ERROR RG P4 25.7.1995 Articles in yesterday's paper on mainstreaming special students incorrectly stated that Patrick Dyer had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Patrick who is 5, not 6, suffers from Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a milder form of autism. And Mrs. Cheri Henderson did not take her son David out of Somerset Primary. David was removed from school in the afternoons and will return to school full time in September. The story should also have said there are 11 children in Bermuda diagnosed with autism, not 15.

Mainstreaming students with special needs in the the public school system has come under criticism from parents who say it is being carried out in a haphazard manner. In stories on Page 1 and Page 3, The Royal Gazette looks at the issue and its effect on students with autism and Tourette's Syndrome.

The parent of a seven-year-old autistic has blamed Government for emotional abuse her son has suffered as a result of mainstreaming.

Mrs. Cheri Henderson told The Royal Gazette she had to remove her son David from primary school, because mainstreaming was such a nightmare for him.

David has Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), a milder form of autism which is a biological disorder comprised of sensory problems, and difficulties with social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication.

However, David, like most PDD children, is high-functioning and has normal intelligence.

According to Mrs. Henderson there are 15 children on the Island diagnosed with autism, and she said it was thought there were others who have yet to be diagnosed.

Mrs. Henderson said it was not that David learned more slowly than other children, but that he "learns differently, which is why teachers and teachers' aides need special training to deal with autistic children''.

But Student Services education officer Mrs. Joeann Smith said not all children who are mainstreamed with special needs require a special education assistant.

She said a child with "toiletry issues'' might be given a special assistant.

Ms Sheelagh Cooper, head of the Coalition for the Protection of Children, said "sufficient provisions have not been made in terms of teacher training or backup services''.

"But more important,'' she added, "the resources in terms of manpower needs to be included.'' Mrs. Smith disagreed.

"We have spent months preparing schools and extensive time preparing the children to meet their new schools,'' she said.

"I have a sense of sorrow that anyone would think that. We have at least three officers to ensure the needs of special needs children are met.'' But Mrs. Henderson said officials in the Department of Education have admitted to her that "when they mainstreamed the kids to Somerset Primary they had no plan beyond the fact that they were going to mainstream them''.

Mrs. Smith said the plan has been in the works since 1988 when the the Education Planning Team (EPT) recommended the mainstreaming of special needs children.

"David has made progress, but emotionally he has suffered,'' Mrs. Henderson said.

She said it was ridiculous to "mainstream autistic children for unstructured time, but not for structured time''.

"Unstructured time is exactly what PDD children cannot handle,'' she said.

And she called recess and lunch a "jungle'' for PDD children because of their social difficulties.

David's placement a year ahead of his age group made it even more difficult for him to be accepted by his peers, Mrs. Henderson added.

David was placed in primary three instead of primary two because it was a smaller class size. Next September, David will remain in primary two.

Mainstreaming criticised "One of the big things is supervision at lunch time,'' Mrs. Henderson said."They have one teacher that does lunch duty.'' "It's fine for them to sit at the window and see David on the playing field with the other children, but he is standing on the edges,'' she said. "They say: `Oh, he's playing with the other children.' But he's not. It's parallel play.'' Parallel play is defined as when a child plays around other children but does not interact with them in a meaningful way, Mrs. Henderson explained.

By the end of September, David was showing signs of extreme stress.

"David was not sleeping, he was screaming at night,'' she said. "During Christmas vacation he was fine. But the night before school began again he had night terrors. He starting reverting backward.'' On the advice of David's paediatrician and neurologist, Mrs. Henderson removed David from classes half way through the day. When that did not work, she removed him from school entirely.

She said it was a month before educators agreed to meet to discuss the problem.

"In April I asked for Dr. (Judith) Bartley (the Government behavioural specialist),'' Mrs. Henderson said. "The school didn't feel behaviour modification was necessary. They know nothing! "They will tell you I solved the problem by removing him, but that's not mainstreaming.'' A year ago, Mrs. Henderson -- along with Mrs.

Alison Dyer -- formed the Bermuda Autistic Support Group.

The group is trying to bring in an autistic inclusion specialist to help their children make a smoother transition into regular schools. But the group said they have so far received no support from Government.

Mrs. Dyer -- a former nurse -- taught her 6-year-old son Patrick for two years at home, using the "Lavaas'' behaviour modification programme.

She said she did this because she did not think he was ready for school.

Patrick will begin school this September and Mrs. Dyer said she is going with him.

Patrick had attention deficit disorder (ADD) as well as PDD and it was difficult for him to control his urges, such as the urge to get up and play, instead of sit and listen.

His short attention span made it difficult for him to keep track of what was being said.

"The main concern I have about mainstreaming is that there is no-one there who has been trained to deal with an autistic child,'' Mrs. Dyer said.

She said teachers' aides were not required to have a degree in special education, but received only a few weeks of workshop training.

When she filled in her son's primary school entrance form there was nothing on it asking if her son had a special need, she noted.

"There is a failure to diagnose, they just lump everyone together,'' she said. "They don't really take the task of educating our children seriously.'' Mrs. Dyer called Government's mainstreaming programme a "babysitting service'' and she said the support group members believed that special needs children were just being pushed through the system.

"The child is being left at the back of the room to play,'' Mrs. Dyer said.

"I feel Government is wasting its most precious resource, the parents. I have not been approached by Government about the plan for my child.

"I'm worried that they have a plan somewhere but I'm not aware of what it is.

Many parents in the support group have gone into (regular schools participating in) mainstreaming and there has been no plan, or the plan is for the child to learn to tie his shoelaces and little else.'' But Mrs. Smith said all parents were shown the plan for their special child and were supposed to be actively involved.

"The parents are involved in setting the goals and objectives for the child,'' she said. "There are meetings and we are involved with them in discussion. And later on in the year their progress is reviewed.'' David Henderson ENTHUSIASTIC READER -- Six-year-old Patrick Dyer, who has attention deficit disorder, reads his favourite story at home with his mother, Mrs. Alison Dyer.