Just about autism - you know it's really easy and flippant to say 'our schools should do something about this' and suggest that schools don't put the effort into kids that need help. In the vast majority of cases, schools and teachers are seasoned and empathetic practitioners in dealing with kids with a vast array of kids disabilities - from anxiety to incontinence yes that is both mental and physical conditions. And these days there is never just one kid in the classroom with special 'issues' - every single kid in a classroom has an affliction, be it life threatening allergies, asthma, epilepsy, adhd, auditory processing, speech language, aspergers, anger management issues- you name it - seriously I don't know how kids have ever learned in the past without these issues being flagged. (Yes you hear my sarcasm!)
Kids spend about 6 hours a day at school - lets not lose sight of who does the lions share of caretaking - PARENTS! Parents and carers need to step up not schools and teachers. They need to educate themselves on what to do for their children and follow through. I think VS had a great support system in his employer in Holland - he took a needy kid under his wing. That is a rare and generous gesture in this world. I think VS had a lucky break in his upbringing there.
Following through on advice and being consistent are two incredibly difficult ideals to maintain long term. For example, your doctor says you should lose weight and exercise regularly. You know you have to be consistent and eat the right things and work out - but wow its hard week after week. Right? Well its even harder to stay motivated in terms of getting your child to perform and stick to a regime. The kids whine and scream and act out and don't do their chores, and make life miserable for their parents who are already time poor and need to get to their second job. So things slide and hope fervently that the school can pick up the slack. (And in sometimes we get on the defensive and our the expectation is that schools are responsible for shaping these individuals.) Lets not lose sight of the real problem -the solution does not lie in schools and teachers stepping up another level- it relies on family following through and everyone working in concert.
There is no finger pointing here - we don't have enough info about anyone here to make informed decisions. But lets not lose sight of the fact that a parent has the child 24/7 and is ultimately the greatest influence in their child's life.
