Teacher suspended for incident with autistic child

I think some questions have to be asked, to see the situation as a whole:

1) Was the teacher aware of the childs condition?

I think it is clear she did not. Would she have acted differently if she had known about the Autism? Definitely! Obviously this is a question of how well do we prepare teachers to recognize disorders (of any kind) and to act accordingly.

2) Did she treat the child differently than other disruptive children?

I don't know the answer to this question. If this was a common practice for the teacher, then what was the purpose of the vote? Was it 'permanent'? Or was it a tool to show that the childs actions were negatively affecting the other kids?

I think these two questions are the most important in deciding what happens to the teacher. If A) she was unaware of the childs condition, and B) had used this 'voting' as a tool to show a kid how his or her actions were affecting the other children on C) multiple occations, then the suspension is punishment enough. Get the teacher some training on childhood disorders, give her more tools for disipline, and let her get back to her job. If, on the other hand, any of A B or C was different, then more aggressive steps are necessary.

When would you ever put the fate of a child in the hands of 5 year olds?

I'm sorry but those questions still don't rest how she used 5 year olds to vote their peer out of the class because she couldn't deal with it.  SolarGlare I understand what your saying but really think about it if you were this child's parent what would you be thinking, feeling about this situation? Did you hear the audio she recorded herself, I think its still on You Tube, I'm at work otherwise I would try to provide a link for everyone, I heard it a couple of months ago, I was so disgusted, and if the school board didn't think she did anything wrong why is she suspended? I think a 1 year suspension is getting off lightly, I know we need teachers, but we need good, compassionate leading teachers for a children not one that will put down and embarrass to prove a point.  The boy is only 5 not 10, 15, etc, etc.

Kelly, I certainly agree that the parents have something to be angry about. My point is that as of now, a suspension and further training in recognising symptoms of childhood disorders, as well as disciplinary tools is more than enough.

I don't think this teacher was malevolent in her actions, I simply think that she needs to be taught the right way to deal with these situations.

I searched youtube for the audio, but I was unable to find it. All sorts of video reports about it, but no original audio. I'll keep looking though.

in a sense I don't think it was done in complete malice but she is suppose to be able to handle kids like this, or a least tolerate them until the situation, that was already in process, is handled completely.

In my opinion, I'm a parent, if you have a problem with my child come to me don't get the classroom to vote my son out, I don't care if he didn't have autism, he is still a human being, and obviously the mother, the teacher and the Principal knew something was going on if he was currently being diagnosed with something. And if the mother didn't know that doesn't mean a lot, the child was 5, who's to say up until that point the child developed normally but when put in a classroom atmosphere it brought to light the childs issues.  Come on, this teacher knew exactly what she was doing, you don't embarrass 5 year olds like that no matter the situation.  And she recorded the entire voting process like she was doing something right.  I'm almost finished school to become a teacher and in no way would that ever cross my mind no matter how the child was acting.  I want people to treat my kids as they would want their child treated, shyt, treat people how you would want to be treated.

I could see if she made him stand in front of the class with a dunce cap on his head for over a hour or stand in the corner with a sign I do not know how to behave etc...

to me she showed a lot of respect to her students by asking their opinion about their classroom

now on the teacher being trained she is trained to teach normal children if this child is not normal he is in the wrong classroom or school you do not put a child who has a metal disorder with other normal children that also sets up the child to truly be ridiculed not by the teacher but by the children its seem that the mother just dumped her child on the school

as I said in my post you have taken it upon yourself to make her actions as being done with malice and I don't see it that way its not like this was a Carrie moment for the child

if I was the teacher and this was a school for normal children I would sue the school and the mother also for neglect of a child because me, personal,

don't want to hear how this problem just pop out of nowhere when he started school at the age of 5   BS

I wish this article would have said when this process started for this child being sent to a doctor..

and if this was a special school that handles special children  and are trained to do so and have special  curriculum

and any parent worth their salt would have know something is wrong with my child long before sending them into a normal school environment and then to "blame"

a teacher for trying to get through to him that his behavior was not acceptably  by her, but also by his peers is beyond me,

and I see a lot of people take this as a reality show moment or a Carrie moment but I don't believe this is the case since this was the third time that day he was being sent out

maybe just maybe she thought it was that he wasn't listening to her and try to get through to him even his classmates by 14 - 2 thought his actions were inappropriate

and note the "parents are usually the first" and I take that as those worth their salt

The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction.  Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child.  As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time.  A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement. 

Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people.  They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior.  They lack empathy. 

Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging.

you are an @!$%#

The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction.  Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child.  As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time.  A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement. 

Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people.  They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior.  They lack empathy. 

Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging.

Do you know how many forms of Autism there is?  Do you know that there are forms of Autism that the child is very normal but when put in certain situations it sets them off.  Now again, they were already in a process to see what was going on with this kid and for her to embarrass a 5 year old like that is reprehensible especially for a teacher.  I have been going to school to become a teacher and although we don't get extensive information on specific mental health issues you do get basic information, we do have to take a few different Psychology classes so she should have at least been aware.  And some children act differently when the parent isn't around.  My problem is there are so many other paths this teacher could have taken, its like bullies going around the school and picking on anyone they deem weaker than them. 

And people like you make me sick, you can't sue for everything.  She shouldn't have put herself in this type of situation, she used bad judgement and if the school board didn't see anything wrong with what she did she wouldn't have been disciplined.

please this was the third time he was sent to the office for disruptive behavior that day was he embarrassed the first two times I guess not

now we get to the teacher who is now a trained doctor and knows this boys problem is some form of autism

but the mother who so called raised the child does not know

and I guess if there is different degrees of autism there are a thousand other things that could have caused his behavioral problems lack of discipline at home wrong diet

 eating bowls and bowls of sugar coated cereal for breakfast abused or just plain bratty hard headed ETC... unless that child was raised in a cave in the mountains after 5 years the mother should have know something was wrong with johnny long before he went to school


and am willing to bet that this so call "process" was started in her classroom for him being sent to the office on numerous times for his behavior

and the only truly embarrassing thing, is that,

he wasn't diagnosed long before he went to school

HN, you and I agree on a lot of things, but sadly this isn't one of them:

If you read my post (#1.3) it might give you some perspective. For one thing, Kelly is right, there are numerous forms of autism that manifest differently and since the article is vague, there is no way to know how educated the parents are and whether or not they would spot the signs of a neurological disorder.

On the other hand, teachers are trained to spot things like this. I know that because there are 5 teachers in my family and I work at a university where the four-year program requires education psychological courses and something called Contemporary Issues in Education that discusses issues such as this. My understanding is that all teaching programs nowadays require at least one course like that. So teachers are supposed to notice these things.

Irrespective, even if she didn't know what to look for, there is no excuse for putting it to a vote amongst 5 year olds. When kids disrupted my class, the teacher would call the parents and meet with them to discuss the options, not hold a Survivor: Mini-Me Edition to vote this poor kid off the island.

As far as being late to diagnose, my understanding is that usually they are diagnosed at 2-3 years old. But again, if the parents were not educated enough to spot it, and he just started school this year, it's possible the child's behavior started to only become more blatantly apparent when he began school this year.

Maybe Aimee can shed some light on this.

Maggie was diagnosed at 3. She lost all of her communications skills, would fecal smear (I shouldn't have to explain this) began having small seizures, and many hand ticks started. Maggie never slept through the night and still never has , now age seven. She never was able to do any gestures like wave bye bye, we knew something was wrong but no parent is ever ready to hear the words "autism". Aspergers is totally different, on the complete opposite end of Maggie. They are very socially incompetent, but otherwise can be very intelligent. It's a hard diagnosis to make. It's hard for most people to distinguish between an Aspergers child and a quirky or ill behaved child, but I assure you there is a difference.

My mother's name is Maggie :)

I'm very sorry to hear about your daughter, no child should be deprived of the ability to grow and live life to its fullest. Perhaps with technological and scientific advances, Maggie will be able to have a more normal life one day. My prayers are with you and your family.

Maybe you can clear something up for me and HN: Asperger's is similar to Rain Man, correct? They have very rigid and repetitive schedules and they can carry a conversation intelligently, though they shy away from physical contact and can become erratic or violent if agitated.

But are they savants? I ask because I can't find any research that specifies which types of autism have a higher incidence of savants. It just says that 50% of savants are autistic. It's a bit off-topic, but I'm wondering if Aspergers comes with that symptom as well. It may give some insight as to how it took so long to diagnose him. And the socially inept part could be due to having less attentive or less affectionate parents. And could his symptoms have been less apparent at home, but exacerbated in a school environment?

I apologize if this is something you don't want to discuss Aimee, I would totally understand if you chose not to respond. I just think it's important for everyone, especially people who know little about this condition, to educate themselves.

that's the problem with this whole thing you are making it into a a tv show, he was not kick out of hells kitchen or kicked off survial island or voted off of thats my dorm

he was just sent to the office again which he was sent there on other occasions so he knew the way

and if am right at the time he was not dignosed with austism as they say in the "process" now if you take your mind off the T.V for a minute

maybe just maybe since the child was not "listening" to the teacher,

the teacher tried to show johnny that his behavior was not aspect by his peers

 and unlike a reality TV show you have 12 people that have to get down to one with big money on the line for who is left with clawing backstabbing ETC..

and they do this by voting

what happen here in this classroom and what happens on these TV shows is two different things but you people are wrongly stuck on this comparison

really its apples and oranges and its not there

and am done with this because I feel like I have step into a T.V show the twilight zone

I don't mind talking about it at all. Autism is my family's world. We live it everyday. i would say that Aspergers is NOTsimilar to Rainman. He was definitely autistic. Sure he had the savant of being a genius with numbers but otherwise could not communicate efficiently. You remember that he did not like to be touched, he repeated phrases when he was irritated, he was emotionally only connected with himself, he could not feel empathy for other people, he lived in his own world. That is very much like Maggie but she can't communicate hardly at all, except for a few memorized phrases. It is a myth that autistic people have savants in fact that is very rare. Aspergers really just are not very socially capable of handling stress well or socially inadequate when it comes to making friends, they may be a bit quirky or what alot of people think are weird. They are very capable of feeling emotion and understanding the world around them. That child knew and understood that the children in his class shunned him and he most definitely felt embarrassed. Maggie doesn't even understand the concept of embarrassment.  

Okay, I see the distinction; I suppose I was just generalizing the Rain Man concept because he had the repetitive behavior and could hold a conversation relatively well, despite being socially inept... and the fact that the character shows at the end some capacity for emotion with his brother's character. Unfortunately for most Americans, we learn about these things through movies and tv (which appear more often to be flawed in their portrayals).

Are there any new research developments for Maggie's type of autism? Perhaps the change in diet that I hear Jenny McCarthy talk about in interviews? It's a shame that we can come up with handheld devices that can send messages around the world in seconds and artificial intelligence, but we can't seem to fix things like this.

I work at the Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute and though there have been so many medical breakthroughs there over the past 75 years, it just doesn't seem to be able to keep up the pace. Anytime our researchers get new information, I'd be happy to pass it along to you, we're pretty cutting-edge in terms of research :)

The diet didn't work for Maggie. We are in the process of hospitalization to be in a controlled environment to get her off of some meds. She has many therapists. Stem cell?? Maybe. She is just severely autistic. No cure. By the way, I went to Montreal to see the Canadiens play in The Forum when I was 19. I'm 34 now, but it was one of the best trips I've ever been on. I love Montreal.

Yeah, we're a pretty cool city in general. Although the locals call the Canadiens the "Habs" ;)

Well I'll tell you what: now that I have you on my Friends list, I'll keep a lookout for any new trials or research at the MNI and the entire McGill University Health Centre (which includes 2 children's hospitals very similar to St. Jude's) and I'll give you a heads-up!

thanks lo ;)