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.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 16)
91. Thanks for the clarification, Rochelle.
I'm sickened by what happened to the little girls.
Do they really think that such tactics will improve behaviour? My heart ached when I read your post.
Linda at 1:44PM on May 30th 2008
92. 69. Actually IRR, children with disabilities are guaranteed an environment that is LEAST RESTRICTIVE. There is NO SUCH THING as mainstreaming anymore. The children with disabilities who are placed in the regular education classroom are also placed with many aids, services, and accommodations. If you do not teach these kids..do NOT act as if you know the law. What his teacher did was appalling and SHE can and should be sued. The schools ystem is responsible for it's employees, regardless of what you want to believe. In a malpractice case eveyrone involved are sued, it is the same with school sytems. The problem here is the TEACHER did not recognize the situation, probably because she is one of those who say "NOT IN MY CLASSROOM" and wanted this child out. I have seen it many times. So before you spout your sophomoric opinions, do some research.
Barbara at 11:37AM on May 30th 2008
Ahhh...see how interesting...people assume so much. I especially love your last line. You see, I am a teacher of my child 24 hours a day, and know with whom I am leaving him during school hours. So Barbara, the fact of the matter is I deal with my child's Aspergers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year. People must think before they judge...there's a lesson for the 5 year olds.
irr at 1:58PM on May 30th 2008
93. Incidently, he is difficult... and a lovely, beautiful,charming, brilliant young man. I would prefer his company to many narrow minded adults. FYI he would NEVER (even with his struggles) vote another child out, because he knows that would be mean and painful.
irr at 2:08PM on May 30th 2008
94.
Parker, the child's mother chose to make the situation public. Ada has done nothing wrong, other than to bring it to our attention and to provide a forum for discussion.
It's very unlikely that the child will read this blog, so what's the deal?
By the way, when you type in caps on the internet, it's considered shouting, and that is rude.
Linda at 2:08PM on May 30th 2008
95. Having worked in a sheltered workshop w/disabled young and old adults, I am so sorry to hear that a teacher could do such a thing....turn the class against this child. My prayers will be for the teacher - that she learns compassion. We are all one blessing away from having a disabled child. Pray for Peace!
Rae at 2:25PM on May 30th 2008
96. This is beyond cruel. This teacher needs to be fired. There is no excuse for doing this. Autistic children can not be held to the exact same behavior standards as a "normal" child. We would never allow a blind child to be ridiculed for his/her disability. But Autistic children are fair game? This makes me sick.
Teri Martinez at 2:57PM on May 30th 2008
97. Linda (and others),
My girls had just turned 13 when the ice cream 'incidents' happened. Every nutritional study out there leaves no room for doubt that using food as an enticement, reinforcer or punishment is an open invitation to an eating disorder at that age.
And, yes, the schools actually do think it will help with behavior. they think it will convince the child to 'conform'. The methodology was developed by a woman named Melisa Geneaux. She tours the nation teaching her methodology. One site even said how her methodlogy will help PROGRAM kids like this ... as if they are subhuman.
The methodology is to use food as an enticement (or withholding food until the child complies; my daughters have a heart arrhymia so lack of food could have tragic consequences - there's an emailsaying that the girls health care needs don't have to/won't be met). If the child still isn't complying, you cut off all contact ... even if the child is desperately trying to communicate.
Eventually the child gives up and complies or freaks out and the police are called to have the child arrested for dangerous/disruptive behavior in school. In our case, the officer wrote the charge as 'illegal act in school' and said that he wasn't sure if the outburst was associated with the autism. He didn't want to arrest the girls, but the school called his boss who instructed him to do it anyway. That sent up proverbial red flags to the court who were able to let the district know to never try that again with the girls. We were lucky; most students aren't.
Except for the police involvement, I'm very familiar with this methodology ... it's what 'trainers' do to prepare wild animals to perform in front of an audience. Only wild animal trainers do it respectfully and give acceptance as the reinforcement.
Rochelle at 3:19PM on May 30th 2008
98. LINDA, THE MOTHER'S CHOICE TO MAKE THE "PERTINENT FACTS" OF THE 'SITUATION' PUBLIC, IS ONE THING. IMO, IT IS NEITHER NECESSARY, NOR APPROPRIATE, TO PUBLISH HIS PICTURE OR NAME, TO MAKE ONE'S 'CASE'. IN POINT OF FACT, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR MORE CONSTRUCTIVE, USEFUL, AND DESERVING, TO PUBLISH THE PICTURE AND NAME OF THE OFFENDING TEACHER. IN ALL FAIRNESS TO THE CHILD... THIS 'INCIDENT' COULD HAVE VERY NEGATIVE REPERCUSSIONS, OR IMPACT, ON HIM... YEARS FROM NOW. AFFORDING THE CHILD SOME SEMBLANCE OF PRIVACY... OF DIGNITY..., SHOULD HAVE TRUMPED CALHOUN'S EAGERNESS TO PORTRAY UNNECESSARY 'DETAILS' IN DRAWING OUR AWARENESS TO THE 'STORY'.
REGARDING THE LIKELIHOOD "THAT THE CHILD WILL READ THIS 'BLOG', SO WHAT'S THE DEAL?"... YOU'RE THINKING IN THE SHORT-TERM. ONCE THIS 'STUFF' HITS THE INTERNET; IT'S THERE, OSTENSIVELY, FOREVER.
AS FOR MY DECISION TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS... ARE YOU NUTS!!! WHERE DO YOU GET THE PRESUMPTIVE CHUTZPAH TO CRITICIZE ANYONE AS REGARDS SUCH AN INSIGNIFICANT, BENIGN, 'CHOICE' AS THAT?
WHAT IS TRULY "RUDE"... IS YOUR INEPT, MIS-GUIDED, AND JUVENILE, ATTEMPT AT "SOCIAL CENSORSHIP".
RATHER THAN BEING GUILTY OF "SHOUTING"... MY CHOICE TO USE ALL CAPS SERVES MY INTEREST AT EXPEDIENCY; NOT TO MENTION, MY PENCHANT FOR "DOING THE PUBLIC, A SERVICE"; i.e., MAKING IT FAR MORE EASY TO READ; THEREBY, ALLOWING THEM TO MORE QUICKLY MOVE ON TO "MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS".
IN SHORT, GROW UP... OR LEARN TO PICK YOUR BATTLES.
PARKER at 3:17PM on May 30th 2008
99. Isn't it a bit ironic Rochelle...if you were to do this at home, it would be considered child abuse (and I would agree). DCF would be at your house so fast your head would spin. Have the school, DR, motivational speaker or whomever introduce it...hahaha it is the opinion of an "expert". Sounds like your girls have been through an awful lot. The "ice cream incident" is an outrage. When I read this story about Alex, I cried so much, I was trying to tell my husband what was wrong, and needed a few minutes to get the words out....very, very upsetting...
irr at 3:52PM on May 30th 2008
100. ROCHELLE, IT SICKENS ME TO READ OF THE BARBARIC MISTREATMENT OF YOUR KIDS. I SINCERELY HOPE THAT YOU'RE SUCCESSFUL IN ASSISTING THEM IN OVERCOMING THE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AND DAMAGE THEY'VE SURELY SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF SUCH UNCARING, NON-COMPASSIONATE, IMBECILES AS THEY'VE BEEN SUBJECTED TO.
A FRIEND OF MINE'S DAUGHTER SUFFERED A MASSIVE STROKE, A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, WHICH AFFLICTED HER WITH WHAT IS KNOWN AS, APHASIA. THERE WAS A BRIEF TRANSITIONAL PERIOD WHEREIN THE PATIENT HAD TO RESIDE AT A 'NURSING HOME'... UNTIL ARRANGEMENTS COULD BE MADE TO BRING HER HOME, AFTER SHE WAS PHYSICALLY STABILIZED. REMARKABLY, SHE HAS MADE ENORMOUS PROGRESS IN HER STRUGGLE TO RECOVER... WITH A HELL OF A LOT OF CREDIT GOING TO HER MOTHER; ONCE SHE WAS ABLE TO UNDERTAKE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER DAUGHTER'S CARE AND WELL-BEING, ON A DAILY BASIS.
MY POINT, WAS TO MENTION THE ABUSES WHICH OCCUR 'OUT OF SIGHT, OR PRESENCE' OF THE PARENTS AT THESE INSTITUTIONS. IT CAN BE APPALLING. WE MUST ALL BE CONCERNED... AND STAY VIGILANT... AND DETERMINED TO PUNISH ALL WHO ABUSE OR OFFEND THOSE AMONG US WHO ARE LEAST ABLE, OR RESTRICTED IN THEIR ABILITIES, TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES.
BEST WISHES FOR YOU AND YOUR KIDS.
PARKER at 3:58PM on May 30th 2008
101. This could have been my son last year when he started kindergarten!!!! Some of you are questioning whether that boy should have been mainstreamed but he was in process of being evaluated and receiving an Asperger's diagnosis. This was just like my situation with my son and his autism did not come to full light until he was in this large classroom situation as I was a stay-at-home mom. The fact that this teacher had the knowledge of this diagnosis and did this anyway rips my heart out!! My son was sent to the principal's office numerous times and he was very disruptive. Once he was diagnosed and the end of his kindergarten year, his Individual Education Plan was set up for second grade, a loving caring homeroom, special ed and para teachers were assigned to him and he is finishing up a very successful mainstreamed first grade year. Just because our kids have a hard time socially, it does not mean they don't feel!! My son is one of the most loving, compassionate, honest people I have ever had the priveledge to know! That teacher scarred that boy for life and she has to live with that. At five years old, those kids are still very accepting and to put them in that situation is appalling. I applaud the two that didn't vote him out, what compassion!! One other thing, we pay taxes (unlike a lot of people taking advantage of the public school system) and we did not decide this fate for our child, he has just as much right to be there as any other child.
Elizabeth at 3:59PM on May 30th 2008
102. Thanks for your kind words, Linda. The strange thing is that the Internet has been very beneficial for me. I have probably made more friends online over the past 8 years than I have made the rest of my life in the "real" world. I am a very kind and considerate person, but most people don't know that, because I am usually judged by my behavior, which even I admit is strange. It is one reason that almost all of the "good works" that I do are done anonymously.
An example of my behavior just from today--I was relating the story of the New York crane collapse to a coworker, and I laughed through the entire telling. Even as I repeated "I know this isn't funny..." I was still laughing when I said it. It is difficult knowing on one hand that most people probably think I am borderline insane, yet on the other hand being unable to change behavior that I acknowledge is disturbing.
I have mixed feelings about this issue in Florida. Not about the teacher per se...I think letting the kids vote is tantamount to letting the inmates run the asylum. The kids I went to school with probably would have voted me to the gallows.
On the other hand, I remember one instance from second grade that earned me a trip to the hall. We were listening to music, and the teacher had the class marching around the room in a circle to the music. I have no idea why it was so important to me, but I was fixated on forcing the entire class to march in the wedding march step...the "step, step together, step, step together" pace. I remember getting very loud and yelling at the class and the teacher, insisting that this be done. Next thing I knew, out in the hall again.
There is no question that I was disruptive, and I KNOW that there was no reasoning with me whenever I got like that. I suppose that if there had been a trained aide she/he could have taken me out of the classroom at that point and focused my attention on something else. Or I suppose the teacher could have humored me and suggested to the class that it would be fun to march the way I had "suggested" (demanded is a more accurate term). I am not sure it would have been beneficial for me to have a teacher acquiesce to all my demands. And wouldn't the other kids have just seen me as a tyrant?
I am not sure that mixing Asperger's kids in with "normal" kids would make the "normal" kids more tolerant, either. From my observations, when people are FORCED to be with people who are "different", they end up being LESS tolerant than the people who have little experience with differences...whether that difference is racial, ethnic, religious, or a handicap. Familiarity seems to breed contempt more often than it breeds compassion. This is different from when people CHOOSE to be inclusive, which usually leads to greater compassion and understanding. Maybe in some confused and misguided way, this is what the teacher in Florida was hoping would happen...that the kids in her class would "choose" to be compassionate. But I think maybe 5 year olds are a bit young to be so magnanimous. It was just very poor judgment.
In my own case I can say that mixing me in with other kids was definitely not helpful (at least, not without adequate teacher support). It was probably a lot more damaging to me than it was to them, though, even with the disruptions. I never really learned how to fit in or to behave normally. I was mocked and made the subject of other children's cruelty. Eventually I just withdrew and spent recess standing against a wall of the building.
People now who work with me mostly think I am quirky or odd, but very few even try to get to know me. The ones who do find that I am a fiercely loyal and devoted friend, but most people never get to the point. One friend in Georgia said that outwardly I was like a robot, with an exterior of metal, someone who behaved almost mechanically, but that inside I was like marshmallow...sweet and soft, but that I never allowed people to see that side of me.
I think, whether high or low functioning, that autistic people deserve not to be treated as pariahs. We are wired differently. This doesn't mean we are bad, and it doesn't mean we are special. It means we are different. I think many of us have great potential as problem solvers. But if we are not caught early, if we are not trained properly, if we are not nurtured with our differences in mind, we are going to get squashed along the way by the rushing locomotive of "normal" people who are just trying to go about their business. We will end up as just more "might have beens" limping through life when we could have been striding.
KODIAK at 5:07PM on May 30th 2008
103. I just read more info on this story and I agree with the teacher. It was only a vote for the child to be out of class for the rest of the day, nothing more. He was sent to the office 2 times that day for disruption including picking his nose, eating paper, screaming and being under the table and kicking it up with his feet. Children like that should not be in mainstream classes. Other children cannot concentrate and have a right to a non-disruptive classroom to learn. He is only 1 child, the other children have to be considered. Put him in a special needs school. My son has a child similiar to this in his K class. That frggin kid just kicked 2 other kids in the back a couple of days ago and screams his damn head off in the classroom. I hope to God he is not in my son's class next year. The kids can't learn with that.
Don't be too sympathetic until you know the whole damn thing.
AMommyof1 at 5:49PM on May 30th 2008
104. This story makes me so mad. It is hard to believe that someone who has chosen a profession that would and could make an impact on society would do something so horrific. We are spending so much time and effort in our schools today, telling students they can't pat each other on the back, give a hug to a friend and such, because it is viewed as violent behavior. Yet this teacher thought that by encouraging the naturally mean spirited traits that young child have would improve these children. Did she stop to think what behavior she was reinforcing? Did she forget that part of her job is to teach her students how to become a part of society someday? This kind of behavior is why our society is so screwed up today. People have forgotten to have compassion on those less fortunate and tolerance is all but gone from our society.
I have a nephew who is severely autistic and as you can imagine I read all I can about autism. I would like to see my nephew main streamed, but realize that he will never be totally main streamed. But when he is I would hope and expect that his teachers are there to protect him as they teach him how to assimilate into society. This country has a very rude awakening coming. With 1 child out of every 150 (1 out of every 94 boys) now being diagnosed with autism, the classrooms and schools are going to become more challenging over the next few years. We have an obligation as a society to include these individuals as much as possible and not ridicule or exclude them.
Connie in Idaho
Connie Gomez at 5:55PM on May 30th 2008
105. Obviously that teacher missed her school district's professional development programs. Bottom line is she allowed 5 yr. olds to make her decisions, please keep her out of my school district.
libby at 6:17PM on May 30th 2008