| Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored | |
|
+18Alana A_Note_Chaotic Root Admin NastyHobbitses Cyberwulf grmblfjx Harley Quinn hyenaholic bleachedblackcat saeku Miss Prince Solitia Mafiosa InkWeaver Mikey Go WOOGA Drabbler Lexin Maximilia AngryRobotsInc 22 posters |
|
Author | Message |
---|
AngryRobotsInc Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 38 Location : Hampton Roads, Virginia
| Subject: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:10 am | |
| Last year, Alex Barton, 5 years old at the time and in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, was made to stand in front of the class by his teacher, Wendy Portillo, after supposed misbehavior. She then led the students in listing everything they didn't like about Alex, and then voted on whether or not he should be excluded from the class. He ended up losing, 14-2, and spent the rest of that day in the nurse's office. Alex hasn't been back to the school since, and screamed and pleaded to not be made to go back, even just passing it. The state attorney's office declared the events did not meet the criteria for emotional abuse. News article Disaboom article This year, Wendy Portillo had her tenure restored, and will be permitted to teach again. The only people to show up at this hearing were her and her supporters, because no one informed Alex Barton's family about it. - Quote :
- Many who spoke Wednesday said the incident was isolated and not characteristic of Portillo's service as a teacher.
Because, hey, it's alright to humiliate and traumatize a child, so long as it's the only time. Gotta teach them little bastards to behave somehow. News article Disaboom article | |
|
| |
Maximilia My spoon is too big.
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 50 Location : South Dakota
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:12 am | |
| Holy shit, what that teacher did is legitimizing being a bully. >< | |
|
| |
Lexin Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-11 Age : 61 Location : London
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:24 am | |
| That's appalling - she should never have been allowed to continue teaching. | |
|
| |
Drabbler Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-11 Age : 133
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:49 am | |
| I remember this story from back on GAFF, and it wasn't quite what the original articles - almost exclusively the mother's side of the story - portrayed. If memory serves, this was the second school the boy had attended; he'd been tested at the first school also, but they had said he didn't have Asperger's. Shortly after, they changed schools, and the mother pushed for him to be tested again. Right after this incident, she went outside the school system and found a shrink who pretty much immediately gave her the diagnosis she was looking for.
In the meantime, this boy ran wild in the classroom, bullying other kids and being disruptive, and the teacher was trying idea after idea to try to get him to behave. She found one about having the kid see how his actions affect his classmates, and she tried it out. Just about everything about the horrible things the other kids supposedly said came from the boy (by way of his mother), and other claims he made about the incident made it clear he wasn't a particularly reliable witness. | |
|
| |
AngryRobotsInc Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 38 Location : Hampton Roads, Virginia
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:51 am | |
| I'd like to see these articles that say that. Because everything I've ever read paints a much different picture than that. | |
|
| |
Maximilia My spoon is too big.
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 50 Location : South Dakota
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:54 am | |
| If what Drabb said is true, then it's epic fail on the mom's part. I, too, would like to see both sides. | |
|
| |
Drabbler Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-11 Age : 133
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:40 am | |
| I'm looking. I'm looking. Ugh, it's mostly wading through opinion pieces or simple restatements of the mother's allegations. [It doesn't help that the teacher was never allowed to speak directly to the press.] Well, once more unto the breach.
Wait, before I dive back in, one question: If this was so humiliating for him, why was she dragging him onto national talk shows to talk about it over and over? | |
|
| |
AngryRobotsInc Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 38 Location : Hampton Roads, Virginia
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:43 am | |
| If it was me? To bring light to it. A lot of schools treat special needs kids like crap, and it's something that needs to be brought into the public eye. | |
|
| |
Mikey Go WOOGA NO NOT THE BEEEEES
Join date : 2009-06-16 Age : 34 Location : In desperate pursuit of lulz.
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:23 pm | |
| This kid should never have been in the class if was mentally incapable of STFUing and learning. His condition was holding the other kids back by him disrupting everything with his fail.
These schools shouldn't have to deal with "special" kids (retards) to begin with. They're a place for learning, and more importantly, athletics. Not a massive feel good about yourself no matter how hard you fail hugfest. That shit is what Big Brothers/Sisters and shit like that is for. | |
|
| |
InkWeaver Harriet Tubman
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 33 Location : Home of the peanuts.
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:47 pm | |
| The Above Post:
pointless wank-baiting and I swear to god if someone responds to that like he's fucking serious or worth it at all, I will laugh until I cry | |
|
| |
Mafiosa You crack me up, little buddy!
Join date : 2009-06-03
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:52 pm | |
| - Quote :
- These schools shouldn't have to deal with "special" kids (retards) to begin with.
Mikey, retarded kids have to learn shit too. They're not incapable of learning and they deserve a chance the same as everyone else. Yes, they can be disruptive, but that teaches us to deal with other annoying people. Besides, you're implying that kids are actually learning anything in elementary school. Plus, "feel good about yourself no matter how hard you fail hugfest" is all elementary school is anymore for any kid. And Asperger's is a joke of a syndrome in my opinion and is hardly retardation. Now it's just an excuse for socially awkward people to excuse their inability to not be weirdos. in before everyone dog piles on me. Also: HAHAHA INKWEAVER I RESPONDED I am shamed. | |
|
| |
Solitia
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 45 Location : Columbus, Ohio
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:53 pm | |
| There should be special programs to deal with children with learning disabilities and teachers are overworked. A disruptive child can be a handful and if they didn't know he had autism, I can see how she would think this would work. Granted, however, if Drabbler is right and this is a mother scrapping to get a diagnosis for her speshul snoflaek, that makes me angry with the mother. I know people who have children with forms of autism and many of them homeschool so their children's individual needs can be met. Most of them, however, have to go to school just like everybody else and she would be making a mockery of the hardships parents of autistic children have to go through to get what is necessary for their children.
I think a little more research is necessary. Hopefully you can find those articles, Drabbler, because I'd really like to see the other side, especially if that wasn't deemed emotional abuse. | |
|
| |
InkWeaver Harriet Tubman
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 33 Location : Home of the peanuts.
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:55 pm | |
| | |
|
| |
Mafiosa You crack me up, little buddy!
Join date : 2009-06-03
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:56 pm | |
| - InkWeaver wrote:
- mafiosa i don't even
augh You're going to punch me through the internet aren't you. Oh well, it's Mikey. No one takes him truly seriously. | |
|
| |
Miss Prince Shitgobbling pissdrinker
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 35
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:05 pm | |
| This brings to mind a discomfortingly similar situation involving my kindergarten teacher (an awful, awful woman, and yes, she's still teaching), and so if this is true I will be very angry. But drabbler's post makes sense, too, so I'd like to see some info from the other side before getting too worked up. | |
|
| |
Mikey Go WOOGA NO NOT THE BEEEEES
Join date : 2009-06-16 Age : 34 Location : In desperate pursuit of lulz.
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:27 pm | |
| - InkWeaver wrote:
- The Above Post:
pointless wank-baiting and I swear to god if someone responds to that like he's fucking serious or worth it at all, I will laugh until I cry Oh Inky, your mean words hurt me so. Now, while I may have intentionally worded my previous post in the most over the top offensive way I could think of for my own amusement (which you ruined), I was serious when I meant that kids who are too disabled to function in a normal classroom environment shouldn't be allowed in a normal classroom environment. It's unfair to the other kids who have some potential to learn. Potential that is undermined when McFail turns every class into a clusterfuck. - Mafi wrote:
- Mikey, retarded kids have to learn shit too.
They're not incapable of learning and they deserve a chance the same as everyone else. No, they can learn shit with their peers. You know, other retarded kids. That way they learn shit and kids who aren't retarded can learn MOAR and not be held back by all of the future Dane Cooks who ride the short bus. They aren't the same as everyone else, they should not be handled the same as everyone else. For the sake of EVERYONE, including the retarded kids. - Mafi wrote:
- Plus, "feel good about yourself no matter how hard you fail hugfest" is all elementary school is anymore for any kid.
Good point. - Mafi wrote:
- And Asperger's is a joke of a syndrome in my
opinion and is hardly retardation. Now it's just an excuse for socially awkward people to excuse their inability to not be weirdos. | |
|
| |
AngryRobotsInc Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-10 Age : 38 Location : Hampton Roads, Virginia
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:53 am | |
| /)_-
ASD are developmental disorders that in no way indicate level of intelligence. Higher functioning kids, such as those with Asperger's or high functioning Autism, can easily be mainstreamed, either right away, or after time in speech and occupational therapy. | |
|
| |
saeku Fapmaster
Join date : 2009-06-10
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:03 am | |
| - Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:
- I was serious when I meant that kids who are too disabled to function in a normal classroom environment shouldn't be allowed in a normal classroom environment. It's unfair to the other kids who have some potential to learn. Potential that is undermined when McFail turns every class into a clusterfuck.
Kids who are too socially retarded to talk intelligently on an internet forum shouldn't be allowed onto that internet forum. Capice? | |
|
| |
bleachedblackcat Armbiter of Good Fanfiction
Join date : 2009-06-11
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:09 am | |
| I have to agree with Mikey up to a point. I've been in classroooms with kids that had everyone scared to death because they were so unpredictable. We had one kid throw a fucking chair at a girl and bite another kid but no one would punish him because he was handicapped. If a kid is so bad that they're taking the time to learn away from other students then something needs to happen no matter what they have. | |
|
| |
Harley Quinn hyenaholic Knight of the Bleach
Join date : 2009-06-12 Age : 38 Location : Taking that picture...
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:21 am | |
| Take it from somebody with a disability of their own - handicapped kids can be fucking annoying, especially when they're smart enough to pull the "I'm handicapped so you must be nicer to me" bullshit.
Also, I've got Aspergers. And having Aspergers doesn't stop you from shutting up and learning, it stops you from socialising. If he was being crazy then that's him being a gimp, not the AS, just like me when I'm all bitchy and annoying, but at least I don't blame that part on the AS. | |
|
| |
grmblfjx Hot and Botherer
Join date : 2009-06-10
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:21 pm | |
| IT'S NOT MIKEEEEEEEEEEEEY What, he used his week off to take a class in eloquence and how to write full paragraphs? IMPOSTOR | |
|
| |
Drabbler Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-11 Age : 133
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:55 pm | |
| Okay, I'm starting to think that the part about the first school may have been in an opinion piece, a letter to the editor, or something like that, locals' reaction to the story. Even if I could find where I'd seen it, it would be unsubstantiated; maybe it's true, maybe just gossip. As for the second part, the article above shows that the school had not diagnosed him with anything, but he was still in testing. He was subsequently - six days after the incident* - diagnosed independently. The boy's behavior in the classroom is there in the first article. Remember, he'd been sent to the office twice that very morning, and they'd sent him right back to the classroom where he continued the same behavior. Now, part of being a teacher is trying to find techniques that work in various cases, whether for instruction or classroom management. No strategy has a 100% success rate; different kids react differently, and an idea that works for one may not for another. Heck, something that succeeds one day with a child may fail the next with that same child. It's a constant balancing act. Now here's an idea that seems fairly sound: If a child refuses to listen to adults, he may get the message if it comes from his classmates. It's using peer pressure for good instead of evil. It must be properly controlled, of course, but it's probably something that many teachers have tried; some succeeded, some failed. This time it failed spectacularly, but how much of that is the teacher's fault? Did she not keep the control necessary to prevent a witch hunt? According to what Alex told the police, she did, but we only have his word for that. Or maybe she did it correctly? Could the spectacular nature of the failure have had more to do with a mother who undermined the teacher's efforts, a mother whose reaction was to go first to the police, then to the press? [Even there, the mother wasn't alleging a pattern of abuse, just this one incident.] I'm going to step back a bit for perspective. We've all seen those based-on-a-true-story movies of inspirational teachers, the ones who reached students nobody else could, right? How did they do it? They used techniques that would, in most schools in the U.S., get teachers fired, possibly brought up on charges. [Seriously, you could make a drinking game out of watching one with a bunch of teaching students. Every time they see something they've been warned never, ever to do, take a shot.] These teachers succeeded, so they were heroes, but imagine if, twenty minutes in, one of those kids' mothers had gone to the press about the horrible things that awful teacher did. * [Barton said she received word from a private psychiatrist Tuesday that her son has autism.] - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] | |
|
| |
Cyberwulf NO NOT THE BEEEEES
Join date : 2009-06-03 Age : 42 Location : TRILOBITE!
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:12 pm | |
| - Harley Quinn hyenaholic wrote:
- If he was being crazy then that's him being a gimp, not the AS, just like me when I'm all bitchy and annoying, but at least I don't blame that part on the AS.
:law: You used to blame it on your Asperger's all the time. - Drabbler wrote:
- Now here's an idea that seems fairly sound: If a child refuses to listen to adults, he may get the message if it comes from his classmates. It's using peer pressure for good instead of evil.
a) "You may thank him after I leave"? b) Why does the word "hazing" leap to mind? - Quote :
- Did she not keep the control necessary to prevent a witch hunt?
It doesn't strike you that the fact that she stood there and let it happen, condoned it even, could be harmful? | |
|
| |
Drabbler Sporkbender
Join date : 2009-06-11 Age : 133
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:44 pm | |
| Cy, I think you're making a couple assumptions there. The teacher said she directed the kids to state what they didn't like about his behavior. Carefully controlled and constructive, that's nothing like hazing. It's an intervention. Of course, the boy's story about what was said was different, that the kids were mean and hurtful, but we all have plenty of experience with people who are (supposedly) more mature yet still can't accept even the slightest criticism without calling it a witch hunt.
Last edited by Drabbler on Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:49 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
|
| |
Cyberwulf NO NOT THE BEEEEES
Join date : 2009-06-03 Age : 42 Location : TRILOBITE!
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:48 pm | |
| - Drabbler wrote:
- The teacher said she directed the kids to state what they didn't like about his behavior. Carefully controlled and constructive,
Yes, five year olds will be able to differentiate between a person's behaviour and a person themselves. Christ. | |
|
| |
Sponsored content
| Subject: Re: Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored | |
| |
|
| |
| Teacher who led students in humilating boy with an ASD has tenure restored | |
|