IEP's and the Meaning of Life...

There are a couple of questions nobody ever asks me and I wish they would. The first one:

"Hey Ben, what is the meaning of life?"

To which I would respond: "Next question."

The second one:

"Hey Ben, what the heck is Special Education all about?"

After spit-spraying Diet Coke at the surprise of this question, I would thoughtfully respond in the following manner:

Special Education is a free and public educational service for children ages 3-22. The services are funded in large part by State and Federal agencies thereby requiring considerable State and Federal oversight. 

State and Federal oversight typically translates into TONS OF PAPERWORK. 

But that's okay, because Special Education is important. You see, in theory, Special Education is supposed to provide meaningful access to a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities.

When I say "disabilities" its important you know what I mean: Real human beings connected to real human families that face real human challenges on a day-to-day basis. That's what I mean. 

Back in 1972, folks got hip to the fact that kids with such challenges shouldn't be denied access to a free and appropriate public education based on their disability, their challenges, or their lives. In 1972, you could be very proud of our fine government for this recognition. It was and is a big deal. 

Fast forward 40 years and here we are. Special Education--as we know it--has only been operating for about 40 years. In that 40 years, a TON of research and a TON of monitoring has taken place. The research and the monitoring has revealed good things and bad things. 

Wanna know what the research and monitoring are still on the fence about? Wanna know what still has no conclusive evidence of its effectiveness? (And in some studies, very little effectiveness at all?)

Individualized Education Plans/Programs (IEP's).

Yup. It's true. That all powerful document that keeps special educators up at night? That document that all special education coordinators keep training and training and auditing and auditing?

It's kind of a wash.  

So, what? What does an iffy document have to do with Special Education?

Everything. 

Literally, everything in special education is funneled through that document. The free and public access to an appropriate education for a child with a disability is completely and utterly reliant upon that document. 

There you have it. Special Education is a wonderful social support service for children and their families that is completely beholden to a document with "iffy" effectiveness, reliability, validity, etc. 

I'm no whistleblower. Those of us in Special Education have known this for years. IEP's are the one thing that we would all just like to do without. Don't get me wrong. We want to make goals and we want to monitor progress, but we want a more efficient way to do it.

That said, I'm not one to worship the problem. I'm one who likes to work with what we've got.

If you or someone you know wants help navigating the special education process for their child, contact Dr. Springer for consultation and advocacy services right now.

Special Education is a wonderful thing. Don't let the stack of papers slow it down.

Bullying and The Hunger Games...

I'm gonna be honest, I have not read the Hunger Games Trilogy, okay. My wife is currently reading it and I enjoy her abridged accounts. Once she finished reading the first installment, we decided to go see the movie.

So, my disclaimer to you die-hard Hunger Game book-readers: I'm a poseur.

That said, I totally dig the story and really, really liked the movie. If you're like me, and you didn't know much about The Hunger Games prior to it's blockbuster status, its a tale of kids in an post-apocolyptic America. The kids (and the rest of the country) are being seriously oppressed by "The Capitol," (see also: The Man).

The most disturbing part of their oppression? Every year a group of kids are selected to participate in The Hunger Games and they must fight to the death.

That's messed up, right? Right.

It made me wonder a couple of things.

For the past few years I have been working in public schools and I noted well before the blockbuster movie arrived, that a lot of kids were reading these Hunger Games books. I thought it was curious, but never paid any mind.

Once I found out the premise, it made me think: "Why would kids like these books so much? It's about kids killing each other to survive? Forced to do things they hate? Forced to find an identity in a crumbling and oppressive world?"

Very quickly, my mind turned to the research I conducted for my Master's Thesis at the University of Utah: Bullying.


Kids like reading about the Hunger Games because they can RELATE to the character's situation on a pretty profound level. Thus, the premise of the books isn't disturbing, but the level of relatedness they portray is.

The kids in the Hunger Games are pitted against each other while adults and peers stand idly by. After surveying the research literature surrounding bullying, you would be hard pressed to find a more appropriate metaphor.

Bullying is a form of coercion that serves any number of functions for the perpetrator: Power, control, survival. Victims of bullying fall prey not only to the perpetrator, but to those that stand, watch and accept it. Peers and adults basically allow this to happen. It is...permitted.

Before sending your child into a version of The Hunger Games, contact Dr. Springer about how to prevent bullying on a school-wide basis and how to teach your child to respond to bullying.

Thank you, and may you manipulate the odds in your favor.