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Autistic Child Voted Out of Class...Nothing But Angry Thoughts Here.Submitted by Resolution on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 2:11pm.
**What the hell was this teacher thinking? I copied this from aol.com...unfortunately, this happened not far from where I live**: It sounds like somebody has been watching too many reality shows. Namely, Wendy Portillo, a teacher at Morningside Elementary in Port St. Lucie, Florida. She turned her kindergarten classroom into a cruel version of Survivor by allowing her students to vote a fellow student out of the class. The banished child is 5-year-old Alex Barton, who is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning type of autism. Not uncommon to his condition, Alex has had some behavioral issues and as a result, spends a lot of time in the principal's office. After returning to Ms. Portillo's classroom after a recent visit with the principal, his teacher decided to punish him with humiliation. She had Alex stand at the front of the class while his fellow students listed off what they didn't like about him. After informing him that they found him "disgusting" and "annoying", the class was instructed to vote on whether or not Alex should be allowed to stay in the class. By a 14 to 2 margin, they voted him out. Alex hasn't been back to school since then, but his mother, Melissa Barton, says he is still reliving the incident. The night after it happened, she says she overheard him saying "I'm not special" over and over. Incredibly, an investigation by the state attorney's office concluded that Alex's treatment did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse and no charges have been filed. I don't know what the criteria for emotional abuse is, but if this doesn't meet it, what does? My heart breaks for all the children involved in this incident. **That poor class. How could this NOT meet the criteria for emotional abuse, for not only Alex but the children left with the decision to vote him out?** I want to comment but, I'm so stunned I can't. Where the hell did the teacher get her degree from? The $1 store? I would guess she has a case. but this link contains the names/contact info of the school principal, board of ed, etc, etc (scroll way down) http://autisticnation.typepad.com/thinking_in_metaphors/2008/05/wendy-po... And she was not punished for this? Is there that much of a lack of training for teachers these days? I know a kid with asperger's and this really broke my heart thinking of him in that kind of situation. I wonder how she can justify her actions. "If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?" I mean -- "she says she overheard him saying "I'm not special" over and over" This is the kind of thing that would have made me positively crumble at that age, and I was pretty tough/not that sensitive. god... i'm surprised ALL of those students' parents haven't pulled them from her class. like you pointed out, it wasn't only the little boy who was 'voted out' who was abused; all of the children were put in a terrible position by her abuse of authority. that poor kid -- and all of the other kids as well. One of my friends has a child with Asperger's. He's probably one of the smartest kids I've ever met, but he does the weirdest and most socially inappropriate things, like shove fistfuls of cake into his maw while talking to you, cake spluttering about (really gross), or throwing not-so-wee rocks at his little brother's back while dancing around him saying "Ha! Ha! I got you (boy's name), I got you!" His first grade year was spent in the principal's office and OCS because his GT teacher didn't know how to handle him, or most GT kids for that matter. Second grade changed all that with a new teacher who tolerated his outbursts much better, was able to patiently talk to him, and knew how to avoid setting him off. And, she never sent him to the principal's office, which really made a difference. And yeah, he is annoying. He's a total weirdo, but underneath it all a great kid. Most teachers don't know how to handle special ed kids, especially if they're high functioning AND geniuses on top of it. I imagine many teachers who run into these kids are intimidated - after all, how suckass would it be for a teacher to run into an 8-year-old who's smarter than s/he? On a more maternal note, I hope the mom kicks that teacher's ass. I'm talking dark parking lot kind of action. People can be ass-tastic with disabled kids; particularly when they appear to be perfectly healthy. My son's first kindergarten teacher (And his first first grade teacher) did and said some really shitty things even when I was there. There is no wheelchair, no brace, no visible disability. When you look at these kids; especially when you ascertain that they are highly intelligent (as many kids with a neurological or behavioral difference are); they can see and hear and understand you, they have full or near full range of motion; it is maddening to come up against all the misbehavior. Does it make it ok that she did that? Nope. My son's teacher didn't let him eat a single bite or drink a single sip all day sometimes in kindergarten (6+ hours), as well as making him sit at "the naughty table". Her method for punishing kids was public humiliation and for some reason she thought that withholding food from antsy 5 year olds would shame them and shock them and scare them into behaving. Total bullshit. I didn't even find out about it for sure until months after he left the class (it was in her notes). But it happens all the time. These kids are 5 YEARS OLD! This isn't... UGH! I'm so angry. How hurtful and awful. How can this not meet an emotional abuse criteria? I hope his mother can find some sort of loophole here because what the teacher did was WRONG! What a serious lapse in judgement! If that was my kids teacher, I would pull him from that class, maybe even the whole school.
She should be fired. Never allowed to work with children again. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) |
this sounds like something the evil nuns at my old elementary school would do.
Someone needs to fire her ass, and get her a job flipping burgers or something.