Wheelchair accessible buses are usually the shorter buses. If you use a wheelchair, you can not ride a bus that is not wheelchair accessible. If all the special ed students from a school use the ride the same bus, they are riding it because it is a wheelchair accessible bus. There are also less kids riding the bus, which allows for closer supervision if health or discipline issues occur.

Good Question!

My son rode a “special” bus for a while. It was very obvious what kind of bus he was getting on. Got teasing from the kids in the neighborhood. But also learned that special needs kids where just kids like him. (He has Bipolar Disorder w/ learning disabilities).

But these are really good answers. Yes, the smaller the bus, the better the supervision. And less students usually ride these buses, so why have to take care of the special needs on a LARGE bus?

Regular sized buses cost several hundred thousand dollars and some schools just do not have a) the money b) enough special ed kids to justify a large bus.

My school has 4 different special ed programs, none of them mentally challenged, by the way so we use regular sized busses, and they are full.

I worked in a state school of Deaf and Blind and the kids all came in short buses because you had 3 kids on one side of town, 4 north, 5 south etc…it just didn’t pay to have huge 40 passenger buses-gas costs.

My friend in Salt Lake City has her special ed kids come in a taxi to save fuel.. so it just depends on where you are from.

My daughter is a special ed child but she is not developmentally delayed. She has dyslexia and processing issues and fine motor skill issues, her school uses a small bus because there are less children on the bus to supervise and the less children the earlier they get home. I know one Kindergarten child who gets home later than my daughter who now takes public transportation. Because he’s on one of the bigger buses and there are twenty six children on his bus and he’s one of the last but not the last child on the bus. I would hate to be the last child on that bus. The smaller buses are better for children who have issues I think because there are less children on the bus and because they get home a lot quicker.

Short buses in general are much more comfortable than regular long buses. this is to provide much closer supervision. This is also to provide the special needs children more comfort.