In 2015, Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley hosted listening sessions across the state to determine how Michigan’s schools were doing in educating children with disabilities. Parents, teachers, administrators, and special education advocates shared the barriers they saw preventing these children from academic success. These discussions illuminated a critical need for reform in the special education system, highlighting the experiences of families striving to ensure their children receive the education they deserve.
In response to these findings, Gov. Rick Snyder appointed a Special Education Reform Taskforce charged with improving Michigan’s special education system. Calley wrote in his report to the State Board of Education, “The five main issues highlighted in the attached report address the special education rulemaking process, service scope and quality, restraint and seclusion practices, dispute resolution, and parental resources.” This report laid the groundwork for necessary changes, yet many of the concerns raised during those sessions persisted over the years.
Fast forward to 2023, the Michigan Parent Advocate and Attorney Coalition (MiPAAC) followed up with a statewide survey of parents of children with disabilities, known as the Special Education Experience (SEE) survey. The results revealed that not much has changed since the task force’s initial findings.
“When we launched our special education survey last year in 2023, eight years had passed and nothing had changed,” says Heather Eckner, Autism Alliance of Michigan (AAoM) director of statewide education. “The Special Education Reform Task Force final report issued recommendations for changes and improvement to the system. However, what we were hearing from families is nothing has improved.” This sense of stagnation is disheartening for many families navigating a complex educational landscape filled with barriers.
AAoM serves as the backbone organization for MIPAAC, a grassroots, statewide coalition advocating for disability education. The SEE survey provides an opportunity for AAoM to build and promote a shared policy advocacy agenda.
“The Special Education Experience (SEE) survey represents the collective voice of our core constituents, which are families,” Eckner says. “We’re aiming to elevate the lived experience of parents and students with disabilities in order to address chronic challenges in the special education system in Michigan. We’re going to share the insights to promote increased opportunities and improved outcomes for kids with disabilities across the state.” The voices of families must be amplified to drive change and ensure that children with disabilities receive the services they need.
The comprehensive SEE survey featured more than 300 questions and garnered over 200 open-ended responses.
“Maximally, the survey could take up to 45 minutes to complete, which shows the level of commitment,” Eckner says. “We had almost 900 responses statewide, which is a really exceptional completion rate for such a large survey. Additionally, 58% of our survey respondents identified an autism connection.” This overwhelming participation demonstrates the urgent desire for change and improvement within the system.
Barriers that rose to the top of the list included: lack of school funding connected to students with disabilities; limited access to education for students with disabilities alongside their nondisabled peers; challenges with appropriate identification and eligibility determination to qualify children with disabilities for special education services and supports; challenges around family engagement of both parents and students with disabilities; achieving core literacy goals; and the overuse of exclusionary discipline like restraint and seclusion.
“One of the findings of that 2015 task force was the use of seclusion and restraint,” Eckner says. “A state law was put into effect, but we’re still seeing a lack of implementation with very little change in episodes of seclusion and restraint.” This troubling trend indicates that even with legislation aimed at reform, the execution and adherence to these guidelines are lacking, leaving children vulnerable to practices that can harm their well-being.
Because school personnel don’t always have adequate training or support to respond appropriately to disruptive behaviors with proactive restorative practices or de-escalation techniques, these behaviors can escalate very quickly.
“These crisis responses are used as the default behavioral mechanism, which is not at all how it’s intended to be,” Eckner says. “Kids with disabilities are supposed to be proactively supported for manifestations of their disability. This really vicious cycle that gets underway does impact mental health and wellbeing.”
In a report released on September 8, 2015, Calley called for the state to improve the quality of services provided to special education students; make the process for changing special education rules more transparent; create a better system to resolve disputes to avoid costly lawsuits; and provide more support services for parents. Families with children with disabilities are still waiting for these improvements. The failure to act has left many parents feeling powerless and frustrated in their quest for appropriate educational resources.
“I myself am the parent of two kids with disabilities, with autism,” Eckner says. “I believe an important outcome of being public with the survey findings is that it does help to communicate to parents and students with disabilities that they’re not alone in their experiences.” This sentiment resonates deeply among families navigating a system that often feels isolating.
Families with newly diagnosed autistic children who connect with AAoM through its MiNavigator Program often share that they feel very isolated.
“You’re not alone. What you’re experiencing is real,” Eckner says. “We’re here to validate your experience. We’re trying to amplify your voice and uplift it for positive change. We’re here in solidarity with you.” This message of support is vital for families feeling overwhelmed and lost in the educational process.
A Bright IDEA
Governed by federal law, the special education system is underpinned by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). One of IDEA’s core tenets is that parents must have meaningful participation in the process of identifying children with disabilities and developing their individual education programs (IEPs).
“The federal law emphasizes the involvement of the parents on behalf of their child. Both in 2015 and 2023, a good portion of parents did not feel like they were involved much at all, or only occasionally,” Eckner says. “We’ve allowed ourselves to have this chronic apathy when it comes to kids with some of the greatest needs. We do not expect more for these kids. That’s a core barrier.” The systemic issues surrounding special education leave many families struggling to assert their rights and advocate for their children.
AAoM recognizes that most teachers are doing their best and are committed to high-quality, inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities. However, without adequate resources, funding, and training, the challenges parents have shared in the survey will continue; inadequate or denied services, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, social skills, peer intervention, applied behavioral analysis, and paraprofessional support.
“We asked parents, ‘Are you spending money on services out of pocket that you believed your child needed that they weren’t getting in school?’ Families are spending thousands of dollars out of pocket annually for services that they want their children to have in their public schools,” Eckner says. This financial strain adds to the stress families face as they fight for their children’s rights within a broken system.
Parents reported school staff as having low expectations and thinking that people with disabilities should not be in the same places as other people. Parents with autistic kids indicated that school personnel are not trained and adequately supported to understand autism.
“It’s this overall sense of the system being inaccessible, difficult to understand, challenging to navigate, or overwhelming,” Eckner says. “Parents often feel blamed for things that their child experiences as challenges. They’re asking for support, but then being blamed.” This cycle of blame further alienates families, making it difficult for them to seek assistance and find the support they need.
Fix the Schools
Michigan’s failure to provide educational opportunities to children with disabilities has had disastrous results. Only 58% of students with disabilities are earning a regular high school diploma on time — one of the worst rates in the nation.
“It cuts off their opportunities in life, their trajectory for success,” Eckner says. “The federal law’s core intent and purpose is to ensure that children with an identifiable disability receive the specialized services and support that they need to prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. Education is a core social determinant of health, and it connects to economic mobility, which also connects to health and wellbeing.” The consequences of neglecting the educational needs of these students ripple through their lives, limiting their future potential and opportunities.
AAoM’s Education Pillar drives initiatives that address systemic barriers to education, focusing on student-centered advocacy, and educating families on related topics – working towards its goal to make Michigan a top 10 state in preparing students with autism for the most independent life possible through an accessible, high-quality, and inclusive education.
“Education is the pathway to prosperity in Michigan,” Eckner concludes. “There’s a lot of cross-sector attention looking for ways to grow the population and the workforce. Governor Whitmer’s Growing Michigan Together Council addresses this. But, in Michigan, we’re ignoring 20% or more of our population right now. How are we excluding a significant subset of our population, but saying we’re trying to build this prosperous path?” It is imperative that all children, especially those with disabilities, are given equal access to educational resources, as their success is not just a personal achievement but a societal responsibility.
The voices of families with children with disabilities must be heard and taken into account in discussions about educational reform in Michigan. The commitment to improving the special education system must be matched by action, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed and thrive in an inclusive learning environment.
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