As an educator who works closely with autistic students I am often disappointed by the way so many children are treated by the "adults" in their lives. The story makes me sad but honestly does not surprise me very much. In time I believe we will hear of more incidents like this one.
That disgusts me. Good job by the Dad.
-Matt
It takes a talented person to teach. It takes a special teacher to teach children with needs.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
I know where you're coming from. Working as a volunteer a few summers ago with autistic children, just about all of them had a rough home or school life that seemed to exacerbate their condition. Parents and teachers who can treat these kids right deserve all the respect they can get.
My 3rd (of 4) sons has Asperger's.
The word that comes to mind for most of the teacher's behavior is "hideous". He's had 2 teachers in 8 years that have actually 'gotten it'.....and I'm convinced it's not because of any specialized training, it's because they were genuine, sincere humans who understood their ability to positively impact lives. Especially lives that aren't given too much value because they can't learn in the same manner as the rest of their students.
Kudos to the dad for not only recording the teacher....but for not walking in and punching this idiot in the face. How he still has a job is good evidence that there is something terribly wrong in our school systems. Tenure over horrific treatment of a student. Right.
Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand
Also a parent of a kid with Asperger's. We've had similar poor luck with teachers, and it always seems to boil down to the same thing- whether or not they have the right perspective on what it takes to educate a kid on the spectrum.
Secondly, when it comes to special education, my own experience tells me that schools struggle to meet the criteria of IDEA because it's competing with other services for resources. I don't know how many times I've heard a principal tell me they don't have money for an aide even though it's clearly required under our son's IEP. What I've come to believe is that this is a strategy- if they BS everyone, then only a certain percentage will know enough to call them on it. When I see something like this, the first thing that comes to mind is that this school is probably doing as little as it can to comply with federal law, as opposed to doing what's necessary to actually provide the education for these kids that they are required to.
Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.
Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand
We've both learned through our experiences. You know, the thing that really disappoints me is this- school boards, superintendents, administrators and principals have a choice. They may either think of special education in terms of the burdens and limits it places on educating the mainstream population, or they can accept the difficulties and try to craft creative and forward thinking approaches. Most of them choose the former and because many of us are at our own personal limits just trying to raise our own kids, they know they can wait us out because we are only passing through.
Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.
These are kids. A teacher can either be heartless or human.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
My cousin is another example. She had some germ/disease/virus that attacked the right side of her brain causing her to have seizures. She was like 7 at the time, the doc told my uncle that if she started soon enough that she may relearn a lot of the stuff that side of the brain is responsible for but she went to an elementary school and they didn't even bother trying. They just labeled her special ed, sat her in front of a computer, and handed her a diploma after high school.
Originally Posted by teamselig
My younger brother is (essentially*) autistic and this makes me sick. But while it's not an excuse, it's pretty hard to understand the degree of patience and compassion and, frankly, self-discipline required to work with special needs individuals on a regular basis. Unless you've been there, the amount of frustration it involves is almost impossible to understand.
This doesn't absolve the teacher of her ethical responsibility to treat her students with dignity and respect. But at the same time, let's recognize what an incredibly challenging (if rewarding) job special ed teachers have. It takes a very special person and even the best of us have our bad days.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
We coach the teachers and administrators at our son's school constantly about knowing when one's limits are being reached because the person on the spectrum is not going to lose when it comes to a battle of wills. Frankly, the biggest problem is usually ego; it takes a lot of experience to develop the ability to set that aside and not treat negative interactions personally. Adults often can't handle not winning.
I sometimes struggle to master my reactions and my training has been a brutally intense, ten year 24/7 immersion program. So, whenever I hear a camp counselor, teacher, coach or someone else tell me they have experience with Autism in this sort of "I've got this covered" manner, I expect them to fail and blame my kid. Unfortunately, I've been just about 100% correct in that assessment.
Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.
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