Associations of Mothers and Parents of Students (AMPAS) of the Special Education Colleges of Madrid, present this morning at the assembly 120 thousand signatures that have been collected so that the centers where their children study don't close.
And today it is possible to approve two proposals of law processed by the Assembly of Madrid that propose eliminate special education colleges and that all students with severe specific educational needs be educated only in ordinary centers.
Two propositions of law
Special Education in the Community of Madrid is currently taught in two modalities: in Special Centers and in Specialized Units in ordinary centers. Thousands of children between 3 and 21 years of age with special educational needs associated with a certain type of disability are enrolled in them.
According to data from Madrid.org they are a total of 66 specific special education centers (24 public, 41 concerted and one public) that could disappear.
The two proposals that are being debated are Proposition of Law 17/2017, promoted by a popular initiative, and Proposition of Law 2/2018, presented by the parliamentary group Podemos for equity and inclusive education.
Inclusion yes, but special education too
FEUSO Federation of Education of USO, an independent union that defends the leading role of teachers in education, denounces that "under the argument of promoting inclusive schooling, what they intend is to eliminate special education colleges."
Alleging that special education colleges are “segregating and discriminatory” entities, the needs of many children with specific needs that would not be equally satisfied in an ordinary school are not taken into account, nor is the opinion of families taken into account, denounce
The Inclusive Education Platform YES, Special also defends the coexistence of the two educational models:
"From this Platform we believe and defend the right of all persons with disabilities to enjoy a real inclusion in society in all its fields. That is why we ask governments to guarantee a sufficient endowment of resources to serve students with disabilities in ordinary centers and in Special Education centers. "
That parents can choose
Parents of children with disabilities, who are the ones who know their children's needs and want the best for them, claim your right to decide. They feel helpless and ask for the possibility of choosing the education they want for their children with disabilities, the type of center they consider to give each one the education they need.
We talk to the mother of a child with cerebral palsy
Babies and more He spoke with Ana Rey, mother of Manu, 16, (and three more children). Manu has cerebral palsy, an 80 percent disability, and attends the Bobath Foundation, a concerted education college of the Community of Madrid specialized in cerebral palsy.
Ana tells us that in that school she has specialized attention that she would not have in an ordinary school:
"Every child is a world and everyone has needs that would not be covered in a normal school, it would be impossible.""He started going to that school to the early care classrooms with one year, since he started he has a physiotherapy session every day; without it he could not move because he would have totally stiff muscles."
"Right now they are five classmates for a teacher, which implies that each child is absolutely cared for at all times with the specific needs he has. Because cerebral palsy, for example, is a range of circumstances and possibilities: there is one who cannot speak but more or less walks, who cannot walk at all but expresses himself very well, as is the case with my son, there are others who see very badly ... "
He explains, for example, that the desk of each of these five children is different, there are those who do not hold the back completely, and each one has designed the desk according to their needs, "something that of course in a normal school would not have ".
The sociability and relationship with his classmates also worries him, because in a normal school it would be very different. "My son learned to read with 12 years, in a normal school in 12 years he is first of the ESO. It would be the weirdo of the class".
"It is survival in a regime in which it is impossible to integrate.""There may be other children with other less serious disabilities that may be integrated into a regular school, but I think we should be the parents who decide where our son is better, "he says.
Believes that it is necessary that those children who because of their disability are not going to be able to easily integrate into a normal school, who have a place to go where they feel comfortable. "You have to try to make them as happy as possible and to get as far as everyone can go," he adds.
"That parents of disabled children we can choose, just as we can choose for the other children what kind of school or what kind of education we want for them, why do they have to cut me off? "
Instead of helping integration, it would be an added complication for families. "If you already have a problem, now I am going to multiply it. You will have to go to a school where you will not be integrated and it will also be more difficult for him to learn something," denounces Manu's mother, with cerebral palsy.
"The proposals have the component of egalitarianism, but we are not all equal. When there is one so different, you cannot pretend it is the same, you cannot reduce it so much."We thank Ana who has agreed to talk to us and we will be very aware, as will the parents of children with disabilities, of what happens this morning in the vote at the Assembly of the Community of Madrid. We will keep you informed.
