Obama's Shame of USA Education Nation: The Silent National Education Emergency Crisis…Children with Autism.

This week is Education Nation in New York and yet there is no substantive scientifically proven academic educational programs for disabled Americans specifically children with Special Needs. How can we be excited about Education when the entire premise of education in the United States is based on discrimination and segregation? These are two horrific discriminatory policies which African Americans have endured and have now overcome. It is incredibly sad to me that the very people who have suffered under discrimination, the African American population, are so ambitious they have forgotten their humble begins and are not breaking down barriers for the disabled children who are currently unable to receive an adequate education services because of discriminatory policies in the USA.

I should also point out that many children in the African American community make up a large proportion of the Special Education population and are still being discriminated against and segregated in Special Education classes. What is it? Have they have forgotten what it is like to be segregated and discriminated against? Why is it they are so willing to continue to tolerate violations of The 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title VI? I guess I hold the African American community to a higher level of accountability because of Martin Luther King Jr.

How can the United States continue to ignore Autism which is an epidemic. On reliable resources, a pundit by the name of Travis, said if white males were failing in school it would be a national crisis. White males with Autism aren’t, in many cases, allowed to attend school and therefore can’t be counted as failing and therefore it is a silenced national crisis. Children with Autism, if they are allowed to attend school are not allowed to socialize with their neuro-typical peers thereby never having the opportunity to develop normal socialization skills.

Ask yourself why this national education crisis is being silenced? Why has the government not addressed this national education crisis but more over defunded and practically legalized segregation and discrimination in the year 2011 and still in 2013? It is amazing because the government does not seem to have this difficulty with Cerebral Palsy and Down’s syndrome but they continue to openly and wontedly segregate and discriminate against children with Autism.

How could we ever celebrate Education Nation when the Educational System fails to provide services to those who need education the most; children with special needs? How could the USA ever celebrate our National Education System when it discriminates and segregates which goes against everything we believe in as a society? Education Nation represents discrimination in the USA and until the President and the USA change their personal bias against disabled children specifically children with Autism then Education in the USA will only represent an oppressive discriminatory regime against children with special needs.

When Obama ran I loved what he had to say regarding education in the United States which can only be described as woefully ineffective and ignorant. It was personally exciting for me to hear a would be president talk about a society of full inclulsion and breaking down barriers for disabled children. Sadly, five years later, as I update this hub, Arne Duncan has done exceptionally well at misplacing academic funding to provide the supports for full inclusion. Arne Duncan has failed as the Secretary of Education for children with autism. Currently, as I type this there is still discrimination and segregation for children with autism. There is still not an effective scientifically proven curriculum to teach this ever expansive population. It is a national crisis but one that is habitually and continually silenced.

It is Autism Awareness month but no one in the media has mentioned it. So what happened to those campaign promises? I am certain President Obama meant to fulfill them but didn't have the council to accomplish this mission. After all Arne Duncan is from the defense department and knows nothing about Science or brian chemistry. To the best of my knowledge he has never taught a class let alone children with autism.

This is the President I wanted to vote for...where is he?

This educational program was exciting when it was first announced until it came to light that there were no ladders for children with autism. Actually there was no bottom for children with this specific disorder. It was busines as usual in the world of education; a caste system. Only a select few have the opportunities to succeed and children with autism spend their days segregated from the very population they need to associate with which is socially appropriate neuro-typical peers so they learn to socialize.

Great catching slogan. Race to the top but unfortunately it is only for a very small population and not for the children who need it the most.

I am in complete agreement academic standards must be raised in this country. It is embarrassing when I speak to children in college and they do not have the coursework I graduated with. They have Iphones, tablest and game systems but not enough ambition to study the great mysteries of the world. Euclid? Who is he? It is embarrassing!

Race to the top is half way up the mole hill of what is but a broken cracked shell of an educational system.

Well if all else fails then college was supposed to be affordable. Wait is that true? Yes! In the beginning we heard a lot of rhetoric about affordable college. There are opportunities to complete your education at an academic institution but it is hardly affordable. As a matter of fact, student loans will be your only way to get through college and there is no guarantee when you graduate you will be highered. Since the 1990(s) education has become so watered down, it is arguable whether it is an educational system or a taxation system. Standards are still very low. Recently, I sat in a coffee shop with two college juniors who were Math majors. They had intentions on working for the National Security Agency. They were very bright and working out which courses they should take. They had all the calculus I, II & III and finitie math. They believed every single proof they had worked. I encouraged them to take thermodynamics which is a challenging course but then burst their bubble that everything they had been taught is based on a system of assumptions. To know the assumptions is to quantify the unknown. We can never be a 100% certain of anything. I was taught this when I was quite young. My same aged peers where taught this very young. It is a humbling lesson to know no matter how much you think you know you may be absolutely wrong. Each person needs to quantify fallibility of any thought process.

So while I appreciated these fine hardworking young men and their patriotism, I understood why young people can't get jobs. They lack the fundamental education and humility it takes to transfer their skills to the work force. A forty year old has had a better education then a twenty year old is receiving today. Granted twenty year olds seem much happier listening to Katy Perry and on their phones. But all of those distractions are keeping them from understanding that they need to assert themselves so that they are employable upon graduating because they have not had the same academic opportunities. This is not just true in the USA. I spoke with a friend who works for an international conglomerate around the world. He had a horrible time training young engineers which he had to explain PSI to. I was shocked. Anyone with tires should know what PSI is and yet, he was training people who were engineers who did not. Scary!

It should be qualified that every single time we get involved in free trade education seems to be watered down. Your education is not in the hands of the department of education or in the college you attend. The person who will make or break you academically is you. You can heed the advice of individuals who are more learned than yourself and take advanced courses. You can push yourself beyond what is safe and comfortable by taking academically challenging classes. I attend college with all Asians. I was the only non-Asian person in many of my classes. I have to give it to my Asian friends. They work exceptionally hard and are very dedicated people. That is the key here too. Be dedicated and a fanatic for your own success.

The internet actually affords those ambitous individuals the opportunity to educate themselves. Personally, I have taken Biochemistry I & II online and brushed up on my Calculus. I do not recommend this for the first Calculus class you take. Those classes have been a tremendous help. I also took a course from Yale Child Study Center on Autism. There are also many courses you can take from MIT. It is all there for those who are ambitious enough to use the Internet for their future success.

This article was written several years ago initially and what has changed about the policies towards educating children with Autism? Almost nothing has changed. In the above picture is my son who has both medical complexities and autism. Much to his chagrin he is required to do advanced everything except spelling. I can not possibly teach a subject I do not understand.

There continues to be a silent discrimination against individuals with disabilities in our educational system and we are not meeting their needs because we have low expectations. I believe every child should be taught to the maximum extent which they can learn. Honestly, Calculus is not that hard! Originality is difficult. We need to educate everyone and not just those who we think can make it. Einstein, Bill Gates, and Jefferson were considered autistic. Can you imagine what the world would have lost if they had not been educated? I am so sorry my country has given up so readily on my son because I have not nor will I ever although I am certain my son wishes I would sometimes. Until this nation can be entrusted with educating and care for all children they can not lead any of us, especially me.