Where is BENSON? ~ You remember BENSON....

For those of you that have been following my blog for awhile...you may remember a little 6 year old boy named, BENSON. He has Down syndrome and was being totally discriminated against in the fact that our school district would not allow him to attend a regular general education Kindergarten classroom. Why not? Because our wonderful IEP team members that are hired by our Broward School District insisted on having certain district 'assigned' individuals DICTATE to the mom exactly how much time her son would be removed from general education classrooms, it was written in stone that he needed to be 100% ESE Special Education classroom...we call that a CLUSTER classroom.

This little guy has 3 older sisters that attend a NOVA school and another older sister that graduated from a NOVA school. BENSON'S mom of course wanted her son to attend the same NOVA school all her other Children go to, so she signed BENSON up to be on the NOVA LOTTERY! He was put on the 'sibling Nova lottery list' and guess what....HIS NAME WAS PICKED!!! BENSON'S name was picked from the lottery and mom was delighted! It was a HaPpY time for the mom, his sisters and others that knew how much it meant to this family that BENSON be able to attend the same school and ride the same bus as his 3 older sisters! It was cause for celebration for sure! To be picked from the NOVA LOTTERY SYSTEM was an accomplishment few get! She registered him at NOVA and then attended the KINDERGARTEN ROUND-UP at the beginning of last year...just 2 days before she was told that the school did not have a 100% ESE ROOM for BENSON to be in, so mom was told he could not attend their school now...that was such a blow to everyone's plan for BENSON and his sisters!
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Back at the beginning of the school year last year, I did several BLOG postings pertaining to BENSON and the stories that pertain to all the shenanigans that he and his mother had been put thru this last 2009-2010 school year at SNEAGLE RIDGE ELEMENTARY School. So much NONSENSE that no parent should ever have to put up with when dealing with the school we entrust our Child to!! That school absolutely needs to have some disability specific trainings and certainly needs to have the entire administration and its general education teachers taught POSITIVE INCLUSION TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES. The Gen. Ed. "nice" Kindergarten teacher BENSON was assigned, refused to even make simple EYE CONTACT with him on a regular basis, this was observed on several occassions. That teacher absolutely refused to INCLUDE BENSON to even the smallest degree...her attitude was carried over to her young students in that they all were 'on the look-out' for any little thing BENSON might do....those students followed her 'fine example' to DISCRIMINATE and not accept BENSON, just because he was different and had  Down syndrome. The opportunity and the lessons that teacher missed teaching all her students is lost...his 'regular Kindergarten classroom peers' missed out on a very valuable lesson called....ACCEPTANCE...acceptance for those that are a little different than you and me. BENSON WAS NOT INCLUDED IN GEN. ED KINDERGARTEN this last school year at Sneagle Ridge...because his Gen. Ed teacher and the staff and administrators mind-set is behind the times in that they just don't get it...they are not interested in getting it either!! How do I know this? Because I was by this mom's side the entire school year with trying to communicate to BENSON'S school and trying to create a well written IEP and trying to get the supports and services BENSON needed! This school very much BELIEVES in clustering students with disabilities into seperate classrooms and when they on occassion blend two Kindergarten classrooms together I saw with my own eyes the attitude not only from the administration, but more importantly from the other classroom students. They did not want to sit 'too close to those students' on the carpet during a blended class time inside the library for Media Special.

The students with disabilities are pretty much taught all together in their own Special Needs classroom, not mainstreamed or included. BENSON'S mom wanted her son to be given the opportunity to learn along side typically developing classmates so he could learn from them....so he could copy what they were doing. She knew that....yes he absolutely needed help and assistance especially to help him to follow classroom rules and to keep his hands to himself and not touch others. The assistant and the ESE teacher at this school very much believed in frequently giving fish crackers and/or Cheetos throughout his entire 'school day' as the way to get BENSON to 'learn'.....this was sickening to watch being done...YES BENSON liked the food treats, but it so wasn't written on his IEP whatsoever to use food reinforcements to get him to comply! Did anyone read his IEP? Where did that come from or is that a way some teachers were taught they had to do for certain individuals to motivate them to stay on task? I think that way is great for DOG TRAINING for sure!

Since BENSON had only been provided the most minimal of opportunities to be part of a General Education Class room, I saw with my own eyes that not much of any real Inclusion was practiced at this school. NEVER would I ever recommend this particular school to anyone ....especially for a child with a disability like Down syndrome! The Administration's mindset is out dated and discriminatory. Inclusion is not encouraged or understood at SNEAGLE RIDGE ELEMENTARY, and because of that I would absolutely request that this school be provided with QUALITY Disability Specific Training and also to have FIN-Florida Inclusion Network provide all the teachers and staff with POSITIVE INCLUSION STATEGIES Sessions! Oh and I absolutely would never recommend this particular school to anyone!!

This school is only one of many across our Country that have this same outdated way of thinking about our little kiddo's and their ABILITIES to learn to READ, WRITE & DO MATH! I am a firm believer that with the right teacher with an open mind and lots of room for flexibility to the way they have always 'taught' classes...our kiddo's require a lot of being flexible yet being firm with what your expectations are about each Child....the point is....TREAT OUR CHILDREN WITH RESPECT AND TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO READ AND DO MATH AND ALL THE OTHER WONDERFUL THINGS A CHILD ATTENDS SCHOOL FOR!

The time is now, our Children's future depends on everyone DOING THEIR PART in providing a FAPE and BELIEVING in them that they absolutely are capable and able to learn just as anyone else....yes it might be at a slower pass or a different way. Bottom line is...everyone has the right to be taught along side their neighborhood friends, in their neighborhood school. Let's start doing the right thing for the future of our Children!