Timex's Journal: I'm completely beside myself

I was reading my news sites this morning, when I saw a link to this.

I think that the "teacher" should be fired with extreme prejudice, never to be allowed to work in that profession again. Who, in their right mind, is going to encourage a group of kindergarteners to say bad things about anyone, especially a special needs kid, and basically turn the class into "Survivor"?

Adding insult to injury, the principal of the school seems to be supporting the teacher in this. According to the child's mother, the principal said that the teacher didn't feel she did anything wrong! WTF?!?

On the off-chance there's someone reading this that is slow on the up-take, I'm a bit livid about this. I have a son that has been diagnosed with a form of autism myself, and I've been seeing issues within the school system where I live... If something like this ever came to pass here, I'd make sure the school system fired people, beginning with the "teacher", and if the principal couldn't do anything, the principal would be next.

I don't know what the mother's got in mind for the immediate future, but I know that she's said that people have shown nothing but support for her son. You can count me in that camp, too.

Ow

[Short Circuit]

That bitch should be fired. No ifs, ands or buts about it. I had very similar experiences as a kid, except I didn't have a teacher turn my only friend against me.

I've been following this for three days now

[Marxist Hacker 42]

And I'm beginning to understand the teacher's point of view. Some kids don't belong mainstreamed into a class like that.

Having said that, I'm autistic myself- and I see great parallels between my recent dismissal from ODOT and this case- in both cases the idiot-in-charge (in my case, the Governor and my own management chain of command, in the kid's case the teacher) were entirely clueless on how to deal with autism appropriately- instead expecting the person who simply *can't* tell the difference between

No longer a teacher ...

[tomhudson]

Links for those who don't want to run buggy flash video players ...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/27/earlyshow/main4130288.shtml [cbsnews.com]

http://www.mahalo.com/Wendy_Portillo [mahalo.com] (Wendy Portillo no longer teaches)

Re:

[Timex]

This is awesome! Thanks!

Re:

[tomhudson]

I think it's great too. Half the teachers out there shouldn't be. They don't know their material, lack communication skills, it's "just a job", and bore their students to death.

whoa

[Captain Splendid]

First things first. While I might not be as outraged as you, someone like that needs to find another job, simple as that.

Second, boy, some of you folks here were obviously lucky or coddled. I've seen way worse teachers than that, some of them even mine!

Good times.

Re:

[Timex]

Things have changed a lot since I was in grade school, especially when there is an attempt to "mainstream" Special Needs kids.

Kids have enough problems dealing with their peers-- they don't need their teachers adding to their problems. Teachers are supposed to nurture a child's development, not actively work to destroy it.

One of my sons (the youngest of the three) has been diagnosed with PDD/NOS, which is in the autistic scale. I know what the laws are in Massachusetts regarding what the Commonwealth is r

For what it is worth

[Degrees]

For what it is worth, my mom taught mentally retarded children for thirty five (or so) years. The education system isn't sure what to do with these kids, and the pendulum swings (every fifteen years or so) to the opposite extreme. So in one decade, the plan is segregation. The following decade, the plan is moving toward assimilation. Then back to segregation. Then back to assimilation.

The arguments in favor of segregation: the m.r. kids get highly specialized instruction, that is deliberately targeted to t

Re:

[iminplaya]

...anything where people skills are not required.

IRS