Unbelievable!!! teacher lets students vote autistic kid out of class

[Savager]

http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2008/05/29/teacher-lets-students-vote-autistic-kid-out-of-class/

Well, looks like Port St. Lucie kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo won't be named Teacher of the Year. According to the Treasure Coast Palm, she handled a difficult child, five-year-old Alex Barton (pictured at right), in what she probably thought was a creative manner:

She encouraged the other children in the class to tell him why they didn't like him (e.g.: he's "disgusting" and "annoying") and then to vote on whether or not he should stay in class (they voted to kick him out, 14-2). And so he was forced to leave!

Why in the world would a teacher hand over control to a classroom of five-year-olds? If she thought he needed to leave the room, why didn't she just take the authority upon herself to send him to the principal rather than handing the decision over to an army of PlayDoh-eaters?

Alex, who has Asperger's, a form of autism, spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office. At home he repeated to himself, "I'm not special" over and over, and he now screams when he gets near the school, so he's dropped out.

An abuse investigation is underway and Alex's mother is considering legal action. Even if he was a problem kid, there definitely had to be a better way for the teacher to handle this.

Totally unacceptable. I hope she gets fired!

 

[mray]

She needs to be kept away from kids. There is no reason why she should enourage kids to ridicule another kid let alone one with autism. I'd be surprised if she doesn't get fired from this incident.

 

[RyanG]

This is an unacceptable answer to a difficult situation. On one hand you have a young special needs child that needs to be educated on the other hand you have a whole class of children being disrupted, they all deserve a quality education and together that might not be possible. Im sorry if this isnt a PC post but it is a true one.

 

[danny]

special needs child

This just kills me, my son is a special needs child & they want to fit in like any child. He considered some of these kids as a friends & for the teacher to do this is just plain cruel.

Hopefully when she has a kid or kids they have no issues because a piece of your heart gets ripped out seeing you child with issues.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

 

[Pinkheine]

Totally unacceptable behavior. That woman should be ashamed of herself. Funny thing is that kids normally will ignore the bad kids at that age, and the problem children typically will conform to the normal behavior patterns represented in a classroom setting simply not to be left out.

I am surprised that this child is main streamed in a classroom without a 1 on 1 to help the teacher and more so the child.

There is no reason for her behavior and now ALL of those children have learned a terrible lesson. If my child were one taking part in the voting, that woman would not like her life. We teach my son acceptance of people's differences and we teach him self control to be in only situations he wants to be in or how to react when something isn't pleasant. And that most certainly doesn't mean voting someone off the island.

Would be interesting to see how this situation is handled. And get some perspective from the teacher, this student in questions parents, and the other students parents.

 

[EmilyT]

thats horrible!!!

 

[e.muehlbauer]

The problem is with the teacher. The kid is 5 years old...its too soon for school administrators and counselors to know if he can fit in. If he was a problem, it was the teachers job to inform administration and guidance that this kid wasn't working out successfully in a mainstream environment. The school authorities then have to deal with evaluation and eventually the proper placement. This is an outrageous response on the teachers behalf. I am a teacher, and I have a brother who is autistic, as is my nephew's daughter. I have taught students with Aspergers. Most can be mainstreamed, they just need a little more attention (not necessarily overt...as long as the teacher is aware and understanding). Some cannot...but its an individual situation, and you need an empathetic and understanding person to evaluate the situation...not this particular teacher.

 

[mray]

Is it bad that only two out of the sixteen kids voted against kicking the autistic kid out? I think it goes to show how many parents are actually parenting.

 

[Altohombre]

I doubt the other kids even have an idea that this child has aspergers because we all know this teacher didn't explain anything to them. For all we know this teacher may not have any idea what it even is and just treats him as a problem child. If I was 5 and some kid was doing typical things a child with aspergers does I would vote them out too.

My gf worked with kids with aspergers and she told me stories of a teenage girl who would stick her hands in her private area and smear period blood on the table. Who knows what a 5 year old does.

The teacher is completely at fault and should never be allowed to work with children again. The child cannot control his actions without proper supervision. However you can 't blame those other 5 year olds for voting him out and saying they have bad parenting. I work with children and if I went over and knocked over a sandcastle they were all building and someone asked if I should be voted out they would most likely do it at that time.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

The news clip is too short to judge the case fairy. SEVERITY of the symptom is a very important part of the case where it's missing from the news clip.

I believed if the kid is diagnosed with the SEVERE symptom, he is placed in the wrong school(of course, wrong teacher then) in the first place. Many people thinks that we should mainstream them early on and PRETEND not to see it, but many adults with autism think we should not mainstream themselves until much older and should be treated with special care in the early ages so that they can do better in academic side.

I see both positive and negative actions of the teacher in the clip-voting options teaches every kid the democracy idea or the concept of "norm" or general consensus, and the autism kid the result of failure in proper interactions(the kid at the time may not know at all, but over time he probably learn the proper manner.) Many autism adults say they come back to the society by forcing themselves to conform to the norm even though they don't feel the same compassion as the others. However, the name calling is a very dangerous idea(even though it probably let them explain the truth-their reasons of unwilling to accept the autism kid) because if not handled properly, it will become mis educating all the kids.

 

[CAPTAIN STABBIN]

What a world!?!?!?!?!??!

 

[Killerdrgn]

Actually I kind of understand the actions even though it is horrible. I have several friends that are teachers and basically their principals are complete dolts. There was a case recently with one of my friends where one of her students, a second grader, physically attacked her with a table and the principal covered up the event because it would make the school look bad and possibly lose funding. And she had been filing reports and recommending to move him to special education since the beginning of the year because of emotional problems.