Introduction
Growing up in a poor urban area, it is difficult to make ends meet. An autistic and handicapped child is very stressful for parents and family members. While autistic individuals are relatively high-functioning, they have great difficulties socializing and interacting with others. The fact that an autistic person is furthermore confined to a wheelchair and cannot walk is stigmatizing enough in elementary school, but the learning disability is even more of a challenge. Although they are capable of learning and many are highly intelligent, they have obvious learning differences and must go at their own pace. Most would perform far better in a special school, but their parents and family simply cannot afford to go to private school.
Most children in poor areas have attended public school all his life. One important piece of federal legislation that has helped my disabled and handicapped individuals get the educational resources they need is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the ADA, an autistic individual is a qualifying person with a disability. Fortunately, public schools are required to accommodate handicapped persons by making its facilities handicapped accessible (Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, Title III). But while the school must accommodate autistic individuals and cannot discriminate against them or other handicapped children, there are many areas in which the ADA is insufficient to adequately protect handicapped and disabled persons.
There are many children with autism who are much can talk, can read, can write, and can express themselves. These people are not vegetables, but have the ability to think and articulate opinions. I do not see autistic individuals as a burden, but as a people who simply have special needs. I wish there were more resources and support for these people. Many families struggle to get their autistic child the best possible education within reach, but it is a very hard process. A single family with a special needs child, acting alone, has little ability to engender real substantive change.
The Need for a Special Interest Group
It is very difficult to affect legislative change. Particularly with today’s political landscape, it often requires the efforts and resources of many people to bring about action. One of the most difficult aspects of the political process and candidate campaigns is funding. A special interest group eliminates many of the collective action problems associated with conventional fund raising by reaching out to its members to support political candidates that advocate their particular viewpoints, goals, and objectives (Overton, 2012, p. 1271).
There are a number of nonprofit groups whose mission it is to raise autism awareness to the public. For example, there is Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks seeks to advocate for increased funding for research and services for Americans with autism (Autism Speaks, 2016). Although Autism Speaks performs great work in raising autism awareness, it does not address the need for local school districts to provide greater resources and educational opportunities for autistic children.
The school district in city and urban areas are severely underfunded. What is more of an issue, however, is the way in which autistic students are treated in school. In special education programs, the school is required to form an individualized instruction program (IEP) for each special education child (Mayer, 1998, p. 894). Children with autism are a diverse group and require a structured and regimented educational environment to meet their educational and social needs (Womack, 2002, p. 191). The reality is that parents with economic means will be able to advocate more strongly for their autistic child’s needs. In addition, wealthy parents will have the financial means to pay for special services and education and will not rely on the public school system to provide for their autistic child (Womack, 2002, p. 233).
There are many families who are not wealthy and have an autistic child. What people do not realize is the cost of educating and raising a special needs child far exceeds the average cost of raising a child. There is a need for an interest group that specifically advocates for the lower-middle class family who has an autistic child to care for. Perhaps wealthier towns and cities have better educational services for special needs students in public education, but in poor school districts, there is barely enough funding to keep the school doors open.
The special interest group would advocate for low income special needs children who have autism. Locally, the group would fight to implement more services for special needs students. The current situation is that autistic children are placed in a classroom with 24 other children. They have trouble focusing with so many other students and distractions in the class. The teacher is tasked with educating 25 students, both regular and special needs, with no distinction based on learning ability or disability.
While it is surely difficult for a regular schoolchild to learn and retain information in such an environment, it is even more challenging for students who suffer from autism.
Almost all legislation starts as a local issue. The interest group would therefore focus on changing local school policies and initiatives. One of the most acute issues in today’s school is that there is a noticeable lack of funding for special needs students. The budget for special education is almost nonexistent. The first call to action would be to increase special education funding to local school districts, especially school districts that have a large underprivileged, urban poor student body. An increase in funding would enable the school district to hire additional teachers and also teachers who have experience working with special needs students.
The special interest group would also work to ensure that autistic persons do not “fall through the cracks.” While students who have severe disabilities receive funding and attention, those students who suffer latent disabilities or more subtle disabilities tend to be forgotten. It seems that only the special needs students who have the most severe symptoms and conditions receive individualized instruction. For high-functioning autistic students, they are often mistaken for being a regular student and treated as such. There is a strong need for increased attention to students who have learning differences that might not necessarily rise to the level of “extreme” special needs.
Conclusion
While education is not a fundamental constitutional right, the states have undertaken the responsibility of providing a free public education to all school aged children. The law also requires that these states provide equal education to special needs students. The public schools are failing to provide autistic children with an adequate education. Their needs are not being met, and their autism is not being taken into account by the school or his teachers. There is a need for a special interest group to advocate for the educational resources and opportunities for people with autism. While autistic students are not like regular students, many of them do not have impaired cognitive skills at the level of the typical special needs students. Because many autistic children fall somewhere in the middle, the public school system falls far short of delivering them a quality education.
References
Americans with Disabilities Act, Pub. L. 101-336, 104 Sat. 327 (1990).
Autism Speaks. (2016). About us. Retrieved from
https://www.autismspeaks.org/advocacy/about-us.
Mayer, L.N. (1998). Durant v. state of Michigan: The interaction of the headlee
amendment to the Michigan constitution and funding for special education
provided by the state to local school districts. Detroit College of Law at Michigan
Overton, S. (2012). The participation interest. Georgetown Law Journal, 1259-1310.
Womack, R.R. (2002). Autism and the individuals with disabilities education act: Are
autistic children receiving appropriate treatment in our schools? Texas Tech Law
Review, 189-234.
