Autism, Special Needs and What the Story of Alex Barton Reminds Us to Do

The story of Wendy Portillo and her five year old Autistic student has been all over the blogs. If you have not heard this story yet please read the article linked above. Wendy made a very very poor decision to have her class humiliate an Autistic student by having each student in the class say what they did not like about the boy. Then, she had the students vote to have the child removed from the class.

It is indeed despicable. And yet, to me it is not surprising. The only thing in this story that surprises me is that the teacher managed to do something where she was caught. A side note here is that we must remember that an investigation will be done. Even though it seems hard to believe that there are two sides to this...there are always two sides.

I am in no way saying that what Wendy did was acceptable. And yet, I have a feeling there is more to this story. Here is what I know from our experiences with Maizie in public and private schooling and from being an advocate for children with varying disabilities in many different schooling situations.

1. Teachers are overworked. The red tape teachers have to go through in order to advocate or not advocate for a special needs child is unbelievable. That being said, the advocating parents have to do in order to get services for their child is mind boggling as well. Mix them both together and it can go all kinds of bad.

2. Many times there are conflicts going on between parents and teachers that cause a great deal of animosity, anger and bullying that can go both ways. Things get blown up and stories start and it is hard to know what is true and what is not.

3. When things go wrong between teachers, parents and school...the one that ends up paying for this lack of communication and lack of conflict resolution is the child. There are teachers that will take it out on the child despite claiming that they want to help the child. In the same way there are parents who make it very difficult for teachers to help a child by not being flexible with programs or refusing to accept that a child may not need said service, aide, etc.

4. Mainstreaming is not always the answer for every child. Mainstreaming is not the answer for every teacher. Many children do not handle a mainstreaming classroom well. The class may be too large, too noisy and lack one to one services for the child with special needs. Mainstreaming is not always going to work for every child and people need to accept that with each child there may be a better alternative. No two children with Autism or special needs are alike.

Mainstreaming is also a problem when teachers are not trained to work with children that have special needs and yet they are expected to do so. Not only are they often expected to have anywhere from one to five special needs children in their room but they are expected to do this in many cases without aides assigned to the children. Teachers often repeatedly express their concerns in this area and are often ignored.

Many parents are unwilling to accept that their child would do best in a mainstreamed class instead of a special needs class and vice versa.

Schools that stop all special education classes are quickly overwhelmed with burnt out teachers and students whose needs are not going to be met any time soon. Parents who do not have special needs children are angry that children with special needs are taking up so much time and energy from their child's teacher. Parents of special needs children are angry because their child's needs are not being met in a classroom that is not prepared for their child. These conflicts are then expressed either knowingly or unknowingly to the children who then repeat the comments from their parents/teachers to the other children in the class which causes further bullying and alienation.

5. Parents are not involved in their special needs child's education. Believe it or not many parents of special needs children do NOT attend IEP's. They have never met their child's teacher and they don't have the time to do so. Many are barely making ends meet. And sadly there are some parents who do not care. The teachers then look poorly upon those parents and more anger begins to brew. The parents are barely surviving and don't see how their input would make anything any better anyway.

6. Many teachers make poor choices that they wish they could take back. I have seen a teacher grab an autistic child by the back of his shirt and pants and heave him head first into a "coat cubby" repeatedly. The teacher did not see me in the room. She was at her wits end with this particular child who was refusing to leave the room for gym class. At that time I worked for this special needs preschool and was beyond mortified with what I saw. I reported the teacher and an investigation ensued. I knew this teacher was a very good person and totally regretted what she did. That did not make it acceptable however. I had to speak up. This teacher was not being given the supports for her classroom. The training was poor. This center also frequently did "take downs" on children and taught other people that were not trained in them to do the same. After the investigation the teacher was asked to leave or be fired. To my shock the child's parents took no particular interest in the event and how badly their child was treated.

7. I know of a teacher who stood a child in a corner for over one hour. Another that kicked a student in the leg. Another that called a student a "queer" every day. Another that joined in with students in making fun of a student. Another that kept a student after class so he could rub against her while he told her she was not doing good enough work in class. Another teacher that refused to teach a child because she believed that child would learn only when she was ready. Instead the teacher let the child spin most of the day, ignoring her. Another that repeatedly sent a child to time out for reading out loud when the child's only way to read was out loud. And yet another that...you get the picture. All of these in number seven are stories that I experienced or witnessed in one way or another. Now, remember I have no special needs and I can think of many unfortunate incidents where I or a friend was treated beyond poorly by a teacher. It is not just special needs children who sometimes endure terrible treatment. All children should be advocated for.

8. We are all kidding ourselves if we think incidents like the one with this little Autistic boy are few and far between. This is just one story that happened to make it to the news. One parent that spoke out. Many do not. Many are afraid too and some just don't care.

So, what I am saying here is this. Don't assume that everything is going just great at your child's school because you have just signed off on the most perfect IEP you have ever had the joy of working on. Don't assume that your child will tell you when a teacher hurts him or her. Don't assume that your child has the ability to describe or understand what 'wrong' has been done against him or her in school.

It is good to get the word out there as to what wrongs are being done to special needs students but don't assume that these are just happening here and there. Go to your child's school. Observe the class, walk the halls with the students, visit the extra classes such as gym, study hall and music. Show up unannounced and insist on hanging out for a while. Ask the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers and friends what they see and how they think your child is doing. Don't just assume because your child is quiet about school that everything is okay.

In our case months of aggression and sleepless nights led me to observe more at Maizie's school. I discovered things. Many of which I was able to help her with and some I was not. Let this story remind you that for our Autistic children every behavior is communication. If you can't decipher what your child is trying to communicate then it is up to you to investigate.

An investigation will be done in this case. Try not to be too quick to judge this teacher or this family, this child. These situations are very complicated. One or two news stories will not even scratch the surface. Once again, I am not saying this teacher should go unpunished if this is indeed what happened.

But, let it remind you to look to your own child, your own school and become more involved so that your child will be protected. If your child can't communicate it is even more important to be known at school. Let it remind you that the politics and red tape involved in advocating for your child does indeed affect your child as well. Unfortunately, it is not always as visible as the terrible situation this little boy endured.

There are many incredible teachers who deserve better pay and more recognition. We typically hear and remember the bad stories. Teachers are important and I am thankful for them and appreciate them.

And yet, I don't close my eyes to what is happening right around me because in this world all is not good.

For ideas on advocating check out my post Advocating With Your School...My Top Eleven List!

For more on this topic check out these important posts.
Club 166 Education, Survivor, and Hamburgers by Joe
Rett Devil's Rants Yes, Alex you ARE Special. The Good Kind.
Maternal Instincts Alex Barton Desreves Better
Asperger Square 8 Why I am Closing Comments on Two Posts
A Life Less Ordinary? Autism: An Update on Alex Barton