Special Education Reform: Its Main Issues And The Efforts To Improve It

Special Education Reform: Its Main Issues And The Efforts To Improve It by Kadin McElwain: Special Education Reform: Its Main Issues And The Efforts To Improve It Dr. Temple Grandin, an autistic scientist and advocate for autism, once said “In special education, there’s too much emphasis placed on the deficit and not enough on the strength”. This is the case with the current special education system. In the United States today, 1-in-32 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder every year and have most likely needed special education services (Talantseva et al, 2020). As an autistic individual, I had special education services from 7 to 17 years old and I have seen firsthand the flaws of the special education system. But a new and powerful movement, the Special Education Reform Movement, is working to help improve the special education system, so that all students can have a fair chance at a proper education. In this speech, you’ll learn how schools don’t fund special education enough, how this connects to the rate of those diagnosed with autism every year, and what’s being done by organizations to ensure that the special education system is improved for its students. Firstly, many of us, whether we are the parent of a special needs child or we know an individual that has autism or another disability, have had to deal with the frustration of schools not funding special education enough or even cutting a student’s IEP completely in the name of saving money. Yet, in the state of Ohio alone in 2009, schools received $323 million in taxes to fund their programs and make conditions suitable for students. (Sullivan and Sobul, 2010). Exactly a decade later, in 2019, Ohio’s academic spending went to $8.79 billion, with the school system investing only $675 million towards special education, failing to realize the cost of speech therapy, communication devices, curriculum, school supplies, and fidget toys for every child (Ohio Coalition for The Education Of Children with Disabilities, 2020). This leads to an even bigger problem: Corrupt schools that cut the IEPs of special needs individuals in the name of saving money. I remember a time in middle school when my IEP was cut without my parents’ consent, and this caused them to fight long and hard to get it implemented again. But when considering the funding rate for special education, the rate of autism in children is another important factor to consider. The rate of autism in the United States is one-in-thirty-two, up from two-to-four-in-ten thousand back in the 60’s and 70’s, meaning that out of at least 32 audience members listening today, at least one may be on the spectrum (Boat and Wu, 2015). With today’s technology, we are able to easily diagnose autism and get individuals the help they need to thrive in academic settings, with one notable example being an AI-based screening software that can easily detect the signs of autism in children (Abdelrahim et al, 2025). But schools still don’t know or choose not to get students the help they need and this sometimes results in these students being excluded from classes. In Australia specifically, according to a 2023 study, 9.4 percent of autistic students have missed a day of school due to school exclusion, or being forced to stay home from school because schools don’t have enough funding for accommodations (Gray et al, 2023). In the United States, that number is 50 percent, meaning that half of the country’s special needs students are missing out on the education that they are entitled to because schools don’t know how to manage helping these students given skyrocketing diagnosis rates (Sasso and Sansour, 2024). But fortunately for those one-in-thirty two, actions are being taken to better special education. You might’ve heard of organizations such as Autism Speaks and the Autism Society of America, but multiple groups and individuals in both the state of Ohio and throughout the United States have taken the initiative to ensure that all students get a fair chance at a proper and ethical education, with many sometimes not making the Nightly News. One example of such a group is Disability Rights Ohio, which advocates for the end of abusive seclusion practices, or isolating the autistic child in a room by themselves when they act out. Thanks to their efforts, which included lobbying and rallying, the Ohio Department of Education established a law limiting the use of these practices in 2013, meaning that students can go to school without the fear of being isolated from their peers (Disability Rights Ohio, 2015). Another example of special education advocacy is becoming a lawyer that specializes in special education cases specifically. A lot of these individuals have worked with individuals with disabilities before, including as social workers, and even are autistic themselves, showing that they truly believe in the cause (Weber, 2023). This shows that even though this cause isn’t in the Nightly News every night, Special Education Reform is just as much of a worthy cause as any other social issue today. To conclude, Special Education Reform is a cause that, while not as headline-grabbing as other issues in our society, is still making an impact on the community. The schools in the United States misunderstand the importance of investing more funding into special education programs, especially given the rate of autism in children every year. But work is being done by various groups to ensure that these students get the education that they deserve. It’s easy not to care about a cause, just because it’s not on the Nightly News. But if we remember Dr. Grandin’s words and focus on both the strength and the deficit equally, we can ensure that all of our students, no matter what they’re going through or their background, get the quality education that they are entitled to.