Reply #59: Our area did not have one like that, thank goodness.

[madfloridian]

There was a public school for the profoundly handicapped, but it was used as a teaching environment for the local colleges and universities. The woman who founded it was right there and involved, and one of my neighbors was a teacher there.

I had a few classes there, and it truly was hard to observe some of the children. But they were treated with kindness and respect, and were taught living skills when possible.

I think they are mainstreaming now, but I have not checked.

Harlem academy's attitude is simply one of profit in my thinking. It is cheaper to believe the disabled don't exist, and besides they might bring down your test scores. They should not be getting public money.