Special Needs

**lorraine** · 28-02-2012, 10:05 PM

Some people would not put their children in the special needs benefit, the reason being they would not want to give their children the tag, so although they would be a prime target of special needs, they would rather work towards giving their child a normal life so they can go on to achieve their ambitions, even though at times maybe difficult.
Now others may look for ways of making sure that their child has special needs so they receive the benefits.
Before I go any further, this is not to make sure that the family suffers, the benefit system should be changed, however the change should see a benefit somewhere, because some people may have come to rely on the benefit they receive.
Then again, I am not talking about children that really do have special needs these families do need to have the added extra help, yes as I say some people will decide not to go down that road, but others will, and need too.
From a good source I was told that the special needs benefits are being worked to get the benefit.
The solution was, the child was supposed to have special needs, the person checked out the problem, devised a number of test for the child to do that would help to conclude if the child had the problem, and low and behold the child did the test without any problem, the tests she did confirmed that the child was normal. This would be wonderful for the child to know, that child could be placed off the special needs, but still come to the person if he/she needed help, however giving the child the opportunity of knowing that the child is fine, would give them confidence to go out in the World and excel.
Albeit, the parents may feel let down, as they lose the benefits, so the main criteria is to help the parents get over the boundries of losing the added benefit.
If I told you that some parents would feed their children full of sugar before the test began, could it be done, could the child become hyper, if test were done on the norm, part of the cirriculum of schools throughout the school year, then no one has a hold on how the child reactions are.

**007** · 28-02-2012, 10:24 PM

There should be no seperation of children because they are different.
Its a horrible thing to do!
Segregation is an awfull thing

**angelman** · 28-02-2012, 10:43 PM

007 I am afraid that I cannot agree with you. My son has PMLD (profound and multiple learning disabilities) so has to be "segregated" (although that isn't the word that I would use) in order to receive the specialised teaching that he needs. The school he goes to has a different curriculum to the main stream.

Lorraine, I have learned to approach this subject with a wee bit of caution as it is never quite as simple as it first appears. The classic example seems to be ADHD. On the face of it, it might seem that this is down to bad parenting and the parents looking for an excuse for their failings. While I am sure that that is the case in some examples, I think it dangerous to label all in that manner.

**007** · 28-02-2012, 11:11 PM

I have a son with autism spectrum disorder apparently.
In a special school he would likely have been doped up to the eyeballs and left drooling in a corner.
In mainstream Ed it Ed noticed that he has amazing abilities in maths, science and geography.
He entered a university engineering course at age 15.
Got his degree at 19.
Pity no one will hire him though, the RAF won't because of his diagnosis.
Private companies will not either, he has no experience, many require 4 or more years service in the military.
Recently his diagnosis has been revised but not sufficiently to remove the original from his records.
So he works as a kitchen porter in a restaurant!!
waste of a good education?