Every school is different. In my time working as an SLP, I have worked in quite a few different schools. I have been in mainstream/regular education schools as well as special schools. The conditions of the special schools sometimes are appalling to me. I have been in some that are just plain awful. They are dirty, the floors despararetly need replacing. The walls need a coat of paint. However, I can deal with working in this type of building. They aren’t the best working conditions, but I can get over that. I have also worked in one well maintained special school.
What I can’t get over, however, is particular attitudes. I have found that many people have ideas or preconceptions about what my students should or shouldn’t be able to do. Many professionals ask what the child’s cognitive level is before even meeting the student. They then determine their expectations based on the tested cognitive level. However, it is well known that cognitive testing isn’t the end all, be all. Often in certain populations it just plain isn’t accurate . For example, for children with certain types of language difficulties or speech difficulties (especially for children with autism), they will test lower because the tests are language based. Even the non-language subtests have a language component. If you have severe difficulty understanding language, you will test lower. Therefore, I work with each child based on their abilities and difficulties, not their test scores.
I currently work in a couple of different special schools and hope to be working in a third (a school for children with autism) soon. The two schools are very difficult for me to work in. It isn’t the physical space, it is the “feel” of the place. People are stressed out and don’t have the training or materials that they need. They don’t have the resources because the powers higher up had the preconceptions that because they have severe/profound cognitive impairments, they don’t need certain materials. Even though they are legally entitled to an education, many people working with them think the children really need to be cared for. The people responsible for their education don’t buy into the idea that they can be educated. That attitude I find infuriating. Now, I am not saying that we should have unrealistic expectations but if you have no expectations, then the children won’t do anything. If the adults in their lives anticipate every need, why do they need to communicate?
Of course these children can be educated, and it’s good that at least one professional they will encounter recognises that.
Your last sentence is crucial too. Those caring for people with communication difficulties have to enable and not just anticipate. One of the 2 most important things my SALT told me when my so was young, was, ‘give him a reason to communicate, and reduce your language.’