Good schools with all the bells and whistles, for that we must start again

Readingtime, 10 minutes

 

 

We are in Denmark, Cato and I. On Wednesday, I have an appointment at a special school in Sonderborg for further education for children between 16 and 25. The condition is that they have completed the 10 years of primary education. But what if you can't do that? I am going to ask.

In Denmark, too, things are bad, I read on the website of the national autism association. Many children are stuck at home. Here, too, efforts are being made to keep Europe's promise. Inclusive education. So all children must attend a regular Folkskole. Schools are obliged to provide appropriate education. To what extent does that work? At the autism association, they are not particularly satisfied at the moment.

 

Should we be so happy with the European agreement on inclusive education?

This is a question.

No matter how well intentioned Europe may be, there is not much point in helping people with disabilities if you do not know what will help them. Education for the blind is for the blind, education for the deaf is for the deaf. Education for people with autism? It does not exist. If it does not exist, how can mainstream schools offer a suitable service? There are no schools excisting in the Netherlands that really know how to do it.

 

It is characteristic of people with developmental disabilities that their development is different from that of the average child. Normal education is therefore not suitable, because it is designed for children with 'normal development'. Normal education is not even suitable for many normal children, let alone for children with an autism spectrum disorder.

 

But a deviant development is not in itself the only problem. Blind people cannot see, deaf people cannot hear. People with autism do have ears and eyes, but behind them things go wrong. It goes wrong in the processing of what the senses take in. How does it go wrong? Well. Blindness is a fairly unambiguous story. Autism is not. On the other hand, you have smart and dumb blind people. Blind people who are good at languages or good at mathematics, blind people with a sense of humour, blunt blind people, nice blind people. It is not so clear-cut either.

 

It starts with respect for the disability. People respect blind and deaf people. People do not respect people with autism. Why not? Because autism is mainly expressed in behaviour. And we don't like that. You may be autistic but we don't want to be bothered by you. Someone who is blind and knocks over a table with glassware is felt sorry for, is helped and told it does not matter. Someone with autism who freaks out because he panics is pushed to the ground. Teachers even receive special training for this. The reason why he panics is irrelevant. 'He's one of those autistic people, you know, they can't cope with anything.'

 

Behaviour is the core of the problem. But behaviour that we label as inappropriate manifests itself in circumstances that are unbearable for someone with autism. Imagine this. You have not eaten or slept for three days. Finally, you can go to bed and take a nap. You have eaten a sandwich and you fall into a deep sleep. After five minutes, you are woken up by someone who starts nagging you that you still have to do the dishes. Then you start shouting: 'Get lost you idiot, let me sleep'. How would it feel than if, in response, you were locked in the closet and then sent to therapy? That's what it must be like for people with autism. You always have a head that is overstimulated all day, which is so tired as if it hadn't slept for a week, and if you shout for everyone to shut up you get a course in normal behaviour. There are children who are actually locked up in the closet because they scream out of frustration.

 

Libraries have been filled with books about the autistic person's brain. It is a favourite subject to write about. Methods and games are invented to teach autistic people how to cope in the ordinary human world. Nowadays, in the context of inclusive education, here in the Netherlands care workers are employed in schools to take autistic children by the hand throughout the day. 'Now you have to sit down. Now you have to do a task. Now we're going outside...'

 

But who can tell me when a child with autism enjoys school? Who can explain to me what it takes for a child with autism to enjoy going to school?

Nobody. And that is strange, because I think that this is the most important thing, that a child enjoys going to school. For our healthy children it is a condition, otherwise the parents will complain, but for a child with autism it is not. Parents of children with autism should be grateful that their child is tolerated.

 

Children with autism do not enjoy going to school. They have to go to school. If they are good, they are allowed to belong.

 

In a school where a child with autism can develop, where he can dream about his future, where he may even make friends, learn to live and learn to be, in such a school it is safe. He is not put under pressure. He does not have to sit in a class of thirty children. He is not an exception but just as much a pupil as anyone else. He has a timetable that he can handle. He doesn't have to be on a playground with a few hundred other children. There are people who help him understand his autism without blaming him. There is a balance between having to and being allowed to say no because things are not going well. It is quiet there. He learns what he can learn. Learning is fun. Failure is good. Overcoming is achievable. The little four-year-old boy with autism starts at a school and knows that he is welcome there. That is a given truth. As natural as it is for any child. 'I can go to school! Of course I can! Great!'

 

It's like I'm writing about another planet. But let's dream on. So what is it about? It's about deviant development, a spiky profile, as they said in Colchester. Every child has its own programme. I learned about project education on my journey, for instance. Every child works on its own project that involves all kinds of skills. There are safe places to be. There are small classes where it's quiet. There are plenty of people who help and set an example. People who understand how to balance between duty and freedom, between play and rest, between having authority and respecting authority.

I liked the small classes in Colchester and La Tour-d'Aigues. But the beautiful study areas of O Pelouro and the Agora school in Roermond, where children sit quietly together studying, should not be missed either. There is creative education, theatre, music, movement, yoga, meditation, because a child with autism cannot be busy learning all day long. He needs the variety. Some people with autism walk back and forth 80% of the time. Why? I don't know but they need it. There are lessons in communication. Because for people with autism communicate is very difficult. There is a lot to do outside in the fresh air. Growing up healthy is important for every child.

 

No fixed classes, but study areas for certain subjects. Freedom but also structure. A balance that suits each child.

 

Such a school will automatically become inclusive. Conversely inclusive, because many children need such a school. One child may finish school because he passes the final exams in mathematics and plays the guitar beautifully, another may have completed eight subjects at highschool level. It is both equally okay. What does it take to make this happen?

 

Let me continue a bit. No child with autism leaves school without a follow up. Work, housing, activities. And if there is a follow-up, a team of people will still be involved. No child becomes a closed file. The file always remains open. Parents only need to call if help is needed for their child. And that remains so for the rest of his life. Parents are understood and helped. If their child with autism is at school, the parents have peace of mind, and they can go to work without worrying, because they have confidence that things will go well. How nice that would be. And what a lot it would save. A lot of misery but also a lot of money. (There is a good chance that teachers and therapists will also enjoy their profession again.)

 

It feels like we have to start all over again. In the repetition. Every century in the repetition. As if the beautiful ideas of all those educational innovators of the last century had to be thought up all over again.

And don't tell me it's too expensive. If we throw less care money into the water we can easily pay for it, we will have money left over. In the long run, we will have a lot of money left over. Because we are raising our children to be happy adults who enjoy life. Who know where to turn for help, who feel respected as equal citizens.

 

 

A little background

Two years ago, a large care institution that has branches and schools for special education in Rotterdam turned over 143 million euros.

31 million went to education. About 21 thousand euro per pupil.

The care part of the institution collected 112 million, one third of which was for youth, about 36 million for some 2 to 3000 children. This last figure is a guesswork based on somewhat vague annual reports.

 

But one thing is very important to know here. Although this is one institution, the care and education departments do not work together. It is not the case that if a child at the special education school is not doing well, the therapist from the care department will (literally) run down the stairs to offer help. No, it doesn't work like that.

That child goes into the mill. Parents have to apply for care, enter the process. Intakes must be held, and the child must be put on a waiting list. And then the child becomes a file in the care department. And then a treatment programme is started and other financial flows start to flow, other money is raked in. A child who is being treated at the care department does not have to go to school. Some of the 3000 children mentioned above may be at home. How many? Nobody knows. They are not counted. What is certain is that at least four very expensive people in the care institution are involved in his file. And that his school fees are also being paid. And the child might be sitting at home.

 

Surely you agree with me that this is a very expensive and very inefficient system? It is set up so that as many people as possible are working with as little result as possible. The care department of this institution employs 1357 people. A large part works in youth care separately from the school for spcial education. People who are busy with intakes, meetings, writing reports. All things that are of no use to the children and their parents. Useless hours. And they are paid for it. Children and parents suffer. You and I lose out. It is throwing money down the drain. (The care workers don't like this either, I'm sure.)

 

Let's be more silly. 36 million for 2500 children. That is EUR 14,400 per child. We already had 21 thousand per pupil for education. That adds up to 35 thousand euro per pupil per year to realise the school of their dreams. Where they really go to. Where the therapist is just there, can just go to work without wasting hours on intakes and other nonsense.

 

Our children are being used for an industry. It shouldn't be like that. In these times of austerity, we should be more efficient. Really good schools with all the bells and whistles where all children are not only welcome but feel welcome as well. It is the most efficient system there is.