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How Obama Could Hurt Your Autistic Child

By California Father On July 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Teacher 1: He can’t sit.

Teacher 2: Ever?

T 1: All he does is flap his hands.  If he can’t stop flapping his hands and distracting the other children…

T 2: How many students do you have?

T 1: 35. If he can’t stop flapping and distracting the other children, he’s out of my [...]

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Value-Added

By California Father On July 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

This excellent AP piece by Libby Quaid about classroom overcrowding points out that though states are getting stimulus money for education it’s “not enough to cover state and local budget shortfalls.”

The stimulus boosted federal spending and helped restore cuts in state budgets, sources that together provide about 56 percent of school dollars. [...]

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Walter Cronkite Died For Your Sins

By California Father On July 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

When you read the emails by Gregory, King, Stephanopoulos and others, you start to understand why most major network interviews with politicians tend to be a lot less hard hitting than they need to be to really hold their subjects accountable. The politicians themselves have [...]

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California Here He Comes

By California Father On July 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment

“You cannot ignore facts,” Obama said. “That is why any state that makes it unlawful to link student progress to teacher evaluations will have to change its ways.”

When I first saw the above photo composite, it sickened me.  I had supported Obama because I thought he would bring positive change to education, [...]

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Sandtime Therapy

By California Father On July 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment

“It’s a chocolate milkshake machine,” I said to my five-year-old of the wavelets that swamped our feet, and holding my hand, he jumped up and down, the muscles in his wrist tensing with excitement.

I played with him, my wife played with him, the beach packed with humanity, the heat intense [...]

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Local Hero

By California Father On July 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

It’s time for our son to go outside and visit the garden with Mama after dinner.

You know that means?

That when we come back inside it’s time to act street rat crazy.  To not follow directions, scream at the top of our lungs.

Patterns. That’s what we’re about these days. One [...]

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Boo Radley’s Dad

By California Father On July 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I wonder if Boo Radley’s father having a hard time writing a novel. If there were too many characters, plot lines, twists. I wonder if he got up late at night and wondered how he would ever finish it and ended up thinking about his son. Difficult therapy sessions, Fair Hearings, no signs [...]

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Response to Intervention

By California Father On July 22, 2009 · 2 Comments

Expect to hear a lot about Response to Intervention if you are a member of the IEP chic. In  the old days (about fifteen minutes ago) kids were found to be deserving of special ed services if there was a discrepancy between ability and achievement.  The school psych would test a child to see [...]

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Bob

By California Father On July 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Falling off the Floortime wagon? Letting your child watch 2-3 hours of TV that could be better spent engaging him in meaningful interaction? Just getting sick of hearing Sponge Bob 24/7? Meet the other Bob, a device that automatically turns off the tele after your child reaches his viewing max. The thing is very [...]

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Nursery School Dropouts Offered a Second Chance

By California Father On July 19, 2009 · Leave a Comment

At 4, Ronnie is a nursery school dropout.

He’s getting a second chance, however, at an unusual facility–the Cheerful Helpers Child-Family Center at the Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Ronnie has learned, for instance, that when he touches Joseph’s modeling clay, Joseph yells “no” at the top of his lungs.

“He’s angry,” Ronnie says to his [...]

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