Indian boarding schools vs. special ed

Just the other day I remembered hearing about the "Indian boarding schools" and thought that I may research them as they seemed to share much in common with the special ed teachings of today that I have both heard of and experienced first hand.
From about 1880-1970 Native American children were forced away  from their homes and families and sent to government-run boarding schools. These institutions were established to force the image of Europeans on Native American children. I see many parallels between this and how many schools today attempt to force autistic children to conform to "neurotypical" standards. In both of these instances, simply the best interest of the population at large is at stake-not the dignity and comfort of those that they are attempting to conform.
As autistics are told that their method of neurological programming renders them inferior, native children were taught that their heritage rendered them inferior, and was something to be ashamed of.
They were forced to cut their long hair (the length of which was sacred to them), change their names, and wear "white man's" clothing. They were forced to speak English, and if they were heard speaking their native tongue, they would be held down and have soap shoved into their mouths. Native children were physically and emotionally abused, simply for the fun of it. Many kids died at these schools.
To this day you can speak to individuals that were in these boarding schools and they will tell you that all these years later, they still suffer from PTSD and trauma due to these schools.

As I said, many parallels can be seen between the Indian boarding schools and schools for autistics today. For a good part of it, when autistic students are not doing rudimentary first grade level work that in fact is WAY below most of them, they are being forced to "conform." For a good example, see my post on my school's "pep rally" that seemed to be more of a test than anything.
The good news is, while most native boarding schools have been shut down, a few still exist. However they are now places for Native students to learn to embrace and take pride in their heritage...and I believe that the day will come when autism is also not something to be ashamed of!