Special Education

* Thank you for once again blaming overcrowding and underfunding in L.A. Unified schools on children with disabilities (“Special Ed: Discarded Vow,” editorial, Feb. 22).

As a mother of an autistic child, I have experienced firsthand the struggles these children and their families go through to achieve even the basic skills, like communication, that most people take for granted.

I have paid out thousands and thousands of dollars annually for the past five years for therapies not covered by insurance or the school district, just so I can talk to my son.

It’s not these children’s fault that they can’t participate in a regular classroom. In most cases, specialized classes are literally the only way these kids can go to school. Let’s not put any more stigma and pressure on them than they already have, by encouraging resentment from other parents and regular students, who now think special education is taking all the money they could be having. Put the blame where it belongs--on the federal government.

LINDA RINALDI

West Hills