The public education system is going through a rapid knowledge drain. Educators are leaving the public sector at a record pace for more lucrative and appreciative careers, and retirement. Younger educators are not staying long enough to gain the knowledge needed to replace the expert exodus taking place let alone the Silver Tsunami underway as baby boomers retire in droves. And as usual, the most underserved and unheard communities in our education system are suffering the most.
The neurodivergent community represents 15-20% of the population and those students typically fall within the Special Education department of most school districts assuming they have been formally diagnosed. Anyone who has ever cared for or taught a special needs student knows that the skills needed to help these students cannot be taught in a class or learned from a degree. It takes years of practical & diverse, hands-on experience in addition to continuous education and training to be an expert at helping these students succeed. And when you narrow it down even further to neurodivergent individuals specifically, the pool of experts shrinks even further. So, what’s the big deal? Combine the swelling of the neurodiversity population that is already struggling to find its place in society with a shrinking pool of experts who job it is to help them transition to adulthood, higher education and or employment, and what we have is an unprecedented disaster on the horizon with no quick fix.
To avoid this outcome and serve our neurodiversity community, we must mitigate losses while preparing for a future that will no longer have enough qualified educators to fill all the needed vacancies, train new staff, and share organizationally specific knowledge with inexperienced educators. We must prepare for a future where educators have 1-3 years of experience total which will have to be enough to successfully transition neurodivergent individuals from early education to independent living and competitive, integrated employment.
Steps to Get There
- Governments, schools, educators, policymakers, advocates, and parents can work together to share knowledge and information about their students and clients to ensure they are consistently receiving the education, training and support they need to attain a happy and fulfilling future. A future that involves living up to their potential.
- Organizations can utilize technology to capture important knowledge and create a knowledge repository to help educators learn faster and reference successful actions and activities when students need help staying on track to reach their goals.
- Governments, K12 schools, vocational and higher education institutions, and employers can work with expert consultants who can provide guidance and preventive, real-time prescriptive interventions as needed to accommodate the unique needs of their neurodiversity community.
- And deep technology such as 4SighGPS IEDev may be needed to shoulder the burden of a vanishing workforce by providing neurodivergent individuals, educators, case managers, trainers, consultants, parents and employers with the knowledge needed to successfully prepare neurodivergent individuals for a productive and happy role in the workplace and society.
