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Back when I had to choose between a special school or mainstream in 1995
My parents sat me down when I was 7 and gave me two options: a small special ed school with 8 kids per class or my regular local elementary with 30 kids per room. I picked mainstream because I wanted to stay with my brother. It went okay for a couple years but by 4th grade I was melting down almost every week from the noise and chaos. Looking back I wonder if the specialized school would have taught me better coping skills early on. Anyone else have to make a similar call as a kid or for their kid?
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the_wesley2mo ago
Man that's basically choosing between a quiet cave and a rock concert when you cant handle loud noises. I remember being forced into mainstream with no choice and by 5th grade I was hiding in the bathroom during lunch just to get 15 minutes of silence. Sounds like you got to pick the slightly less awful option at least.
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gavin_clark23d agoMost Upvoted
Yeah for real, I'm over here thinking the quiet cave option is starting to sound pretty good if it means I don't have to hear my own brain rattling around by lunchtime. At least in a cave you can pick your own seat and nobody's blasting pop music through a tinny speaker. Bathroom hideout was a pro move though, I did that too - just wish I'd thought to bring a book instead of staring at the grout lines. I guess the real trick is finding that sweet spot where you're not totally isolated but also not one bad hallway noise away from a meltdown.
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