5 Year Old Voted Out Of Class

[melporcristo]

JMJ

[quote]The children called him "disgusting" and "annoying" and voted 14 to 2 to kick him out of the class.[/quote]

What the heck. That teacher needs to get ousted. And then they can hire me because I'm looking for a teaching position.

My 5 year olds don't say disgusting, either. I think that was a misquote.
Psh.

[Archaeology cat]

Here's another article about it. And of course this happened in FL.
[url="http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/24/30gtteacher-lets-students-vote-out-classmate-5/?feedback=1#comments"]http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/24/30g...back=1#comments[/url]

I don't understand what kind of teacher would not only allow this, but [i]encourage [/i]it! I worked so hard to make sure my students didn't insult each other (3rd grade), and didn't tolerate any kind of insults/slurs/etc. I certainly hope the principal takes disciplinary action. How long has the teacher been there, anyway?

Edited June 7, 2008 by Archaeology cat

[Not A Mallard]

I've seen this story on the news before. That's mean.

Edited June 7, 2008 by Not A Mallard

[jmjtina]

This is heartbreaking.



I'm not condoning her behavior. It just breaks my heart to see that this probably could have been prevented. The child and the teacher could have been successful. Handling an autistic child in a full classroom is difficult. But I'm wondering if she had the support you need to handle a special needs child like that. Not having the support needed happens more often than I'd like to admit.

Firing a teacher is not fixing the problem but putting a bandaid on an already leaky dam. Fixing the dam is alot harder.

How can a school system ensure that this won't happen again? That teacher may be gone, but it won't be the last autistic child that will be in the system.

[Autumn Dusk]

[quote name='jmjtina' post='1562636' date='Jun 7 2008, 03:25 PM']This is heartbreaking.



I'm not condoning her behavior. It just breaks my heart to see that this probably could have been prevented. The child and the teacher could have been successful. Handling an autistic child in a full classroom is difficult. But I'm wondering if she had the support you need to handle a special needs child like that. Not having the support needed happens more often than I'd like to admit.

Firing a teacher is not fixing the problem but putting a bandaid on an already leaky dam. Fixing the dam is alot harder.

How can a school system ensure that this won't happen again? That teacher may be gone, but it won't be the last autistic child that will be in the system.[/quote]

In some articles and blogs, one by another parent who had a kid in the class, the kid may not be autistic but simply badly behaved. The writer suggested he could be both. The article said that the mom was in the process of getting him tested...apparently has used this in a long line of excuses. The other parent said that the boy was prone to hitting other children, incessant screaming and talking and refused to do any work assigned to him...even simple crafts. The author's stated that her child (like most kinder gardeners) was eager to learn and the boy wouldn't be quiet...he wouldn't even play by himself but insisted on disrupting his classmates. And the parent would do virtually nothing but try to get a diagnosis.

Now, that behavior is one of a child in trouble...and with over a dozen other kids in class should one adult, ONE? really be handling this?

She did something foolish and stupid, something that was cruel to a child who may be acting in his best capacity, but honestly, I can't say as a teacher I wouldn't of wanted one afternoon of peace from this kid.

They really need to recognize self-contained classrooms...8-12 kids with a teacher, and an aid and 2 or 3 other helpers. But no, self-contained isn't good for self-esteem of the kids. We're creating these problems and putting young teachers in no-win situations.

[cathoholic_anonymous]

[quote name='Autumn Dusk' post='1562661' date='Jun 7 2008, 09:07 PM']In some articles and blogs, one by another parent who had a kid in the class, the kid may not be autistic but simply badly behaved. The writer suggested he could be both.[/quote]

I would be very cautious about paying serious attention to a classmate's parent on topics like this one. If you have special needs of any kind, it always seems as though your peers' parents know better than your own mother and father about what your real problems are and the best way to go about correcting them. I have one autistic friend whose mum used to come home crying because of the 'advice' that overly officious mothers had felt it necessary to share with her as they waited to collect their children in the playground at the end of the school day. When I was a teenager, my parents used to get frustrated and upset by some of the comments that they received from other parents about my behaviour (which, incidentally, wasn't bad or disruptive - just 'odd'). In the end they took me out of that particular school and home educated me for a while as the bullying was making me so anxious that I couldn't sleep at night and had lost my appetite. Our next-door neighbour felt the need to come round and explain to my mum exactly why she shouldn't be 'indulging' me by taking me out of school - based on the knowledge that she had obtained from her daughter and the children on the school bus. (She had asked them a few questions about me when it was her turn to be the bus monitor and had based her expert analysis on me and my learning needs on the results of this group interview.) Unless the mother of Alex Barton's classmate has access to his medical and educational records, an in-depth knowledge of his developmental history, and great familiarity with his home life, she has no business to be saying whether he does or does not have autism.

[quote]The article said that the mom was in the process of getting him tested...apparently has used this in a long line of excuses. The other parent said that the boy was prone to hitting other children, incessant screaming and talking and refused to do any work assigned to him...even simple crafts. The author's stated that her child (like most kinder gardeners) was eager to learn and the boy wouldn't be quiet...he wouldn't even play by himself but insisted on disrupting his classmates. And the parent would do virtually nothing but try to get a diagnosis.[/quote]

All the articles that I've read about this case say that the testing for autism was suggested and arranged by the school principal, not Alex's mother. The principal herself has affirmed this. So the other parent is definitely wrong on that point. We know nothing about 'the long line of excuses', but going by mine and my friends' personal experience of life with autism, I suspect that that 'long line of excuses' may bear a strong resemblance to the rumours that spread about me when I was withdrawn from school. There wasn't a grain of truth in them, yet many of the parents on our compound were treating them as absolute fact.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='Cathoholic Anonymous' post='1562676' date='Jun 7 2008, 08:41 PM']All the articles that I've read about this case say that the testing for autism was suggested and arranged by the school principal, not Alex's mother. The principal herself has affirmed this. So the other parent is definitely wrong on that point. We know nothing about 'the long line of excuses', but going by mine and my friends' personal experience of life with autism, I suspect that that 'long line of excuses' may bear a strong resemblance to the rumours that spread about me when I was withdrawn from school. There wasn't a grain of truth in them, yet many of the parents on our compound were treating them as absolute fact.[/quote]
In FL the standard procedure is to create an IEP (individual education plan) with the ESE teacher, counselors, parents, teacher (the principal wasn't involved in that at my school, but that may be different from school to school). It takes quite a while, and you do have to wait for the parent to get testing done as well. This is generally mandated by the school, and initiated by the school (always initiated by the classroom teacher at my school). There are a lot of steps to be taken before a child is taken out of a classroom. Though I should add that all ESE students in FL are mainstreamed (or maybe that was just my county), so there aren't separate ESE classes. Of course, I only had to do IEPs one year, so I'm sure there's a lot I didn't learn about them.