Montessori education for autism

Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

With annual special-education expenditures already surpassing $110 billion, it’s not necessarily bigger budgets that we need.  As rightfully noted in the earlier mentioned report “Shifting Trends in Special Education: Findings” ,

“America needs to approach special education with greater creativity and flexibility in the future than it has shown in the past. Instead of engaging in polarizing discussions around whether to mainstream students versus serve them in pull-out settings… let’s focus on how to differentiate learning for all students. In other words, how can we make education “special” for every one of our students, reserving unique services for the small percentage of severely disabled children who need them?  Surely the advent of new tools, service providers, and customized technology packages can help on this front.”

In conclusion, there is compelling evidence that our current system of special education for ASD children is fundamentally flawed.  Are there existing systems that could provide a model for reform?  Here I argue that a much better education system was created over a hundred years ago by Dr. Maria Montessori and can successfully serve children with a wide variety of disabilities, including ASD children.  Click here to read about profound benefits that Montessori educational model can offer to children with autism.

2 Comments

  1. my child was not even given an interview at a private school she applied to, the day of the meeting while she was getting ready they called and cancelled and only said they cannot meet her needs. I explained that the IEP from her old school did not represent her at all, that her new Montessori school is working on giving her an IEP that is more accurate to what her needs are. My daughter has dozens of recommendation letters from all of hew new and old teachers. She was diagnosed with ASD when she was 3, she is 14 now. Is this a normal accordance? I made her feel she was not good enough.

    • Vera

      How sad this is — I am very sorry! However, if the school is so certain they don’t have the competence to meet your daughter’s needs, you’d be better off staying away from them. Your child deserves better!

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