Special needs child "voted" out of classroom

[Dena]

This part of his story breaks my heart:

(after the vote)
The teacher then allegedly asked the boy where he would go now that the class doesn’t like him the boy replied, “to the office?” the teacher returned with “they do not want you there” then the 5 year old said “home” the teacher said your mom is at work you can’t go home. He finally said that he would go to the nurse and the teacher sent him out of the classroom to the office where he stayed for the remainder of the day.

(more at link from above by another poster)
http://69.89.31.226/~treasuv0/wordpress/?p=75

And how long was he there? Did the office ask why? Do 5 year olds walk through school halls by themselves?

 

[XcomSquaddie]

Of course her approach was all wrong, but if the boy was hurting the other children something should have been done a long time ago.

That's the understatement of the year.

Nothing the child could have been doing would justify that behavior. If the child was a physical danger to the other students then he should have been removed from the classroom. Period. He was not.

In situations like this, you can tell a great deal by what parties don't do as much as by what they are doing.

The school is NOT issuing a denial.
The school is NOT issuing their side of the story.
The school is NOT defending the teacher.

The school did NOT remove the boy from the classroom. If he was a physical threat to the other students, they would have been able and obligated to remove him. They did not.

You can also tell a lot from what the other kids where saying.

He was told "he's not special".
He was told "he was annoying".
He was told "he was disgusting".

Nothing about hurting anyone. Words that are used to describe anti-social behaviors typical of autism or asbergers.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

And they were surprised when kids started bringing guns to school. This teacher sounds like part of the problem.

 

[SoccerMom]

Glitch, it isn't proven he has a disability yet if he's still "undergoing tests".

My son that doesn't have a disability was treated like this in Kindergarten. He just didn't understand his boundaries and that bothered the K teacher. He was kicked out of K and he cried everytime we drove by that school for a year. We were finally able to help him through it, with the help of loving friends, family members and a great teacher that took him under her wing.

So disability or not, this was horrible treatment for any child in school, no matter what age.

My now 10 year old son had a horrible time in first grade. He was in a class that was supposedly advanced, but the teacher was a first year teacher in the district. (she had taught elsewhere and not done well at all - per friends of ours with children in the other school) She had my poor sensitive boy so messed up that at 6, he told me that he couldn't wait until he was 16, so he could quit school. I went to his IEP like a woman possessed. She claimed that he had ADHD, when he'd never shown a single symptom. And when she flat out lied in the meeting, I went after her.(with words, not beating her like I wanted to!) She looked like a pathetic 12 year old when I was done with her. Grr Unfortunately, she still teaches at that school, but when she sees me coming, she hides. LOL
This thread just really pi**es me off!

 

[philamena]

This part of his story breaks my heart:

(after the vote)
The teacher then allegedly asked the boy where he would go now that the class doesn’t like him the boy replied, “to the office?” the teacher returned with “they do not want you there” SNIP(more at link from above by another poster)
http://69.89.31.226/~treasuv0/wordpress/?p=75

Yep, she seriously needs :furious::furious::furious: her azz kicked.
I cannot believe a teacher would embarress and emotionally abuse a child in that way. It is heartbreaking.

 

[SoccerMom]

Individual Education Plan for children with identified disabilities. .

At our school district, you can have an IEP meeting without having an identified disability. My guy hasn't had one since he was struggling in first grade, but we have the option of calling in a meeting. (I'm in PA)

 

[txsvicki]

Hmm, i had read that this child had not yet been declared special needs and the teacher has been reassigned. I believe the child in question had been a problem with the oher kids all year. So I don't know if he was doing the bullying or what, but thats what it sounded like by the responses of the other children. Of course her approach was all wrong, but if the boy was hurting the other children something should have been done a long time ago.


Alex is currently under evaluation from the school for the possibility of being Autistic, and Asperger’s Disorder. His principal has initiated getting Alex’s proper diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome.

Ooh, this makes me mad too. Why is the school evaluating and a principal initiating a proper diagnosis when the child obviously had caring parents who are capable to getting a medical doctor! I know the school is required if asked to do a full and individual evaluation and they can also help get in to see a medical doctor for diagnosis but the parent can get their own if they have medicaid or insurance. Why is the toddler victim of an abuser being blamed for this incident and having all his medical information drug through the public.

 

[Diamond]

Send Alex a card, see this link: http://www.mommylife.net/archives/2008/05/alex_is_special.html

 

[Diamond]

Also, here is an interview with his mom.

http://www.mommylife.net/

 

[southcitymom]

I'm not sure if any 5 year old deserves to be voted out of a classroom by his fellow peers....WTF?? Even if he isn't disabled and is just a little head!! I'm sure this wasn't the proper avenue for dismissing a child from the class!!

One of my closest friends has a child in elementary school in Clemson, SC - they regularly have "peer court' where a child who is misbehaving goes in front of the class and the class discusses his bad actions and tells him how his bad behavior makes them feel (blah, blah blah) and determines his punishment. Her son (1st grade) has been in the "peer court" hotseat twice. He has an ADD diagnosis.

I told her it sounded goofy to me, but she says it's a new thing the school system is all into. His teacher has made her comfortable with it. I still think it's ridiculous and it sounds very little similar to what happened to this Florida child. Wondering if this is some sort of new phenomenon in the teaching world .....?:waitasec:

 

[Diamond]

Personally, I would not allow my children to 'try' and 'punish' a child with disabilities...physical or otherwise.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I don't spank any of my children and I don't advocate violence at all. However, NOTHING my mother ever did in my lifetime equaled what she did one day at my school.

You have to picture my mother. She was about 5'9 and was all of 110 pounds. She was a cop, so when she went to my school, she was in full uniform and armed.

One of the vice principals gave me a spanking at school. My parents spanked, in fact I was a big mouth who earned quite a few spankings (I know its hard to imagine). However, my mother went to that school, pointed her bony little finger in that man's face and had him leaning backward over his desk like he was gonna snap! I'd like to say I never heard language like that, but let's be real. She gave him a piece of her mind for at least 10 minutes, ending with the promise that if he EVER laid a hand on me or one of my sisters again, he would be the sorriest that God ever created.

I never had a lick of trouble in that school after that.

Long story, but what it means is that parents need to take back their authority with teachers that don't seem to have any self control.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Floh, vermontn03, and calidreamin,

Thanks for posting about what happened to you in school. Some teachers go into the classroom with the idea of "teacher as ultimate power." (The other side of that coin involves parents who think that their kids can do no wrong, even if they bully the teacher and other kids.) Those teachers don't seem to get it that teaching is NOT ABOUT THEM. It's about teaching kids and helping them become educated, functional adult citizens. There's no room for any kind of bullying, especially bullying that comes from the front of the room.

I still hate my elementary school art teacher who mocked my efforts at every turn. I just wasn't "good" at art--until I got a new teacher in junior high, who was one of the most important adults in my life both at school and church. So kids carry these scars for a long time. I know because I hear the stories from my college students who talk about teachers who called them"stupid," "not college material," "terrible writers," etc.

And for teachers to allow bullying to go on is just as bad--and this teacher takes the cake for modelling bullying for kids. vermontn03, think of how sad it is that some of your high school classmates' lives peaked at 18. They had the most fun, the most power, the most popularity they will ever have in high school. That certainly doesn't describe you. I spent 4 years in HS as a student (if you count 9th grade) and another 7 as a teacher. High school is overrated.

 

[XcomSquaddie]

Also, here is an interview with his mom.

http://www.mommylife.net/

According to the interview:

Alex's behaviors include hiding under a table, eating paper and crayons, humming and spinning.

While these behaviors are disruptive they are not deliberately so. Such behaviors are called "stimming" and are natural for the autistic person.

The mother says that other parents and teaching staff noted the teacher exhibiting inappropriately angry reactions at other times. The mother herself recounts:

she remembers being at the kindergarten Mother's Day program, where the teacher was obviously very disturbed by a younger sibling who made baby sounds - not crying or screaming - and everyone noticed the teacher glaring.

This is the kicker:

When I asked Melissa if the teacher's Kids' Tribunal came out of the blue, she said yes - it had taken her completely by surprise.

So apparently this is the same thing described above by Southcitymom. This "Kid Tribunal" is apparently accepted practice in that school system.

Now, pardon me but what whack-job moron thought that this was a good idea? What kind of crack are they smoking in their staff rooms?

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Long story, but what it means is that parents need to take back their authority with teachers that don't seem to have any self control.

Your mom had the right idea. School administrators and teachers have no right to hit kids. And just think what your story says about that administrator, who was a coward when faced with a person who had both real authority (badge! gun!) and righteous indignation. He's brave when he's taking on a kid.

 

[Taximom]

Maybe she got the idea from that children's reality show, Kid Nation.

 

[Paladin]

Long story, but what it means is that parents need to take back their authority with teachers that don't seem to have any self control.

Yes, but on the other end of the spectrum parents need to stop thinking their children aren't misbehaving and stop with the "not my kid" bs.

 

[XcomSquaddie]

Yes, but on the other end of the spectrum parents need to stop thinking their children aren't misbehaving and stop with the "not my kid" bs.

Do you believe that is happening in this case?

 

[Paladin]

Do you believe that is happening in this case?

Nope, just saying in general.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Yes, but on the other end of the spectrum parents need to stop thinking their children aren't misbehaving and stop with the "not my kid" bs.

Absolutely!!!! I grew up in the 60s and 70s, when we listened to EVERY adult, whether we knew them or not! We wouldn't dream of back talking a grown up.

However, I don't advocate hitting a child no matter what.