Children with Special Health Care Needs: Newsletter for Families, April 2006 Page: 1
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Children with Special Health Care Needs
CSHCNNewsletter for Families
La version en espahol del boletin empieza en la psgina 9. A " AilWhen Children with Disabilities Get
Too Old for Public Education
By Jeffrey Zaslow from The Wall Street Journal Online
This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal Online in July
of 2005, under the title "When Disabled Children Get Too Old or Public
Education," and is reprinted with their permission. Minor changes have been
made to the article to make it more relevant to this publication.Last year, Curtis Melchi returned to High
Point School in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
to accept a distinguished alumni award
at graduation ceremonies.
Mr. Melchi, 32 years old, was lauded
for working hard as a restaurant dish-
washer, and for being a valued member
of his church.
Because he has autism, his story
meant a lot to the families of High
Point's 21 graduates. All of the grads
have physical and cognitive challenges,
such as Down syndrome or cerebral
palsy. But now that each has turned 26,
the age at which students with disabili-
ties in Michigan are no longer served
by public education, it's time for them
to move into the adult world. (In Texas,
the age at which students with dis-
abilities are no longer served by public
education is 22 years of age.)
Across America, about 90,000
families have faced this same bitter-
sweet moment each spring, as their
children with disabilities "age out" of
state education systems. Most statesprovide education and care until age
21-Michigan is an exception. After
that, families are on their own to find
services and meaningful activities for
their children.
That's why these commencement
ceremonies feel different from most
others. Parents wonder: What kind of
lives are their children commencing?
Often, they go to programs far inferior
to what they had in school, or they sit in
their parents' homes (or group homes)
and stare at TV.
Because of recent federal budget cuts,
and chronic gaps in community funding
for adults with disabilities, those
leaving public education are "losing a
level of care they can't replicate," says
Neal Elyakin, High Point's principal.
His programs serve about 300 students
with disabilities, ages 3 to 26.
Wearing a blue cap and gown, Adelia
King also graduated from the school.
She has Rett Syndrome, a neurological
disorder that leaves her unable to walk
or talk. "People are congratulating me,"said her mother, Linda, at graduation,
"but my daughter is graduating into the
unknown."
Up until graduation, good school
districts provide individualized
education for students, and handhold-
ing and paperwork-filing for parents.
But once students graduate, parents
must take charge, searching for voca-
tional and mental-health programs
paid for by the state or covered by
insurance. They have to get their
children on waiting lists for day care.
Some parents tell social workers that
they feel like they've gone from being a
ship's passenger to being the captain.
On High Point's graduation day, Holly
Stautz, who has severe developmental
problems, became one of about 80,000
adult Americans with disabilities now
on waiting lists for government-funded
services. Her mother, Janice, has her on
a list for a county day-care program, but
hasn't been told how long the wait will
continued on page 2
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Texas. Department of State Health Services. Children with Special Health Care Needs: Newsletter for Families, April 2006, periodical, April 2006; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth575899/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.