A schoolboy with a hammer from Chelyabinsk with mental retardation studied in a “special” class

A 13-year-old student's high-profile attack on his classmates and teacher with a hammer and knife has revealed a systemic "snag" in education. Despite the existence of correctional and integration schools, classes with mixed education, it is still difficult to identify children prone to impulsive aggression, deviations, and antisocial behavior. The reason may be underfunding, which does not allow for hiring enough tutors, speech therapists, and psychologists. As well as overly lenient legislation and lack of awareness.

13-year-old Roman, who attacked his class, studied at School No. 68 named after Rodionov in Chelyabinsk. It is a comprehensive school with three branches. One of which has classes for special education. According to "type 7", which was recommended to Roman, children can study in the most ordinary classes.

- The seventh type is the education of children with mental retardation, mental retardation, - says methodologist and teacher Anastasia Gordeeva. - This is a mild degree of health impairment, children with diagnoses such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), mild cerebral palsy, reactive attachment disorder. The latter affects orphans, children of alcoholics, marginalized people. In essence, this is the "easiest" group of parallel education. According to type 7.2, they study in regular classes, according to type 7.1 - according to an adaptive program: an additional year of study may be introduced in primary and secondary schools. But now there are many children who need education according to type 7 or others, but they are in regular classes.

And all because the commission is a voluntary matter for the family. In order for a child to undergo a PMPK (psychological-medical-pedagogical examination) with the establishment of a preferential type of education, his parents still need to be convinced. Sometimes families completely refuse the examination, believing that later the child will be pointed at, and then "the diploma will be ruined." After all, the topic of "different children" was previously stigmatized in the country. "Type 7", with mental retardation, scares parents even less than "type 8", this is the education of children with mild mental retardation.

Today, it is absolutely certain that a study group "by type" is not a sentence: it will be easier for a child to study, he will pass the OGE and USE according to an easier scheme. And after finishing school, they will issue exactly the same certificate as others.

Today, we have three types of school education for children with disabilities. These are correctional schools, most often boarding schools for students with visual and hearing impairments, serious mental disabilities, "sunny" children and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Although today schoolchildren with various forms of cerebral palsy and intact intelligence, socialized ASD such as Asperger's syndrome or "mosaic" Down syndrome, can study in an integrated school. This is a school where there are both specialized correctional classes (according to the law, no more than 9 people should study in them) and mixed classes. The latter also have a reduced number of students, up to 25 people. In practice, if there is an integrated school in the area, many parents with "special" children strive to enroll there. Since by status there is a larger staff of psychologists, speech therapists and defectologists, many different clubs and adaptive training programs, including a swimming pool, massage, hippotherapy.

And the most common case is inclusion in a regular secondary school. In one class, there are normotypic children and in the types allowed for mixed education. These are exactly 7.1 and 7.2, 8.1 and 8.2, which assume intact intelligence. Types 8.3 (ASD and mild mental retardation) and 8.4 (ASD and severe mental retardation) can only be studied in a remedial class or in a remedial school.

- Most likely, this teenager in Chelyabinsk studied in a special needs class, since there were 5 people in the class, - says teacher-neuropsychologist Elena Kholodkova. - Even in Moscow, I often encounter the fact that norms and recommendations are not followed. And if among several branches there is a school with special needs, they "throw everyone" there: ASD, cerebral palsy, just some problematic underachieving students... These are the fruits of thoughtless school mergers in 2010-2015.

Of course, there are not enough tutors and special education teachers everywhere. In a remedial class, there should be one tutor for every 3-4 students. There are not enough psychologists - what is one specialist for all branches, where sometimes there are a thousand people? But there is also a lack of understanding and preparation.

According to statistics, about 20% of children now have the so-called "developmental delays". They show below-normal academic performance, have features of ADHD, and sometimes antisocial behavior. But in fact, most often this is a consequence of some problematic birth, due to which the child's nervous system does not have time to mature. Such children are often enrolled in all possible "types", but they need neuropsychological habilitation. These are exercises, special classes with children aged 7-14. Often, the presence of such a child among children with "real" disabilities gives rise to an internal conflict.

And, of course, 13 years is the peak of puberty. For children with disabilities, it can be especially stormy, and during this period it is necessary to strengthen diagnostics, consultations, and medication support. For "deviating" children, there is also a difficulty in the coincidence of this period of hormonal explosion with the restructuring of the functional blocks of the brain. Usually this is 12 years old, but without support it is delayed. Of course, if both the body and the brain are stormy, it is difficult. But, speaking about this type of children, it happens that the child "matures" when the age-related restructuring is over. Such a child suddenly begins to study in the 7th-8th grade, sometimes at 4th and 5th. This is the effect of rehabilitation of the nervous system, a sharp pumping of cognitive skills, when the right age has simply arrived.