and I have the same concern how is the education system gooing to handle her special needs as an over achiever. What can I do as a parent to foster her intrests and make sure she is not bored to death in her class which by the way is prefect for my older one because even though she is academically advanced she is so socially inapt and has her own set of challenges in fine and gross motor skills ability to comunicate. And it is so true when you say I just expect her to be contributing member of the society if she achieves anything more it is a pleasure but not the target.

Are you saying that for gifted children to get services they need we should take them away from autistic children? Why not just advocate for gifted services? Articles only purpose seems to be to pit gifted parents against children with disabilities. Shame on you Lindsley! With a little research, you could have made a case to support gifted education--dropout rates, federal prison population, etc. Look it up!

My son is both Autistic and gifted. He has a mild form called Asperger's syndrome. He is in the second grade reading and comprehending at least at the 7th grade level. He didn't wan't to be tested at a higher level so they are not pushing it. He spends only a minimal amount of time in the resource room to work on behaviors that interfere with his daily living and ability to fit in socially. I can see the need for resources to be available to both special needs and gifted individuals. My son does not require additional help learning how to read and do his math. These things come very naturally for him. He does need lots of help learning to make eye contact, work in groups, pragmatics of language, and to do very basic things like wash his hands after he uses the bathroom. I am confident that with this kind of help he will be able to put his natural abilities to work he will be able "to prevent the next worldwide flu pandemic, or invent a new form of nonpolluting transportation. Perhaps [he] could even discover a cure for autism.

Laura

This article is wonderful. Her opinion is especially interesting given that she has children on both ends of the spectrum. I, too, have a gifted child who is not being pushed to his full potential. I do all I can at home to enhance his education, and he loves school (right now.) A private school is not an option for us, as there is not a great one in the rural area where we reside. It it such a detriment to our country to not push our brightest to excel. All children are not created equal - some are capable of more, and some less, just as adults are. We need to bring the focus back to leveling, so that each child competes with their intellectual peers and children have the chance to excel at their own level and reach their own personal potential. Our country's future could only be better by putting more resources towards our brighter kids. It is a crying shame that they are being left behind currently. I believe parents of gifted children tend to work on the situation individually rather than combat it through public avenues. This may be our mistake.

My problem with this article and the comments that follow is the very limited view of "gifted". If you can expand your definition of gifted, you can understand the complexity of designing programs for special students. For example, should a student who is athletically superior be enrolled in a program that will hone his abilities to give him (or her!) a chance to use their ability professionally? We all say that those students should always focus on schooling because there is such a small chance of them succeeding profesionally, but what if we had a special program focused on just their ability? What about a student who is gifted in art? In environmental sciences? In interpersonal relationships? There are seven, potentially eight, recognized strands of intelligence. Academic ability is not the only way to be gifted! Now do you see why it is so much easier to draft legislation mandating minimum requirements, but becomes tricky when dealing with those who excel?

Amen - Glad you voiced what I've felt for years. This is why we take our girls to KUMON. Guess who we find in the waiting room. Many Asian parents who have also felt the same about their kids. No wonder they outperform us more often than we should accept!

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Unlike some of the posters here, I did not sense any attitude of "whining" in the article. We don't treat education properly in this country. It is about being political and the workforce instead of about maximizing EACH student's growth and development. It is this inequity that results in America's poor showing versus other countries academic achievements. We should NOT decrease the programs in place, BUT we should be developing programs and attitudes that ensure that any willing, working student is working to capacity and not being ignored or bored simply because they are not a "problem." Perhaps it is time to consider that while education is a right and should be available to all, that should not be license to squander that opportunity or interfere with the same rights for students who would like to learn. Instead of seeing school as a chore and a punishment or an interference with their life, those young people should be allowed to leave school, actually encouraged to leave school and see how difficult living is without education, with the promise that should they change their attitudes and want to learn, they can then get the education that they have now come to value. Education should be, and is, a privilege available to all. But, like college, some have to grow up a bit more before they can benefit...that, despite the political rhetoric, can't be forced, especially to the detriment of those who do want to take advantage of their opportunity to learn.