Florida Special Education Changes

The University of Florida in Gainesville is receiving a federal grant to improve the special education training for doctoral students seeking to become professors and researchers for students with severe disaiblities.  I’ve stressed before how impressed I am with my undergraduate institution for their research and training in the area of special education, and I’ve known for some time that the state of Tennessee has been more progressive over the years in educating those with disabilities.  Now it’s time for Florida to step up and stop lagging behind. 

In this article highlighting the grant, Diane Ryndak, associate professor of special education at UF noted, “In Florida, there hasn’t been an emphasis on developing teachers with that  expertise.”  The expertise she’s referencing is for teachers trained in educating children with varying disabilities “from autism to multiple physical disabilities.”   While I am pleased with the interest and efforts the school, located 45 miles away, is making in this field, I’m pretty shocked and surprised it has taken this long.  Shouldn’t the training of special education teachers be pretty high on the list of priorities, especially when those very teachers can and have helped students actually become mainstreamed into “normal” classrooms and have given greater quality of life to so many students around the country?  It also makes me wonder if Florida is this far behind, how far behind are other states in this kind of specialized training for teachers?

With one in 110 children born in the U.S. being diagnosed with autism I truly hope it isn’t too little too late.  What are all of these parents of these children going to do when they receive this diagnosis and can’t find good quality teachers to help their children in a safe learning environment?  Nevertheless, I must applaud UF for getting on board and helping to prepare special education teachers to meet these special children’s needs head on.  It’s about time.