Closures and Cuts

As in, school closures and budget cuts to programs for autistic children.

In Brooklyn, a nationally recognized program for speech and language delayed children, The Little Room, will either be moved from its location in the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School or closed, according to the December 13th New York Times. The Little Room, which has been in operation since 1970, is “one of the most popular and best regarded [preschools for special education students], not just for those enrolled but for dozens of other families who receive evaluations and support services at the school.” Among the factors being cited as reasons for moving or closing The Little Room are the costs incurred from maintaining a small class size (The Little Room’s classes are capped at nine students) and the teacher’s salaries, which are comparable to those of the other teachers at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School.

In South Carolina, budgetary concerns are threatening a program to provide early autism treatment, as noted by yesterday’s Greenville Online:

State Sen. David Thomas said the state Department of Disabilities and Special Needs [DDSN] appears to be “raiding” special programs funded with specific appropriations to protect the core agency from mandated budget cuts, a move he said is a “form of theft” that raises “serious legality questions.”

DDSN officials state otherwise; Thomas says a new audit shows that $9 million of $10.5 million appropriated for the autism program has gone unused or been diverted by DDSN.

A school closing and funding for services promised and then disappearing: We’ve been through both of these experiences, and I’d think that many families have, and that we’ll be hearing more stories. What if your child’s in a public school program with a 1:1 student to teacher ratio and there’s a hiring freeze, and then more people keep moving into the school district because of its reputation for special education?

School boards and state officials need to hear that autistic children need these programs and services, and that there needs to be transparency about how decisions are made, and how funds are allocated. Parents  put in huge efforts to get these programs in place, and our kids make even huger efforts to learn and do what’s asked of them: Closures and cuts shouldn’t just be made without keeping those who they’re going to affect aware and informed, and not in the dark.