Some Parents Need Extra Help Too

As the mother of a 7-year-old with autism who is in a special education class at our local elementary school, I take offense at the attitude of a mother quoted in your article, “Special Ed Effort Faces Shake-Up,” June 5. Is my son one of the “slow” kids she is avoiding, whom everyone teases?

I think not. He is receiving an excellent education and services through the Los Angeles Unified School District. He performs at grade level in math and reading, and his vocabulary tests two years above his age. He mainstreams into a regular class three hours a day, and if someone makes fun of him, he is taught appropriate behavior.

It is only ignorance of special ed classes that leads to fear of them. If anyone visited my son’s class, he or she would see kids sitting at desks, schoolwork on the bulletin boards, and teachers teaching, just like in any “normal” class.

If people take the time to notice, they will see that there are more similarities than differences between so-called normal and slow kids. If parents taught their kids to accept people for who they are, no one would ever get teased. Unfortunately, sometimes someone needs to teach the parents first. Some kids just need extra help.

Linda Rinaldi

West Hills

As we have heard over and over, funding for special education (as for all education) is way below what is required. For a public education, special education student, a school district receives less than 10% of the actual cost for services.

The individual public school districts do, however, receive from the state the regular average daily attendance funding that is for all children. This funding is different for all school districts, based on some archaic formula. This ADA funding, of course, does not cover the additional costs for special education services, but it is something. If a child attends private school, the public school districts receive little or no funding to cover the additional services for the private school student.

Rosanne Klein

Torrance