The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

In virtually every school district in the state there are youngsters with mental or physical traits that set them apart from others. In Sisters there are more than 100 of these students, a little less than 10 percent. Keeping these kids moving forward in their education is the job of a team comprised of teachers, counselors and a cadre of experts in the field of special education.

The district has no special classrooms in which to tailor classes for special needs students. They are absorbed into regular classes and some may spend part of the school day with specialists trained to deal with their specific difficulties. Others may attend regular classes under the eye of an aide who has had special training.

In Sisters there is a deaf boy who is helped by a full time translator in sign language. An autistic girl is helped to keep her attention focused on class work, to stay calm and to get along with others.

Special education in Sisters is headed by elementary school principal Tim Comfort, who holds a degree in school psychology. He works with a special education staff which includes the equivalent of 4.5 special education teachers and a speech/language pathologist They are backed up by psychologists and other specialists of the Central Oregon Regional Team in Bend.

Special education kids are not all the same. Each one of them has his or her own unique qualities that set them apart from others. They are youngsters stricken with a crippling disease such as multiple sclerosis. Some are blind, or deaf. Others are permanently crippled. Then there are the kids with any of an assortment of mental difficulties inhibiting their intellectual or emotional growth.

Comfort said some of the special education youngsters are enrolled in school with their parents saying nothing about a problem either because they simply did not know, or because they have given up on getting real help. Observant teachers, counselors and school nurses usually spot these young people and get them started on their way toward help.

A young couple who moved to Sisters from the Oregon coast last year is an example of how Sisters schools have succeeded where others have failed.

The couple, Jackie and Michael Kolb, knew something was wrong with two of their daughters, both adopted, but they had grown frustrated when two schools before Sisters did not come up with a satisfactory plan of education. Comfort said teachers and counselors began tests soon after they were enrolled at Sisters.

Because the girls were adopted and the biological parents were unavailable, the Kolbs knew very little about their medical history. When Sisters teachers said they wanted to test the girls, Jackie was thrilled.

At Sisters there is a team, usually comprised of at least one parent, the student's teacher and specialists that assesses the students needs and prescribes a course of action.

After a series of tests at Sisters, followed by more with a regional team and medical doctors in Bend, it was determined that the oldest girl had at one time suffered a traumatic brain injury which left her with difficulties in grasping some abstract concepts such as time and distance. The younger girl was more difficult to diagnose, yet it was obvious she carries scars of mistreatment early in her life before coming to the Kolbs.

The girls are now eight and 10 years of age. The oldest is beginning to show significant progress, according to her adoptive mother. Comfort said both girls are attending regular classes, but also receive special classes.

The older girl was given a list of relatively simple goals to achieve over a period of time. She has achieved those goals and has moved to a more difficult set of things to achieve. Comfort said the improvement in her self-esteem is quite visible, and she now "walks with a bounce in her step" that wasn't there before. Special education is working for her.

The youngest girl has not done as well. Jackie said she had shown improvement and was returned to her regular class curriculum, but now she seems to be slipping again. Because of the significant progress she did show, Jackie and Michael are optimistic about her future progress.

Michael has been so impressed with what he has seen at Sisters that he has returned to college with the specific goal of entering the field of special education.

Comfort said that when special education youngsters are attending regular classrooms they are helped only when it is needed. It is the school's goal to teach them to be independent, not to increase their dependency, he said.

The girl with autism is attending regular classes and has shown very good progress, thanks not only to educators and counselors, but to her parents as well. The parents, Comfort said, involve her in normal family activities at home and away from home. The girl has had difficulty in her association with both teachers and other students. Comfort said she is learning to relate to others and has shown real progress in her relations with adults.

Comfort said any disruptions from special education students are rare and can actually become part of the education, bringing home the point that not all people are the same. He said students usually are very understanding and at times even overly attentive toward the special students. He said this is especially true of the lower grades such as kindergarten through second. He said older students sometimes become impatient with those who, for any reason, cannot keep up.

Special education can be costly, Comfort said, but these costs are more than offset by special support from the state. The basic school support supplied by the state to Sisters is $4,300 per student. The rate for students enrolled in special education is $8,600 -- twice the regular amount.

Comfort said when a student's problems exceed the resources of the district, the school will help get the youngster enrolled at a special school. He said special schools are a last resort. All effort is made to keep them in their home school and community.