Children with autism suffer in underfunded and underfunded SC classrooms | Educational Laboratory

Private, third-party service providers pose challenges to “oversight and accountability” as well as “the confidentiality of other students,” Greenville district spokeswoman Whitney Hanna wrote in an email. She wrote that the school district is in the best position to hire proven professionals trained in behavioral therapies.

Additionally, Hanna wrote, the school district is required under federal law to accommodate as many students with disabilities as possible with non-disabled peers. This is known as “least restrictive environment” what educators sometimes call mainstreaming or inclusion.

Hanna wrote that a one-on-one is the most restrictive environment for a student.

However, not all parents agree with this. Warner said having a therapist observing her son and giving him occasional tips to help him participate in activities would help him spend more time with non-disabled peers.

Reluctant districts adapt

For Hogan, the ABA state notes marked a sharp departure from how she had done her job for years. She said that if someone had asked to bring a child into the facility from outside two years ago, her answer would have been a resounding “no.”

The state’s memos mean Hogan must at least consider outside vendors, but the district needs time to adapt, she added.

“To assume that there is such a massive group of people who are not using services because a new memo has been published without a protocol on how to do that is, in my opinion, unfair,” Hogan said.

Meanwhile, parents are getting organized. Seven spoke at the Oct. 22 Greenville school board meeting, asking for a task force to address failed test scores, staffing shortages, classroom overcrowding, crisis training, alleged teacher abuse and service disparities between vulnerable students and students. which parents can afford. private consultants who recommend necessary services.

“If a child’s ability to receive the support and services needed to access education depends on a parent’s ability to advocate for him or her, then the system is failing,” parent Tinsley Manus said at the meeting.