Education Matters: Special Education

These are the pictures that touched the hearts of people across the country, a father pushing his disabled son across the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Among those cheering and supporting 19 year old Colby Wagoner and his dad James, were the staff at his school

 

"The staff got together and had a raffle and they raised a bunch of money for the charity that Jim and Colby were running for and they got shirts made up, it’s just you know they care about Colby, they truly do," said Colby’s mother, Wendy Wagoner.

 

Colby attends Beth Ramacher Development Center, a Fresno County school for kids with special needs.

 

"Colby has severe learning disabilities, I mean I usually describe him to somebody as like a three-year-old in an adult’s body. He has no speech. He is still not completely potty trained."

 

But he is learning, just like the other students here, some with disabilities so severe they need a nurse around the clock. There are teachers who teach students with autism, students who are hearing impaired.

 

No matter the disability, they must all receive an education. Those services are provided by the Fresno County Office of Education

"Fresno County Office of Education is a service provider school districts within the county. We provide regionalized services to students with moderate to severe disabilities," says Trina Fraizer, Administrator FCOE Special Education.

 

Those school districts, many of them located in the rural areas, can’t afford their own special ed departments. So, they bus the children to three near by centers, including Beth Ramacher.

 

"We get students when they’re infants sometimes and they stay with us until they are 22," explains Fraizer.

 

Some of the County’s classes are held in classroom’s on school campuses like Harvest Elementary in the Central Unified School District. These are called integrated sites.

Tangee Pinheiro, Director FCOE Special Education, says "The ideal situation for the student on an integrated site would be that they feel like they are apart of that site."

 

Teachers say inclusion not only benefits special needs students, but students and staff at these school sites get a lot from it too.

"Adults we’re the ones who set the boundaries. We are the ones who set the lines. We’re the ones who set the programs. Kids are kids," says Harvest Elementary School Principal Robert Perez.

 

Wagoner says that’s what she likes about Ramacher. Teacher’s take Colby out a lot and she says the skills he has learned are invaluable.

 

"This has changed his life and ours. The simple fact of getting him out and learning how to behave a little bit better in public," explains Wagoner. 

 

Those who work in special education say, that’s what the public needs to understand about students with special needs. They can learn.