Site of the Day: Action Alert on
Autistic Student Voted Out of Class
My children both have papers up in their rooms that list nice things classmates have said about them. In both cases, these were the products of an exercise in which each student had to say something nice about every other student in class. Some of the items are generic, and some show an actual attempt to get to know my kids, but all in all, they're a lovely and ego-boosting token of recognition and esteem.
I thought of those papers when I read about Alex Barton, a Florida five-year-old who is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Alex's teacher led her kindergarten class in an stunningly cruel variation on that upbeat exercise: She urged each of her students, even those friendly to Alex, to publicly state what they disliked about the boy, then had them vote to kick him out of class.
The Autism Self-Advocacy Network has set up an Action Alert page to send the message that such abuse is unacceptable, and that schools need to support diversity and discourage bullying. On the site, you can find contact information for the school principal, the district superintendent, and the chairperson of the school board, as well as links to a news report and blog post on the story.
Today, when most of us in the U.S. have a day off from school worries and stress, might be a good day to express our own dislikes in this matter, and see if that teacher can be voted out of the classroom, too.
I have a child with a learning disability and had similar problems with the school. The teacher stood my daughter up in front of the class and called her stupid. The parents of the other children in the class called me because their children were upset. When I complained to the school nothing was done. I removed all my children from the school and am now homeschooling. I support the mother of this child because schools should be a safe place for all children not just the “normal” ones! I hope that some sort of legal action will be taken, I know from experience that unless threatened the schools will not feel a need to change their actions. Good for you Mom and continue to build up Alex’s self confidence. He is and will continue to be an amazing young man!
How dare they do this, the teacher should be dismissed immediately, and never be allowed to teach again. The damage she has done could likely have an impact on all these children for the rest of their lives. Charges need brought up. No one should have to deal with this, my children were singled out, I had to fight with the schools every step of the way.
As a k-6 teacher and a parent of a child with autism I am up in arms about this. Even worse, the school system does not seem to be taking any action!
Something definetly needs to be done about this teacher’s actions and this child is owed some serious ammends!
I am absolutely disgusted by what this teacher has done. She has no respect for this student or his parents. I wonder how she would feel if her co-workers made her stand up in front of everyone and told her what they didn’t like about her. She needs to have her teaching credentials taken away…she has no business calling herself a teacher.
…And I’ll be sending an email to the school district.
I am an elementary teacher. I had to report testing violations that happened to special education students. I even refused to sign an
IEP that had been rejected by a parent. The teacher wanted to nullify an IEP that had been signed by us all 3 days prior.
Long story short – my life has been hell ever since. I have received poor evaluations, a first for me. When my new principal found out about what had happened at my previous school she also turned on me. She had the staff vote me out of my position as Literacy Coordinator. I now have a Ph.D. but I am turned down for promotion after promotion. Before this happened I was voted twice as Outstanding teacher and earned national certification and had the highest evaluations one can receive.
Administrators close ranks against teachers who do their jobs.
I read the teacher’s comments, about being blacklisted for doing things the right way, and I want to cry. Teachers like this one, who are supportive and caring, these are the people who are hope for far too many kids. Without great teachers, I wouldn’t be here or anywhere.
I’ve seen the other side of things, with teachers and principal united to create their own view of reality, and watched the CYC and one other teacher dance their way when they were looking, and try to be helpful when it was just us.
If I were rich, I would build a school just for those teachers who do it the right way, for kids who need to be heard. The system seems broken, and I don’t know that I have the ability to fix it.
I am a mother of an autistic child. he is only 4 1/2 years old. I myself had to pull him out of school b/c of severe neglegence. I thank God that i found a teacher who comes to the house. My son advanced in 3 months more than he was advancing in school for 2 years. I advise all parents to be alert and not to ignore the RED FLAGS. What has happened to this child Alex is the most cruel thing i have ever heard. This teacher should be fired and her teacher’s certification should be pulled. These type of kids are very sensitive. Teachers should be teaching acceptance tolerance, non of those happened here , instead the opposite. We are living in this country where there is opportunity for special need children and people , and look what abuse they have to go through. I hope Alex’s mom will file a law suite againts the school and this so called teacher.
Unpardonable! The teacher should be fired immediately. If I were this mother and got nowhere with the school board, I would go to my government representatives.