PBS News

Fourteen-year-old Spencer Nichols loves taking care of his farm animals at home in Macon, Georgia. It’s a break after a long school day, where he has little autonomy. Spencer has Down syndrome. Almost the entire day, he’s in a small classroom with other students with disabilities. His mother, Pam Nichols, says he’s denied the same chance to succeed as his non-disabled peers. She says he can’t pick his own elective classes and isn’t progressing like he should. Pam says Spencer should be in more general education classes, but his middle school lacks the resources and staff to support students with disabilities. “Unfortunately, his one class is science that he is allowed to be in the gen ed classroom. They had a science test. I messaged the teacher, and I said, What am I supposed to be focused on for Spencer? And she said, we will have Spencer color during the science test. I said, well, you don’t understand. I want him to learn this.”