Opinion: Special needs kids need special schools

Ethan Earnshaw, 11, has special needs, and no school to go to. Photo / Paul Taylor

At the ripe age of 11, Ethan Earnshaw finds himself without a school.

Ethan has special needs - autism, global developmental delay and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

He is a unique kid with unique education needs. It's his behaviour, though, that has seen him expelled from a Fairhaven Special School class.

And now he has nowhere to go.

Ethan isn't the only child in this situation in New Zealand - square pegs do not fit in round holes, for many reasons.

Firstly, children with special needs in mainstream schools take up time and extra teaching resource that can impact the quality and quantity of teaching that all children receive in a class.

It's not always a situation that allows a special needs kid to achieve to the best of their ability, bearing in mind that sometimes, no one has a good gauge of what that might be.

Special Needs Units are admirable, schools that have them should be congratulated because some schools don't want them at all.

But they can sometimes lean toward tolerance and inclusivity rather than extending pushing learning boundaries

Ethan's class was a little different - it was part of Fairhaven Special School.

Fairhaven's 70 students are spread across a base school for children in Years 1 to 4 and small satellite units at local primary, intermediate and secondary schools.

For most parents of special needs kids, this is the best education outcome, specialised teaching in small classes.

However, even specialist schools have to call time if they believe that the education of other children is suffering or their safety is at risk.

So where does this leave Ethan? At home. In many ways, Ethan's parents are the best qualified people to handle this behaviour.

But they are parents - not educationalists.

Will extra funding help? Will the draft Disability and Learning Support Action Plan help?

Not right now because no structure exists for kids like Ethan. As his mum says, he deserves a chance to learn.

But the reality is our education system discriminates against kids like Ethan, because it is designed to allow so called "ordinary" kids to learn to the best of their ability.

But kids like Ethan aren't given the same chance.