Editorial: Washington state educators are 'out of step'

Posted 9/25/19

On Sunday, Sept. 22, a few hundred people took part in the Autism Society of Rhode Island/Groden Center 17th Annual “In Step for Autism” walk and family fun day, which for the last several years …

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Editorial: Washington state educators are 'out of step'

Posted

On Sunday, Sept. 22, a few hundred people took part in the Autism Society of Rhode Island/Groden Center 17th Annual “In Step for Autism” walk and family fun day, which for the last several years occurred at Colt State Park in Bristol and this year was staged for the first time in city (East Providence) on and around the grounds of the Crescent Park/Looff Carousel and Larisa Park.

The weather was idyllic, the atmosphere joyous, both befitting the celebration of these beautiful children and adults with autism while supporting the efforts of the Groden Center and other organizations around the state who endeavor to offer similar services to those with autism.

A couple of days later, The New York Times published a story about a shocking, 180-degree opposite incident some 3,000 miles away.

“A School Put an Autistic Boy’s Desk in a Bathroom, Setting Off a Debate on Stigmas…The 11-year-old student was given a desk over a toilet as a quiet place to do schoolwork. The school’s superintendent said the ‘idea was well-intentioned,’” was the banner headline and subhead of the story describing a seemingly unfathomable decision made by the administrators at the Whatcom Middle School in Bellingham, Wash..

The superintendent said the administrators’ choice to place a student’s desk in a bathroom was meant well, "but in the end we did not move forward with it.” The move didn’t go forward because the child’s mother, quite rightly, was appalled and opted to keep her son at home until a suitable arrangement could be found.

We’re sure the parents who were at the Carousel last Sunday have felt the same indignity and indignation at times throughout the lives of their children. It’s a sad commentary on where we are as a society and how far we still have to go on similar issues.

One couldn’t imagine something like this happening here in East Providence, where our school department has and continues to be one of the best in the area for children across the gamut of Special Needs. Our educators put a value on students of all abilities and value the virtue of these students, which is another of the many reasons for us to be proud of our schools.

There will hopefully come a time in the near future when there are no longer stories like the one in Washington state, a time when ones like that of the “In Step” event in East Providence are the rule and not the exception.

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.