Several years ago, I published several posts about a boy
named Michael who was born without the cognitive part of his brain but was made
by the Florida Department of Education to take a state-mandated standardized
test. Michael, as I wrote then, couldn’t tell the difference between an apple
and an orange, but his caretaker was still forced to administer the test. He
later won an exemption, but Michael was hardly the only child with severe
disabilities who faced this kind of treatment.
[Nobody stopped it. They made him take the test.]
Ethan Rediske was another. Ethan, who passed away in 2014
at age 11, was born with severe brain damage and had cerebral palsy. As he lay
dying in a morphine coma, his mother, Andrea, was required to provide documents
proving that he was unable to take the Florida-mandated test.
[Mom to officials: Stop forcing kids with severe
disabilities to take high-stake tests]
Now, a mother named Paula Drew is fighting the same kind of
battle with the Florida Department of Education. Paula’s daughter, 15-year-old
Madison Drew, has cerebral palsy and cannot speak. She suffers from a number of
conditions related to her condition and takes several medications daily to
prevent seizures, which can affect her cognitive abilities, a doctor’s written
diagnosis shows.
To read more on this story, click here: Florida Insists Severely Disabled Teen Take Standardized Test — Despite Pleas from Family
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