Working toward special ed inclusion, equity

(AP) — Summer Blackwell pops a can of Mandarin oranges and chugs her lunch in the cafeteria of Olympic High School.

Invisible are the frustrations and triumphs she had as she outgrew a childhood seizure disorder and made the transition to a general education setting.

Bright lights and loud noise cause Caleb (not his real name) physical pain, and can provoke violent meltdowns that used to land him in isolation rooms at school.

The 15-year-old high school sophomore, who was diagnosed at 5 with autism spectrum disorder, used to feel sick to his stomach with anxiety walking through a crowd.

Through years of therapy and working with special education teachers, Caleb now can sense a meltdown coming and find a quiet place or ask for help.

Summer and Caleb are part of a large and diverse group of students qualified to receive special education services.

Recognized conditions include intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, vision or hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic conditions, health impairment, and "emotional behavioral disability."

Bottom line, eligibility depends on whether the condition interferes with learning, resulting in "unique needs" that can't be met in general education without accommodations.

Counting children from birth through age 5, who by law receive screening and services from public schools, the special education population in CKSD is closer to 16 percent.

The number of special education students statewide appears to have inched up over the past two decades, from 10.9 percent in 1996 to 13.4 percent in 2015, according to data from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Better identification of students in need of services and the trend to serve more children before they enter public school contributes to the perception that the special needs population is growing, said Doug Gill, assistant superintendent of special education for OSPI.

Looking at fluctuations over time, K-12 special education students in Washington State have made up around 12 percent of the total student population for the past four decades, Gill said.

Every kid has something unique to offer, and just because they're special education, doesn't mean they're any less than anybody else in the student body.

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder is increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from one in 150 children in 2000, to one in 68 children in 2010.

Data from OSPI shows that special education students are suspended or expelled at a rate disproportionate to their representation in the total population.

A new law, approved in 2015 and effective this school year, prohibits the use of isolation or restraint of special education students except as a last resort, when there is risk of harm to the student or others.