Why I'm Glad My Son Has No School Today

[proud2BlibKansan]

My son Charlie has the day off from school today. Such a change in his usual routine of Monday = school is never easy for Charlie, who prefers---indeed depends and relies on---routines to give him a sense that things are right in the world. Long weekends are, therefore, not something that we, or he, look forward to.

But I'm glad Charlie has the day off today, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. In his old school district, where Charlie was in a self-contained autism classroom in a large public middle school, he did not get the day off. Raised in Oakland and Berkeley---one the home of the Black Panthers, the other of the Free Speech Movement, and much much else---I was appalled that our large central Jersey school district did not recognize MLKJ Day as a holiday. My son now attends a public center in which all the children are on the autism spectrum or have disabilities. And you can be sure to note that I was pleased to note that Charlie has the day off.

Charlie's current academic curriculum focuses on pre-vocational and daily living skills. He doesn't have classes in language arts, social studies, science. We've been trying to think how to explain MLKJ Day to him and one thing I am saying is that, it's really because of the work of Dr. King that Charlie is able to go to school. That Charlie---a child who in a previous not-too-long-ago generation would not only have never set foot into a public school, but who would also have been institutionalized at a young and tender ager---has the right to a free and appropriate public education.

more . . . http://www.care2.com/causes/education/blog/why-im-glad-my-son-has-no-school-today/