{"id":4028,"date":"2023-12-12T10:54:58","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T10:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advocatesforchildren.org\/articles\/her-son-was-promised-a-special-education-class-hes-still-waiting\/"},"modified":"2024-05-22T16:12:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T20:12:16","slug":"her-son-was-promised-a-special-education-class-hes-still-waiting","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/advocatesforchildren.org\/bn\/articles\/her-son-was-promised-a-special-education-class-hes-still-waiting\/","title":{"rendered":"\u09a4\u09be\u09b0 \u099b\u09c7\u09b2\u09c7\u0995\u09c7 \u098f\u0995\u099f\u09bf \u09ac\u09bf\u09b6\u09c7\u09b7 \u09b6\u09bf\u0995\u09cd\u09b7\u09be \u0995\u09cd\u09b2\u09be\u09b8\u09c7\u09b0 \u09aa\u09cd\u09b0\u09a4\u09bf\u09b6\u09cd\u09b0\u09c1\u09a4\u09bf \u09a6\u09c7\u0993\u09af\u09bc\u09be \u09b9\u09af\u09bc\u09c7\u099b\u09bf\u09b2\u0964 \u09b9\u09bf \u0987\u099c \u09b8\u09cd\u099f\u09bf\u09b2 \u0993\u09af\u09bc\u09c7\u099f\u09bf\u0982"},"template":"","class_list":["post-4028","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_type-afc-in-the-news","topic_tax-early-childhood","topic_tax-students-with-disabilities","misc_topic-special-education"],"acf":{"component_standard_hero":{"":null,"excerpt":"","short_description":"","button":{"":null,"link_type":"page","page":{"title":"\u09a8\u09bf\u09ac\u09a8\u09cd\u09a7\u099f\u09bf \u09aa\u09a1\u09bc\u09c1\u09a8","url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/12\/nyregion\/special-education-preschool-nyc.html","target":"_blank"},"file":null,"title":""},"image":5735,"disable_share_icons":false},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"The New York Times | Taslima Amjad has called, emailed or visited government offices in New York City nearly every day for months, in search of help for her 3-year-old nonverbal son.\r\n\r\nHer son has physical difficulties and developmental delays and needs one-on-one help and therapy sessions to learn. He also has the right \u2014 enshrined in federal law \u2014 to attend a special preschool class with only six students, for free, to get that support.\r\n\r\nBut this school year, officials told Ms. Amjad that no spots were available. Months later, he remains in a regular large class of about 15 students. He is not eating his lunch and rarely participates. Until recently, the program required him to leave early \u2014 at 11 a.m. \u2014 since his teacher is unequipped to support him.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey have no idea how much my son is suffering,\u201d said Ms. Amjad, who lives in the Bronx. She added: \u201cI cry all day, every day.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe family is searching for a special education preschool spot a year after Mayor Eric Adams pledged to provide access to every student who required it. While many 3- and 4-year-old students with disabilities learn with their general education peers, those with more advanced needs are often entitled to small classrooms with additional staff.\r\n\r\nBut at the end of last school year, more than 1,110 children were waiting for a seat, according to Education Department data released this week. Over 40 percent of preschool students never received a single session of a required support service \u2014 like speech therapy \u2014 in their special education plans.\r\n\r\nThe gaps are emerging as financial challenges threaten the city\u2019s broader network of prekindergarten services. Many special education seats are paid for through federal pandemic relief dollars, which expire next fall. Officials have not offered a plan for maintaining the spots.\r\n\r\nThousands of other seats for free preschool for 3-year-olds will also be eliminated after the mayor announced separate budget cuts last month.\r\n\r\nNicole Brownstein, an Education Department spokeswoman, said in a statement that every student \u201cdeserves access to the programs and resources they need to succeed\u201d in school. Officials are working to place students in \u201cprograms that will best suit their needs and working closely with our contracted partners to find ways to bridge any gaps,\u201d she added.\r\n\r\nNew York City\u2019s prekindergarten programs grew into a national model under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. But he was also criticized for the lack of suitable seats for children with disabilities \u2014 who make up 20 percent of the overall public school system \u2014 even as the program added tens of thousands of general education seats.\r\n\r\nAt a news conference last December, Mayor Adams pointedly criticized the previous administration. He said the disparities were evidence of dysfunction \u201cat its highest level\u201d and promised to fix them. Every preschool special education student, he said, would \u201chave the supports they need to flourish\u201d by the spring.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe previous ideas of universal 3-K and pre-K did not account for children with disabilities,\u201d the mayor said at the time. \u201cIt was unfair, and it was wrong.\u201d\r\n\r\nOne year later, though, the city has failed to follow through on Mr. Adams\u2019s pledge.\r\n\r\nDuring his administration, the city used expiring federal pandemic aid to open more than 700 spots and help close gaps but left hundreds of other students waiting. At a crucial developmental period, those children were missing hundreds of hours of specialized classroom time that could help improve their future performance. The list typically grows significantly during the school year, as more children are identified as needing help.\r\n\r\nWith the school year only halfway through, \u201cthe problem\u2019s only going to get progressively worse,\u201d said Betty Baez Melo, who leads early childhood work at Advocates for Children, which works with families that lack seats.\r\n\r\nMany children with severe autism are assigned to classrooms with five other students, one teacher and two assistants. But in Manhattan, the Bronx and many sections of other boroughs, no spots are left in those classrooms.\r\n\r\nIn the Bronx, Kathia Morales worries her 3-year-old son, who has autism, is being left behind.\r\n\r\nHis special education plan mandates a small classroom. But since September, he has often been cared for by his grandmother while Ms. Morales, a single mother, works. They are struggling to navigate his speech delays and behavioral challenges alone.\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m at a loss because I don\u2019t know what else to do,\u201d Ms. Morales said, as her voice broke. \u201cTime is being wasted. It\u2019s not fair for him,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re taking this as serious as they should be.\u201d","":null,"settings":""}}],"relationships":{"":null,"article_type":[83],"topics":[8,28],"misc_topics":[198]},"misc":{"search_results":{"":null,"excerpt":"","featured_image":5735}}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Her Son Was Promised a Special Education Class. 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