Hi and welcome to my blog! My name is Gianna and I'm a student at Loyola Academy, and the purpose of this blog is to help advocate for mental health awareness in schools and for those in need of special education assistance. In order to do so, I will be tracking and writing about the progress of the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013. Due to the complexity and diversity of its nature, mental health is a topic that has caused a great deal of controversy. There is a multitude of disadvantages and illnesses a student may have that would classify him or her as a special ed candidate or mentally ill child. As a result, issues often rise regarding whether or not a certain student should be apart of a special ed/mental health program. This Act seeks to provide schools with the necessary means to provide disabled or mentally ill kids with the proper help and attention they require. The issues surrounding special education today range from opposite ends of the spectrum; some schools barely provide disabled children with any extra help at all, while others are admitting too many into the program. Some students are put into special ed classes due to poor grades, however they don't actually have any handicap. More often than not, such schools do so in order to receive increased funding from the government by filling their special education programs with students that are merely struggling in school. This is not how special ed programs should be utilized. As for mental illnesses, the main issue remains to be that students don't receive enough attention and assessment, which is why such issues often go unnoticed.
With this blog and the tracking of the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013, I will strive to restore the true focus of special education programs and advocate for mentally ill students. I strongly hope you will continue to visit my page to track my progress and support students in need. Thanks!
Sources:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s689#summary/libraryofcongress
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/228232/problems-special-ed/jay-p-greene
