AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
One Nation leader says her comments were ‘taken out of context’ and she is a victim of political point-scoring
Pauline Hanson has refused to apologise for her comments about children with disability and autism, saying she had been “taken out of context” and was a victim of political point-scoring.
Education experts were quick to condemn Hanson on Wednesday after the One Nation leader said teachers were devoting too much time to children with disabilities, to the detriment of other students.
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, was condemned by educational experts after she said teachers were devoting too much time to children with disabilities. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
“I hear so many times from parents and teachers whose time is taken up with children in the classroom where they have a disability, or where they are autistic, that it is taking up the teacher’s time,” she said in the Senate.
“These kids have a right to an education by all means but, if there is a number of them, these children should actually go into a special classroom, looked after and given that special attention.
“I think that we have more autistic children and yet we are not providing the special classrooms or the schools for these autistic children and, if there are, they’re at huge expense to parents.
“We have to be realistic at times and consider the impact that is having on other children in that classroom.”
Education experts criticised Hanson’s view, saying since the mid-1990s the philosophy of inclusion had been influential in changing Australian education for the better.
Labor and Greens MPs also responded. The Labor MP Emma Husar, whose 10-year-old son is on the autism spectrum, demanded Hanson apologise.
But Hanson on Thursday reacted angrily to her critics, saying she had been misrepresented. She said she never said autistic children should not be in mainstream classrooms, and read a transcript of the some of her comments to clarify what she meant.
“For the Greens or anyone else to come out and say I do not believe they should be in our classrooms is a lie,” she said. “My intention is to raise these issues, speak about them, openly, honestly on the floor of parliament.
“To go out there and say that I want to stop children from going into classrooms is disgraceful, it is misleading. That is very hurtful to the parents who do have children with autism.”
Hanson said her office had been inundated by letters of support from teachers and parents overnight. She said teachers were not being trained to deal with autistic children in the classroom and there were not enough resources to help children with special needs generally.
“Parents know it, teachers know it, but if you raise anything in this country that is taboo by just a few of those on the left, we are not going to find the answers that we need,” she said.
She read an email from what she said was a teacher from the Northern Territory who said autistic children could pose problems in classrooms if they didn’t have adequate support.
“Autism is one disability that presents behavioural issues,” the letter read. “The problem comes to the head when the schools have a lack of classroom support, which is most common, and the teacher is left to manage the behaviour by themselves.
“The biggest problem is that most of the behavioural problems are from students that have not been diagnosed from families that think the school is going to fix the problem. The schools do not have the resources or funding to deal with it.”
Hanson said her comments were supported by teachers around the country.
“We [have to] peel back the emotional side of this,” she said. “Find the right answers to this so that we are helping these kids.”
Source: Pauline Hanson refuses to apologise for comments about children with autism
One Nation leader says her comments were ‘taken out of context’ and she is a victim of political point-scoring
Pauline Hanson has refused to apologise for her comments about children with disability and autism, saying she had been “taken out of context” and was a victim of political point-scoring.
Education experts were quick to condemn Hanson on Wednesday after the One Nation leader said teachers were devoting too much time to children with disabilities, to the detriment of other students.
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, was condemned by educational experts after she said teachers were devoting too much time to children with disabilities. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
“I hear so many times from parents and teachers whose time is taken up with children in the classroom where they have a disability, or where they are autistic, that it is taking up the teacher’s time,” she said in the Senate.
“These kids have a right to an education by all means but, if there is a number of them, these children should actually go into a special classroom, looked after and given that special attention.
“I think that we have more autistic children and yet we are not providing the special classrooms or the schools for these autistic children and, if there are, they’re at huge expense to parents.
“We have to be realistic at times and consider the impact that is having on other children in that classroom.”
Education experts criticised Hanson’s view, saying since the mid-1990s the philosophy of inclusion had been influential in changing Australian education for the better.
Labor and Greens MPs also responded. The Labor MP Emma Husar, whose 10-year-old son is on the autism spectrum, demanded Hanson apologise.
But Hanson on Thursday reacted angrily to her critics, saying she had been misrepresented. She said she never said autistic children should not be in mainstream classrooms, and read a transcript of the some of her comments to clarify what she meant.
“For the Greens or anyone else to come out and say I do not believe they should be in our classrooms is a lie,” she said. “My intention is to raise these issues, speak about them, openly, honestly on the floor of parliament.
“To go out there and say that I want to stop children from going into classrooms is disgraceful, it is misleading. That is very hurtful to the parents who do have children with autism.”
Hanson said her office had been inundated by letters of support from teachers and parents overnight. She said teachers were not being trained to deal with autistic children in the classroom and there were not enough resources to help children with special needs generally.
“Parents know it, teachers know it, but if you raise anything in this country that is taboo by just a few of those on the left, we are not going to find the answers that we need,” she said.
She read an email from what she said was a teacher from the Northern Territory who said autistic children could pose problems in classrooms if they didn’t have adequate support.
“Autism is one disability that presents behavioural issues,” the letter read. “The problem comes to the head when the schools have a lack of classroom support, which is most common, and the teacher is left to manage the behaviour by themselves.
“The biggest problem is that most of the behavioural problems are from students that have not been diagnosed from families that think the school is going to fix the problem. The schools do not have the resources or funding to deal with it.”
Hanson said her comments were supported by teachers around the country.
“We [have to] peel back the emotional side of this,” she said. “Find the right answers to this so that we are helping these kids.”
Source: Pauline Hanson refuses to apologise for comments about children with autism
kids back and the ones that suffer most are the quiet studious ones that don't draw attention to themselves".But then you had a couple people ring and say its the NT kids that cause the problems in their classes - especially those with family problems., and one that said her autistic student helps tutor the NT kids in her class. O and those quiet studious kids? they're autistic.
