Budget cuts hurt challenged students

My husband and I are the parents of a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He is a student at Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center in the Downingtown Area School District.

On September 13th, I addressed the school board concerning the reduction of services to students with disabilities. In this case, it is the reduction of the Extended School Year Services (ESY). This is a summer program where students use the additional time to maintain their repertoire of skills developed during the previous school year. I have since been invited to take part in a meeting with certain board members to discuss this matter further.

ESY is a crucial program for ASD students because it helps to preserve routine and structure. These are two key elements that allow these children to progress to the best of their abilities. Without this, special needs and autistic children stand a very real chance of regression in their skills, thus leaving them at a deficit for the school years to follow.

This past summer, this program was cut from 5 weeks to 4 in a supposed measure of fiscal responsibility on the part of the school district. This action sends a very clear message to the special needs parents and taxpayers of this school district that the education of students with disabilities is something that is easily and readily marginalized. This is stale thinking at its finest and we cannot allow it to prevail.

Dr. Temple Grandin has often said, “If a student cannot learn the way we teach, then we must teach in a way they will learn.” This dictates a need for a change in the thinking of the members of the school board and decision makers of the school district. They must understand that programs such as ESY are as important to the education and development of a special needs child as mathematics and language arts are to the typically developed student. ESY cannot be thought of as “nice to have”, it must be considered a necessity. Merely complying with the guidelines stipulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education is not enough. What is enough is to make ESY as robust as the programs afforded to the balance of the student population.

“1 IN 55” is not just a bumper sticker. It is refers to the prediction that 1 out of every 55 live births will receive an autism diagnosis. In 1970, that statistic was 1 out of every 5,000 live births. It is fair notice to all school districts that our reality concerning autism is upon us. It not a time to reduce programs but to fortify our teachers, pursue the available technology and develop worthy teaching strategies.

The education of students with disabilities must be seen as an equal priority and equally worthy of the resources of the school district. John and Mary Ellen Detterline

Uwchlan Township

Support HB 100

My name is Dana Buckalew, and I am a resident of Chester County, currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing pursuing my graduate degree to become a Nurse Practitioner (NP). I am writing in support of Pennsylvania House Bill 100 for full authority for NPs.

Pennsylvania is home to 26 schools of nursing, which are among the best board-certified Nurse Practitioner programs in the country. Graduates of these master’s and doctorate programs have advanced education and training, and are nationally certified in specialty areas. With Pennsylvania’s need for additional primary care options for its citizens currently unmet, particularly in underserved rural and urban areas, NPs can be utilized to fill that gap without compromising quality of care for patients.

NP’s are 13% more likely to work in primary care if they work in a full practice authoritative state. As a full-time Emergency Room nurse at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center in West Philadelphia, I witness the importance of having dependable, full access healthcare on a daily basis. Modernizing the practice environment for nurse practitioners will increase the capacity of the healthcare workforce, further meeting patient needs. We must act to ensure our communities can depend on access to quality and affordable healthcare.

The patient comes first. The Pennsylvania House Bill 100 can improve accessibility to cost effective care by allowing NP’s to practice independently. Patients are healthiest when they have access to a health system easily, affordably, and efficiently. Nurse practitioners have provided high quality care to patients for many years. Full practice authority in Pennsylvania will allow nurse practitioners to serve patients and communities to the full extent of their education and training, which will further benefiting each and every patient.

Please support Pennsylvania House Bill 100.

Dana Buckalew West Bradford