5-year-old boy voted out of his class
Wendy Portillo, a teacher at Morningside Elementary in Port St. Lucie, Florida, let her kindergarten students say what they did not like about 5-year-old Alex Barton—–after which the students voted him out of the class. Alex is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and has had “disciplinary issues” at school due to his disability, TC Palm.com reports. His mother, Melissa Barton, is considering legal action. Ballastexistenz comments on the “Survivor” mentality apparently at work in that Florida classroom and the exclusion of the disabled, and Asperger Square 8 posts about how you can contact the St. Lucie School Board (this is the email) and also Marcia Cully, the principal of Morningside Elementary.
Tags: abuse, asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disabilities blog, Family, family blog, law, Parenting, pdd-nos, survivorRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Disability Rights, Education
178 opinions for 5-year-old boy voted out of his class
Linda
May 24, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Ugh: could things get any stranger??? Kindergarten class VOTING on a fellow student? What??? That in itself is bizarre.
Thomas
May 24, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Okay, so the aritcle at TcPalm states that the state attorney concluded that this doesn’t qualitfy for emotional child abuse?? The boy shakes andrefuese to go to school. He relives the incident every day. No…he’s not emotionally affected by this incident.
TomsMom
May 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Outrageous! I have just this minute sent an e-mail to the principal, and reproduce it here.
The story of Mrs. Portillo and the 5-year-olds voting Alex Barton out of class is a repugnant example of anti-social behavior and adult bullying that should not be tolerated in any school, any where, at any time. I am the mother of a 6-year old with Asperger’s. He has been a particular challenge to his teachers since March. Despite his sometimes aggressive and often noncompliant behavior NEVER have they treated him with anything but respect and helpfulness. It is obvious that Mrs. Portillo needs training at the very least and possibly a psychological evaluation to deal with her own aggression and inability to handle frustration.
I hope the Bartons get justice and satistifaction from the district, and the appropriate placement for Alex. He reminds me of Tommy so much!
Beth
May 24, 2008 at 12:55 pm
My email to the St. Lucie School board:
To whom it may concern,
The treatment of kindergarten student Alex Barton by his “teacher” Wendy Portillo is absolutely unacceptable. As the mother of a son with Asperger’s syndrome, I am sickened to hear about the way in which this child was publicly humiliated by this very sick woman. My son, now aged 9 and receiving proper special education services, struggled with behavioral problems in kindergarten, just like Alex. However, he was blessed to have a well educated, compassionate teacher who was interested in helping us identify my son’s educational and behavioral issues in order to locate an appropriate placement for him. Since beginning a special ed program in first grade, my son has flourished academically and his behavioral problems are now nonexistant.
I recommend that you remove this woman from the classroom before she damages other children in the future. She has no place in this or any classroom or working with young children in any capacity.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Costa
Bonnie Sayers
May 24, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Doesn’t Dennis Debbaudt live in Port St. Lucie? I wonder if he has made a statement about this?
Bonnie Sayers
May 24, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Dennis does live in St. Port Lucie, FL and his website is riskmanagement dot com. His email address, phone number and address are listed there, click on home at the page to find them.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 24, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Dennis Debbaudt is in Port St. Lucie—-
http://www.autismriskmanagement.com/
thanks, Bonnie.
Sometimes I am not sure what country we are in! What kind of “teaching” is going on in that classroom…..
Emily
May 24, 2008 at 2:13 pm
No matter what the child has done in that classroom, the teacher should be fired. Involving the children in her classroom in something like this is unprofessional in the extreme and should be grounds for dismissal. She has violated this child’s academic privacy (see FERPA regulations, which apply to any school in the US receiving public funds) and has left her district liable to a justifiable suit.
Joseph
May 24, 2008 at 2:21 pm
This is outrageous. But yeah, I think the teacher has been watching American Idol way too much.
It’s turn for the school’s board to take a vote on the teacher.
mom
May 24, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I hope all parents take a stand on this issue not just the parents. It takes a villiage to raise a child.
daedalus2u
May 24, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I think the parents of all the children in the class have a strong case against the teacher. I would be absolutely rip-shit if my child was in that class and was put in those circumstances. I would demand that the teacher be fired.
5 year old children need to be protected from being used as props to hurt and injure others.
The teacher does need to be fired and removed from the classroom. The children in the class need to know that what the teacher did (allow them to vote a child out of the class) was completely wrong and completely unacceptable.
I think that no other remedy is appropriate. All the children in the classroom need to understand that treating a fellow human being that way is wrong and is unacceptable.
The teacher should never be allowed to teach again. She has demonstrated herself to be morally unfit to be a teacher.
Theora
May 24, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Letter sent. I am still shaking with anger.
Mom of 7
May 24, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Absolutely without excuse or justification.
chrisd
May 24, 2008 at 5:08 pm
The response of the state’s attorney is unbelievable. I would like to know what the criteria is for emotional abuse. Their response alone should make another article.
And where is the principal and the staff to have taken care of this? Should they not have done something so that this child would not be in this teacher’s class?
I do understand that teachers have a tough job. But this incident crossed the line into cruelty. If the district, the school board and the principal tolerate this and think that this is justifiable, then the whole lot should be fired.
Jo
May 24, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Bottom line–that teacher is an ignorant, irresponsible BULLY–and as such should be promptly “expelled” from the school system.
William
May 24, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Whats yer problem?
The kids voted.
Shawn3k
May 24, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Yet another reason I’m thankful we moved from Florida before my son started school!!! This kind of thing should not be tolerated or taken lightly…and should be dealt with firmly.
Robert J. Stevens, Sr.
May 24, 2008 at 7:59 pm
That teacher is an idiot. Was she following the Florida Department of Education policy? If so, they are also idiots. If not, she needs to be fired.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 24, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I will be sending them an email.
My son was completely ostracized in 2nd grade by all his classmates the year he was actuall being diagnosed with Aspergers as well. (Ironic) We had no idea why he was having issues, had never heard of Aspergers at that point but were acutely aware that he was having social issues and other communication problems. At one conference the teacher plainly stated that she did not know what was going on but that the while class had seemed to turn against my son. SO much so that she had to put a ‘plan” into action. It was a huge sheet of paper that had a list of 5 things to do before you tell the teacher on (my son).
Now we understand that he was stimming by pulling at his shorts (we tried all different kinds of underwear because we did not understand) and the other kids were teasing him that he was masturbating. (yes, 2nd graders.) It was only while chaperoning a field trip that I saw all the little kiddies behaviors towards my son.
I chose not to send him back the next year.
He still at age 15 talks about that year as the worst year of his life. IMHO, if the aduts stepped up and protected him, it might not have been.
a long-time poster
May 24, 2008 at 9:33 pm
@ William
For further reading:
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/?p=834
S.L.
May 24, 2008 at 11:02 pm
This story should outrage every parent–whether their child is autistic or not. What really is going on inside our schools these days?
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 24, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Not education.
And what can one say when it seems a teacher is in effect bullying a student?
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 24, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I agree. Both my boys are higher functioning on the Autism Spectrum. I cannot stereotype educators or the system but I can say in my experience, many general ed teachers have had a similar kind of attitude towards my boys. Especially how their peers tolerance of their diagnosis & behaviors is handled (or not handled).
After one son was recently choked the 4th time by the same boy, the social worker at the school said maybe it will teach my son that his noise making will cause a negative response in society. I responded that choking him will not only have no influence on his noise making but it will only cause him greater social difficulties. Duh. Just ignorance.
This teacher seems to have felt his behaviors were willfull possibly but even if she thought so, her actions to humiliate a small child in front of his peers and remove him from his own class, was malicious to put it mildly. Any adult can comprehend how damaging that is. Completely unacceptable and she should be held acountable.
C. S. Wyatt
May 24, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Apparently little has changed since I was in elementary school. Teachers were far worse than the students; I still remember their comments — I can hear the voices telling my parents I would never amount to much.
I hope that when I finish writing my own story, which has footnotes on educational theory, it will help the next generation of teachers. Unfortunately, my absolutely horrible experiences at the university the last two years give me little hope. The professors training future teachers aren’t all that understanding.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 25, 2008 at 12:51 am
I think I will more than need to read your book……
Bonnie Sayers
May 25, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Dennis will be back in town on Friday and will check into this issue.
Joseph
May 25, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I’m not sure if this has been noted, but there’s a case to be made that the teacher gave the kid PTSD.
Thursday night, his mother heard him saying “I’m not special” over and over.
Sounds like PTSD to me.
Ammey
May 25, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I remembered the poem All I ever needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. It really says a mouthful.
“Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand box at nursery school.
These are the things I learned. Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw some and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday.
Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out in the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why. We are like that.
And then remember that book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK! Everything you need to know is there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology, and politics and the sane living.
Think of what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.”
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 25, 2008 at 2:02 pm
@Ammey,
Thanks for quoting all—-the Golden Rule was not in operation in that classroom as Morningside Elementary.
@Joseph,
And it sounds like he may have already had lots of reason to have PTSD even before getting the “Survivor” treatment.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 25, 2008 at 2:35 pm
You are welcome. I know it’s long but it speaks to the situation so clearly. I just sent my email.
I got a great set of contact info from stop. think. autism.’s post. I put it on my blog too, it’s about 5 different emails.
Jane
May 25, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Other than being a bully, the teacher is also in violation of the kid’s civil liberty.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 25, 2008 at 3:41 pm
And, from what other parents have noted here, there are far more positive — and educational — strategies for helping a child address these issues.
mike stanton
May 25, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Christschool has done a masterful job of compiling draft letters of complaint to the authorities and the media over at Thinking in Metaphors. Anyone who wants to use them please let Christschool know and also forward copies to ASAN who are trying to coordinate responses.
John
May 25, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Jane’s comment touched on my thoughts exactly. Where is the ACLU for people like us? The teacher violated the civil rights of the boy and his parents by removing his constitutional right to equal education through this abusive vote. She abused the boy, his parents and actually every kid in that classroom. The kindergarteners acted on raw peer pressure, under her instruction. Other kids may also have some measure of PTSD if they later reflect on what they did to that 5yo boy; this was no lesson kindergarten lesson.
FXSmom
May 26, 2008 at 10:45 am
Well…so much for teaching the golden rule!! This is just ridiculous. Nice job spreading the hate teach!
Theresa Jett
May 27, 2008 at 7:46 am
While I live in VA, I truly think that this is a national outrage; legal action should most definitely be taken. There are laws out there to protect special needs children and ethical guidelines the educators follow, and the lines have been crossed. This is a prime example of why I home school my own children, it is incomprehensible how an individual who has dedicated their life to educating children could set such a psychologically detrimental example involving the impressionable minds of kindergarten students. She should not just be fired from this particular school, but complete loss of all educational licensing is warranted, as well as legal action being placed against the school and any of the staff that have justified her actions. Poor Alex and family, our hearts and prays in VA are with you.
Linda Sue Taylor
May 27, 2008 at 7:58 am
I would openly welcome a reply from the mother of Alex. I may have some valuable information for her. lindasuetaylorprayer@yahoo.com
jamie
May 27, 2008 at 8:00 am
I have a 4 year old nephew diagnosed with autisim just a few years ago. the teachers he has for pre-k are wonderful with him. i don’t know why people in this world need to be so ignorant to our handicaped children. they are our future too. i always though you send your child to school to get an education in anyway possible and that the teachers where there to help the children that really needed it the most. This teacher that had her students “vote” their classmate out is just outragous. She should be dismissed from the school system and her teaching certificate revoked. Teachers are ment to help children not discriminate. Involving her students in the decision to remove Alex from the classroom is more then unfair to those kids and to Alex. Those poor kids don’t relize what they have done. They don’t understand the decision they made is one that affects Alex in more ways then they know. To all those children that were forced to “Vote” their fellow classmate out, I hope parents are trying their hardest to explain to their child why they should not descriminate against anyone, young or old, classmate or teacher. Everyone is the same inside, human.
Rebecca Grogan
May 27, 2008 at 8:22 am
I am so pissed off about this situation. I am the mother of a 7 year old Autistic son. I cannot imagine this happening to my child. The teacher of this class abused her authority to teach these children that being different is not accepted. I am just sick about this!!! I feel that she should be charged w/ a civil rights violation and should NEVER be allowed to have contact w/ children again!!! For a 5 year old child to cry and ask his mother why he is different and why the other children don’t like him, breaks my heart. This should not happen to ANY child.
Deborah
May 27, 2008 at 8:50 am
I am a ddsd worker in Oklahoma and work with disabled children and adults every day, It is a great joy to me and this is an outrage! For an adult to use a childs peers to express their own feelings of dislike for working with a disabled child is just wrong in so many ways I cant express them all. Alex or (any other child with this experience under his belt) will be haunted by this for many years to come!
A definant message should be sent that this kind of behavior from an adult in charge of young minds will not be tolerated.
Christa
May 27, 2008 at 9:02 am
I’m the mother of a 11 year old Autistic son and this teacher’s behavior is unacceptable. I think she just needs a good butt kicking. The children have a hard enough time with peers and school then starting off his first year of school being bullied by someone that a child should be able to trust. I think that she should be fired and what ever else that can be done tho teach her a lesson!!!!
Michelle
May 27, 2008 at 9:06 am
This is the letter i emailed to the school board
I am a student at Augsburg College in Minneapolis Minnesota enrolled in the teaching program. I read the news about the little boy that was voted out of his kindergarten class.
I was appalled and horrified, that you would have an educator such as this in you’re employment. This monster in your school, is in charge of the most precious gift we have, young children. Whether this child is special needs or not shouldn’t be the issue. This child is a person, with thoughts, and feelings, how dare someone that is in charge of shaping little minds, and is supposed to be there to teach, mold, and protect these little lives, do something so nasty and devastating.
I would only hope that your school board would have the integrity to have this person step down. She should also have her licensure taken away. I wouldn’t let her watch my dog, let alone teach my child.
Sincerely,
Michelle Bolkcom
rena
May 27, 2008 at 9:16 am
How dare she!!! What right did she have to hurt Alex ? this so called “teacher” should be banned from ever having contact with children again!! The parents in that school should ban together and get her out of there. Who’s to say next time she won’t do the same thing because of the way a child looks or speaks. Put her name out there so all know who she is and can keep there children safe from her.
Robert Boatner
May 27, 2008 at 9:39 am
I know what you are going thru and how you feel. I also have a child with special needs. I know know the cruel and unusal punishment he has went thru from school and other people he has went thru. I dont feel that any child should have to go thru that kind of torment whether they have special needs or not. It makes me me very angry to think they let a teacher do that to a child and allow her to remain in the classroom. She should have her license pulled and be made to work at Mcdonalds because she has no wits about her. Our prayers and thoughts go out to you. God be with you and your son.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 10:02 am
And one has to wonder if this kind of “teaching” (Survivor voting out the “unpopular” child) was not just an isolated incident in the classroom. What other kinds of “lessons” were the children learning? I have to second John’s comment about the potential PTSD effects of this on all the children.
Christschool’s post is very detailed, with mention of the Florida child abuse laws.
Rachel
May 27, 2008 at 10:19 am
I’ve also sent an email. The more emails sent the better. Wendy Portillo should be fired and her teacher’s license taken. She doesn’t belong anywhere near children!
my email:
I was watching the CBS morning show today and was absolutely shocked at the story of Wendy Portillo, a kindergarten teacher at your school, who literally tortured a five-year-old special needs student. Alex was interviewed with his mom. He’s a beautiful child and even if he was a monster a teacher should have more maturity than a five-year-old when it comes to dealing with her frustrations. There is absolutely NO reason for her behavior. Not only has she damaged poor Alex, but think of the consequences to the other children in the classroom.
I heard another story yesterday of a grandmother her accidentally ran over her two-year-old grandson. How absolutely horrible! The grandmother can barely live with herself. I can’t imagine what the other five-year-olds in this classroom will experience. I see very little difference between this grandmother and the situation you have allowed at your school. As a parent of 6 children (one being five) I am extremely heart-sick for Alex.
Wendy Portillo should be dismissed immediately and her teacher’s license revoked. She has no place being around children. Tell her to go work at Taco Bell!
Lorraine
May 27, 2008 at 10:33 am
I was and assistant in a Pre-school Program for Children with Handicapping conditions (PPCD) for 11 years.
Trust me when I say that (where I was) this would not have been put up with. The teacher would be gone. The assistant would be gone as well, for letting it happen without report.
For this to be called “not mentally abusive” is absured. Young children have the most impressionable minds of all and to be intimidated, bullied, made fun of and many more abuses that happened here by your peers is bad enough. But NO, the teacher headed it up! Paraded it on!
I do know what it feels like to have a teacher (someone you look up to) insult you in front of a class full of people you already have problems with. It NEVER GOES AWAY!! Yes, you learn to “deal” with it, but the scar is there and no one but you knows how it affected you personally.
Yes, legal action is required here. The teacher needs to be dismissed, unlicensed and required to admit to and apologize for what she did to the child with parents there and in a public forum.
Mean, you think? No meaner than what she did to a 5 year old!
STOP THE STUPIDITY OF ALL FORMS OF HATE!
Terri L. Baxter
May 27, 2008 at 10:37 am
IM JUST IN SHOCK THAT PEOPLE WE INTRUST OUR CHILDREN TO ARE SO STUPID. MAYBE THIS SO CALLED TEACHER SHOULD SIT DOWN AND MAYBE SHE COULD LEARN FROM THIS CHILD. HAVING A CHILD WITH AUTISM IN MY FAMILY THIS STORY HAS TOUCHED ME. I CERTAINLY HOPE THERE IS A FOLLOW UP SAYING “TEACHER WITH STUPIDITY FIRED” MY HEART GOES OUT TO THIS CHILD AND HIS AMILY….
Renee
May 27, 2008 at 10:38 am
Our school systems need to weed out teachers like this. To teach 5 year olds that if you are different you can be voted out. I wonder how many of those children in the class are worried that they will be voted out next if they seem different to the teacher in anyway. She needs to be removed immediately before more children are damaged. I saw Alex on TV this morning - how could someone do that to him. He was hurt by this and it is child abuse.
Suzie Murphy
May 27, 2008 at 10:50 am
This is truly a sad story! What kind of people are really teaching our kids and what are they really teaching them? This makes me so angry that school system did not jump to this child’s defense. What is it going to take to get this country to WAKE UP!!!!! All of our children have to be taught to treat every child with respect no matter what their needs are. I don’t care if there were to be a child a horn growing out its head, they need to be treated the same and taught accordingly to their needs. I am so sorry that the parents of this child have had to endure this pain. My prayers will be with this entire family.
faye
May 27, 2008 at 11:13 am
i know its not the same but my child had cystic fibrous not only did the teacher and her friends [the students] accept her with open arms they allowed me to have an open dicusstion with them about her condition and the equipment she used at home and in class when she passed away we had the funerl on saterday and not one child missed it.that is how a TRUE TEACHER and CLASSMATES RESPOND.What that person did(i cant bring myself to call her a teacher because SHE IS NOT!)IS crimal she DISCRIMINATED, CORRUPTED MINERS, MISSUSED HER ATHOURTY and ENDANGERED A CHILD not to mention SCARED him for LIFE. Not only should she be FIRED she should be LOCKED UP! Thank God Alex has been blessed with such a wonderful mother! BLESSINGS TO BOTH MOM AND ALEX!
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 11:14 am
Anyone imagine that the child was EXTREMELY bad? A) He was not diagnosed with Autism or anything else at the time. So all headlines with “Autistic boy…” are sensationalist.
He might just be a super brat of epic proportions. He might have NO “conditions” If he exposed himself, swore repeatedly, hit students, deficated on the floor…and the teacher just couldn’t take it anymore…would that teacher still be horrible? So quick to judge with so little information. Shame on all of you.
Adam
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 11:25 am
(continued)
and why exactly should MY child be exposed to such a trouble maker? You ever teach? I taught English to foreign children every summer during college. 99.9% of them were absolute angels….but one bad child DESTROYS all hope of getting that day’s lessons into the heads of every other student.
But no lets witch hunt the teacher before all facts are in. WE know it all. The teacher was obviously the anti-christ and should have her life destroyed.
- Adam
faye
May 27, 2008 at 11:28 am
I wonder how this person treats the children in her family! should childrens protective services be notified!?!
faye
May 27, 2008 at 11:36 am
i dont give a rats ass HOW disruptive a child is! healthy or not YOU DO NOT TREAT PEOPLE THAT WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Mom with Asperger's child
May 27, 2008 at 11:40 am
That woman should be removed IMMEDIATELY!!!!! I wouldn’t even let her get close to any child!!!
Who knows what she seas and does to the kids when nobody (adult) is around!
Outrageous!
It makes me sick to my stomach!!
My son has Asperger’s, and when he started kindergarten last year, because behavior problems
we went thru hell until they tested him, got the diagnosis and the pchichalogist straitened the teachers out! The teachers mistreated him every day! Thank God I was present on a daily basis at the school as a volunteer, I witnessed a lot of things that I wouldn’t know about if I wasn’t there! Sometimes you just have to listen to your child!!!
My son was scared to go back to school this year and terrified when he heard the word “office” since he spent a lot of time there.
They put him on ESE program which protects his/our rights!!!
My son is a good boy! He had a hard time to follow direction and stay focused that’s why he was in trouble all the time. The teachers were very insensitive and he was crying every day!
Since they know how to “handle” him PROPERLY there is hardly any problem this year and also he matured a lot. He got an awesome teacher for 1st grade.
You have to CHOOSE carefully who teaches your son next year (not in this school of course!), THEY ARE HAVE TO WORK WITH YOU!!!!!
Be strong for him!!!
Good luck!!!
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 11:41 am
“i dont give a rats ass HOW disruptive a child is! healthy or not YOU DO NOT TREAT PEOPLE THAT WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Well then she should’ve just not taught. Let him control the class and read a romance novel until the bell rang. She might not win teacher of the year…but she’d also not be called the anti-christ.
Carlene
May 27, 2008 at 11:42 am
Outrageous!
This woman is not only a awful teacher, she is a awful human being.
She needs to apologize to this young boy….and then she needs to be voted out of the school system.
A Mom with Asperger's child
May 27, 2008 at 11:52 am
That woman should be removed IMMEDIATELY!!!!! I wouldn’t even let her get close to any child!!!
Who knows what she seas and does to the kids when nobody (adult) is around!
Outrageous!
It makes me sick to my stomach!!
My son has Asperger’s, and when he started kindergarten last year, because behavior problems
we went thru hell until they tested him, got the diagnosis and the pchichalogist straitened the teachers out! The teachers mistreated him every day! Thank God I was present on a daily basis at the school as a volunteer, I witnessed a lot of things that I wouldn’t know about if I wasn’t there! Sometimes you just have to listen to your child!!!
My son was scared to go back to school this year and terrified when he heard the word “office” since he spent a lot of time there.
They put him on ESE program which protects his/our rights!!!
My son is a good boy! He had a hard time to follow direction and stay focused that’s why he was in trouble all the time. The teachers were very insensitive and he was crying every day!
Since they know how to “handle” him PROPERLY there is hardly any problem this year and also he matured a lot. He got an awesome teacher for 1st grade.
You have to CHOOSE carefully who teaches your son next year (not in this school of course!), THEY ARE HAVE TO WORK WITH YOU!!!!!
Be strong for him!!!
Good luck!!!
Adam
This teacher shouldn’t teach young kids!!!
Obviously this boy had problems that’s why they are started the process of testing, still….there are many other way to treat this issue but I don’t mean the treatment she did!
As a parent of an Asperger’s child trust me I know what I’m talking about!
They need discipline but they need to be approached differently than other children!
My son reacts more positively when he is awarded not punished, as soon as they are started that he was a different child!
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 11:55 am
This story brought to mind some things that happened to my husband in 1960s Catholic school. One boy must have had some kind of learning disability and he could just never get the lessons in reading and everything. My husband already knew how to read at the age of 4 and the nuns would have him read in front of the class—-and then point out how the other boy could not do it.
Great way to set the students against each other.
Lori York
May 27, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I saw this story this mornind on the Early Show and I was appauled by this. We wonder why children are so mean it’s because society make them that way. If I was this mother I would have someone’s job…I would set an example with her and go on down the line. This should not be acceptable!!
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 12:25 pm
As a teacher myself—-of college students—-the notion of having other students “vote out” one student is preposterous for any age of students, that’s for sure.
HCN
May 27, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Update: the teacher has been removed from the classroom and the district is investigating:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/treasurecoast/content/tcoast/epaper/2008/05/27/0527slteacher.html
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Thanks—kind of seems that they should have done this earlier.
S.L.
May 27, 2008 at 12:56 pm
It’s about time! I was reading some of the comments people were making on this news story…really makes me lose hope for this world (things like this child just needs a beating, applause for this teacher, blaming the parents, on and on). Interested to see how this proceeds. Whatever happens to this teacher, the school, etc., Alex may never be able to fully recover from this. That is biggest shame of this entire case.
Lawrence C
May 27, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Hey Adam Kralic-
You said “He might just be a super brat of epic proportions. He might have NO “conditions” If he exposed himself, swore repeatedly, hit students, deficated on the floor…and the teacher just couldn’t take it anymore…would that teacher still be horrible? So quick to judge with so little information. Shame on all of you.”– BUT - AS FAR AS WE ALL KNOW- HE DID NOT DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS YOU HYPOTHETICALLY MENTIONED. So, in your own words, shame on you for being quick to judge with NO INFORMATION. But what we DO KNOW is what teacher Portillo did. I’ve heard enough to judge her.
In response to your question “why exactly should MY child be exposed to such a trouble maker?”- The answer is because public schools are for all kids. If you don’t want your kid exposed to all kids, you can pay the money for a private school. I’m sure you will find one that does not admit autistic kids. Or maybe you can go to your next town meeting and convince your fellow taxpayers to pay for a separate autistic school? Or maybe you can persuade your insurance company to pay for private education for autistic kids? Yes, Adam, someday if you are in a bad accident or develop a medical condition that requires care, the rest of us will take care of you with our tax dollars and our insurance premiums. Therefore, the same should be true for autistic kids and anyone else requiring assitance. Welcome to the United States. If you don’t like it, move to some other country.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 27, 2008 at 1:17 pm
In response to Adam Kralic. Who said much more than…
“I taught English to foreign children…”
The rights of all students are protected, even those with plain old run of the mill behavioral issues. That is why there is such a thing as a Behavior Suport/Intervention Plan. It gives a list of steps that must be followed to address a child’s behavioral issues. (To protect the child and others) Step 1 is usually to redirect, if they do not redirect then you move to step 2, and so on. For my son, the last step was to call me and remove him from the class. It did not include humiliation as a step or peer rejection as a form of dicipline.
This teachers antics on managing the childs behaviors were wrong and abusive regardless of his “official diagnosis”. Once a child has an IEP or 504 plan the ball is rolling and the teacher is federally mandated to address his behavior and/or unique needs through appropriate and legal means. She obviously did not follow IDEA laws, or the laws of the heart either. SHE needed a time out!
There is never anyone who would put her actions in writing on a behavior support/intervention plan because it is not effective, it is harmful and it is illegal.
ASDmomNC
May 27, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I sent emails to both the principal and the superintendent. Stories like this make me both thankful and fearful. Thankful for my son’s wonderful beyond words teacher and aide, and fearful for what will happen if he is mainstreamed for kindergarten, like the school says they want to do (I am opposed to it, he is not ready).
I hope Ms. Portillo is ashamed to show her face in public and feels the same shame and humiliation that she had heaped upon poor little Alex.
pamela kurtz
May 27, 2008 at 1:35 pm
couls someone please leave me a link to the emailof that school-theone above doesnt seem to work for me-me amd many ohers have a few words for that school
A Mom with Asperger's child
May 27, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Lawrence C, Ammey & mikel kohen, ASDmomNC well said!
I think what happened is definitely going to leave a scar, but Alex is young (looked like he is happy) boy and with a lot of positive reinforcement he is going to be fine.
My son is OK now after last year, thanks for his new wonderful teacher who is constantly keep us informed what is happening in the class room.
Communication between teacher & parents is one of the key of a successful student IMO.
Emily
May 27, 2008 at 2:41 pm
@Adam Kralic–It doesn’t matter if the child was a nascent Attila the Hun. What the teacher did was systematically sadistic and stupid, and she should lose her job and her license over it. She violated her profession’s ethics, and she violated federal law. She had plenty of choices for reasonable recourse, and she elected instead to sadistically humiliate and emotionally torture a five-year-old. Whether he was diagnosed or not is irrelevant, although the fact that he had an IEP and that his teacher had attended the meetings exposes her to legal ramifications for her actions.
I have taught children and adults of all ages, including several years teaching middle school. I know the spectrum of behaviors that children exhibit. I know the frustrations of being a teacher. And I know sadism and egregiously unprofessional behavior when I see it in another member of my profession. Even if that child had dropped trou and shat on her desk, she would not have been justified in the route she chose. This was not a momentary lapse. This was not an error made in blind frustration. What she did was calculated, drawn-out, and intentional emotional torture of a five-year-old child, and she should have to bear the consequences.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Here’s some contact info:
Morningside Elementary School Principal:
Mrs. Marcia Cully
cullym@stlucie.k12.fl.us
(772) 337-6730
St. Lucie County Schools Superintendent:
Michael J. Lannon
4204 Okeechobee Road
Ft. Pierce, FL 34947-5414
Phone: 772/429-3925
FAX: 772/429-3916
lannonm@stlucie.k12.fl.us
St. Lucie County School Board Chair:
Carol Hilson
772-519-0397
hilsonc@stlucie.k12.fl.us
Vice Chair:
Judith Miller
772-528-4545
millerj@stlucie.k12.fl.us
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 2:59 pm
From this website, there are links to a petition and also a video of Alex’s mother.
http://www.cbs12.com/news/port_4707872___article.html/teacher_behavior.html
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 3:56 pm
An article in the Scripps News service contains no new information but a question in the title, which is:
How about a vote to fire the teacher?
Bonnie
May 27, 2008 at 4:29 pm
What if it was her child or yours Adam???
What happened makes me sick. Luckily Alex was able to tell his mom what happened what about the children who cannot speak teachers are there to protect our children not abuse them.
Bonnie Sayers
May 27, 2008 at 4:30 pm
The first comment on the cbs link just posted is a nasty one from a teacher and a real eye opener on what a child included must go through and I am glad my son is homeschooled. The fifth grade teacher was clueless on autism and did not get my son at all.
No amount of social skills groups can prepare kids on the spectrum for this type of reaction that comes from teachers, aides and their peers.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 27, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I agree Bonnie. Thanks K. Chew for posting the link to the video.
ASDmomNC
May 27, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Here’s a gem of a comment from the cbs12 link you posted, Kristina:
——-
lowpaidteacher wrote:
EVERY parent of an obnoxious kid claims disability of some sort or blames his/her behavior on everything BUT their own kid’s behavior! WHAT about the rights of the “NORMAL” kids in the class to learn without interruption?!! PARENTS of THESE kids stand up for once!! This teacher was probably SICK of all the interuptions and behavior issues from this kid. I DONT blame her and it was probably blown out of proportion! Our REGULAR kids deserve to learn without all of the mess behavior problems add to the class regardless of the reasons- disability or NOT!!!!! ENOUGH already! The schools are SO worried about making sure THOSE kids have “equal education” that ALL the others suffer, believe me they DO!
5/27/2008 1:00:42 PM
——-
Unfortunately, this attitude is commonplace amongst teachers. My friends who are teachers have told me many horror stories of their colleagues relating similar feelings about special needs children to them. Funny how all they always refer to them as “THOSE” children.
Deniece
May 27, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I am so ashamed to say I am a native Floridian! To have some of the teachers that are teaching our children is appalling !! I want to know when this teacher (so called) was given a license to practice physcology? She said ” This was her way of correcting his behaviour” What a jerk She needs to be kicked out of the system!
nicole p
May 27, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I have a response to Adam Kralic’s comments…
While on the one hand I can agree that disruptive behavior in a classroom is unfair to other students, it seems to me that any rational adult would understand that this is not the way to resolve such behavior. When you get into a fight with your wife or girlfriend, do you call her stupid and then vote her out of the house?
Read the other comments on this page. The majority of the people here have a good ol’ fashioned American education…and sadly, very few of them seem to have even an elementary grasp of grammar or simple spelling. Case in point: the girl who is in college studying to be a teacher. A TEACHER. And yet her email was riddled with errors.
What this tells me is that we are not educating our teachers properly in either their subjects OR in child development and discipline. IMHO at least 80% of the teachers in the public education system ARE NOT qualified to be teaching our children. They take a few classes, pass a few tests, and voila, we expect them to encourage our children’s physical and mental growth.
THEREFORE, it appears to me that this teacher was not trained properly how to deal with children. Childhood disabilities should be required material in any teacher training, as well as strategies to help and encourage the child and family.
I can only assume that this woman is a complete moron, with little understanding of the influence her position has on children. I agree that she should be sacked…at the very least it is her DUTY to begin working with the parents and the school when a child begins to show behavioral problems. And if she doesn’t like that, well, as one comment said, she can go work for Taco Bell.
All of this said…I have a nephew with speech difficulties due to a birth defect. He has been fortunate to have had wonderful teachers working with him on it. As far as I know he doesn’t get bullied for it, but he knows he sounds different and he made a comment that he “sounds funny one day.” My nephew is extremely intelligent and has an incredibly sweet heart….and if I heard that that a teacher had done something like this to him, and the school board refused to place responsibility….well….I’d jump that b***h in the parking lot.
pissed off mom
May 27, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I am in such shock and disbelief. I dont know who to feel for more the parents or the teacher, I have a child with autism and cannot begin to explain the JOY and sorrow that comes with being a special needs parent. This teacher needs to learn patience and TOLERANCE - you do not teach 5 year olds to discriminate against others for being different - I have had to wait all day to write this so I wouldn’t sound like the teacher, maybe she doesn’t know how to treat children with human kindness, respect and decencey. I keep trying to find an excuse for her but there is NO EXCUSE for the way the teacher handled this, she should publicly apoligize to Alex and his family, find other employment and do some community service with the special needs population, then maybe she’ll be able to find forgiveness for herself - she has to live with the way she treated Alex for the rest of her life and I hope she can survive the embarassment she caused herself. Maybe she can learn a vaulable lesson from this because people are judging her the way she judged Alex. Shall we take a vote!!!!!
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Well I am the magnet for love here it would seem. I wanted to call attention to the fact that quite often people rush to judge in these matters before hearing the other side of the story. I can appreciate that many here have special needs children…and do not wish to imply ill-will towards your particular child.
BUT…we really only have a sensationalist snippet of a story to go on. Even then it has been polished to look as horrible as possible. The child said that the teacher asked who hates ______? Did the teacher word it so? Maybe the question was “Who feels _______ is disrupting the class and how is ______’s behavior affecting you?” I realize that EVERY child has rights. No child is more important than another. All deserve an education first and foremost.
If a child is hindering every other child’s education repeatedly…they should be removed from the class. Period. The Mother commented there was problems at his last school but not in pre-school…(he’s 5 right?) What were the problems and why is the child no longer attending that school?
I do apologize if my comments were taken as insulting…that was not my “goal”.
Wendy
May 27, 2008 at 6:14 pm
When I heard this story on CBS’ the Early Show this morning, my jaw dropped. What this teacher has done is nothing short of discrimination and is teaching her students intolerance and that picking on someone because he/she is different is okay. Shame on her. I really hope that those higher up get hold of this and deal with the situation head on. As a daycare provider, I’d be out of a job if I had done this. Truly Appalling!!
Chuck
May 27, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Maybe the question was “Who feels _______ is disrupting the class and how is ______’s behavior affecting you?”
Justify how THAT is any better then “The child said that the teacher asked who hates ______?”
Then justify how solidifying negative peer pressure by mob rule votes of kindergarteners fosters a positive learning environment for anyone in that classroom.
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 6:45 pm
“Maybe the question was “Who feels _______ is disrupting the class and how is ______’s behavior affecting you?”
Justify how THAT is any better then “The child said that the teacher asked who hates ______?”
Then justify how solidifying negative peer pressure by mob rule votes of kindergarteners fosters a positive learning environment for anyone in that classroom.”
Simple. One way is purely negative…the other way allows for positive learning. A child should know their actions have consequences. It is NEVER too early to let them know this.
Ultimately I believe children are little adults. In the real world people do judge you on your actions. Acting out for any reason should not be tolerated and it is better to see that people your own age do not like this behavior any more than do authority figures.
I do not know exactly how the teacher handled this other than what a 5 year old with behavioral problems said. The teacher confirmed that there was a vote…nothing more. Did not say how it was worded. Did not confirm or deny anything any student said. Did not mention how often she reported the child to the principal previously. Did not mention how the principal instructed her to handle the situation in the future. Did not mention how many times the Mother was contacted about the behavior issues. But they were bad enough to get the child kicked out of one school in less than a year’s time apparently. (simple math in deducting that)
Taken at face value…yes the teacher handled the situation poorly.
You are willing to get a person fired without knowing the whole story.
Adam
Tara
May 27, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Adam,
fact that “in the real world people do judge you on your actions” is the clincher. Yes, here we all are, judging the teacher based on her reported actions and yes, seeing how none of us was there in the first place, we do rely on reporting and hearsay… Call me cynical, but I am not sure we’ll get very objective other side of the story out of the teacher, either.
When it comes to understanding that we are judged based on our actions I am willing to give far more leeway to 5 year old child (autistic or not) than to an adult who is also a teacher. I do not agree that children are little adults - I think there are very few 5 year olds who will not succumb to either the peer pressure or to the authority pressure in this kind of situation. It is part of being the social animal. I’ll even venture to say (and I am only half joking) that 5 year old who votes solely based on his/her conscience in this situation either has uncommonly strong moral and/or religious upbringing or is also on the autistic spectrum.
Karen
May 27, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Adam,
Children are NOT little adults. Anyone with any knowledge of child development will confirm this. The behavior of small children often points to their development and where they are currently, whether they are disabled or not. Every 5 year old is not the same. I have never known humiliation to be a teaching tool.
A kindergarten class is not a reality show. There is NO reason a teacher would ever have the class vote on the way they feel about a child and then allow each child to stand up and tell the child and the rest of the class how he or she feels about a fellow student, knowing full well all the comments will be negative.
Even is Ms. Portillo has used other avenues to get help for managing her classroom with regards to Alex (and I’ve got a 7 year-old on the spectrum and I know it’s not easy, I’m not saying her job is easy!), there is no reason I can figure that would point to it ending the way she chose. I’m sorry if she was overwhelmed and untrained. That is not a good reason to humiliate a child.
To say she handled the situation ‘poorly’ is a HUGE understatement. She had the power, the students had none and she manipulated all of them. It’s very sad.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 27, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Adam,
That is assuming that the child’s behaviors are wilfull by design. A boy has been choking my 11 year old in school (4 times, around the neck, squeezing his neck) because he was annoyed by his repetitive noise making. My son is not in control of his vocalisations, so choking him or holding a gun to his head or humiliating him in front of his peers , jeesh, none of those things could make him stop.
The “message” you are implying ASD kids might get from being ostracized falls on their “deaf” ears. You are talking about a child with a developmental disorder.
This makes me cry. This is almost the same thing the social worker said at the school. It’s like a “If they don’t get it we’ll beat it into them.” mentality. That might teach that kid a lesson, wow. What a detatched attitude.
Storkdok
May 27, 2008 at 7:19 pm
@Adam, the brain is not even neurologically developed into a mature adult stage until the mid-20’s, so you are wrong about children being “mini-adults”. You should do some basic research in child development and neurology before you make ignorant statements.
No child, even NT, no matter what their behavior, should ever be treated in such a calculated manner as to humiliate them in front of the class. It is unprofessional. It is immoral and unethical. I suspect she will face a lawsuit, but it will be of her own making. She made her own bed, now she needs to lie down in it.
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I have a child who is seven. He is extremely well behaved and has manners. All the teachers call him a model student. Did I get lucky? No. I treat him like a small adult. You do not need a degree in child development to rear a well behaved child. Children were raised successfully for 10’s of thousands of years before such a degree existed. How quickly we forget. He knows right from wrong…good from bad. Ultimately I take responsibility for his actions. IF he acted like Alex…he’d be in a special needs school. Do I need to work two jobs to make it so? If I do…guess what? I get a 2nd job. IF I had to home school him after work…I would. Whatever it took. It is MY responsibility. Not the state’s. I expect a call if he misbehaves. That is their sole responsibility besides education.
To the parent whose child is being choked…That happened to my son once. I paid for the school and let them know in no uncertain terms that I would immediately withdraw my son and seek legal council should the offending student not be removed immediately. He was.
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Listen I am not “for” the public humilation of a child. But on the flip side I am not “for” a student with extreme disorders be they diagnosed or not…ruining the education of everyone else.
Now if this parent wins 10 million dollars because of the emotional distress caused…there will be 500 new cases in a week.
Tracey
May 27, 2008 at 7:48 pm
It is so sad that some people just DON’T belong in the teaching field. I work with dyslexic students daily and the abuse they suffer at the hands of their “teachers” is awful!!!!! Most have no self-esteem because they are told they are stupid (most have above average IQ’s) and lazy. Some teachers just have NO tolerance for kids who aren’t cookie cutter students. They need more training to handle these situations in the classroom. Most teachers have to specialize in Special Education. With Autism on the rise they need more training. I have a great-nephew with Autism and so far his school experience has been okay. Every year we must pray he gets a good teacher.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 27, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Well, being that my son has Aspergers, they feel less obligated to take action, citing that he may learn his noises will get a negative reaction in society by being choked at school. As opposed to your perfectly reared child who gets the better protection at school. Interesting.
My son is very well behaved at school now, perfect kid, like yours… except outside waiting for me to pick him up he gets overwhelmed with all the noise and starts making his own noises to calm down.
Children are not a reflection of you. You can do everything right and all along your kid is an individual, with their own spirit. I would not take all the credit for him being such a good kid, maybe he is also just developing normally and has a good spirit. I recieved crappy parenting as a child and turned out with no behavior problems. I am a great mom too and I am not a push over.
Is my son going back to that school? No.
He stayed out of school 3 days until I got it in writing that child would be kept away from my kid. That was after 5 days of visits and phone calls and repeated bullying. They did not take it seriously because they felt for the boy who was annoyed. They understood him.
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Oh and who ultimately will pay if there is indeed a large settlement? Yeah that’s right everyone. You, me, that other guy…we’ll all pay. As will our children when there is no budget for new books, a science lab, etc.
Tara
May 27, 2008 at 8:26 pm
While I’ll be first to acknowledge that I find some aspects of our tort based legal system to be quite ridiculous I don’t see what good will come out of not pursuing legitimate issues because of the fear that we’ll all have to pay for it…
It is funny how it is a priori expected that the result of eventual legal action will be “large settlement”. Would it be better if this is treated as criminal offense and legal action brought by the state?
Emily
May 27, 2008 at 8:27 pm
And we’d all have avoided it if that teacher had done her job appropriately, with professionalism and compassion. If she had disciplined (in the original and best sense of the word) rather than humiliated. In other words, if she had taught rather than tortured.
Storkdok
May 27, 2008 at 8:38 pm
@Adam, did you use the name “William” in the post on the Priest who got a restraining order against a teenage autist?
Storkdok
May 27, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Did anyone notice this statement in one of the press releases?
“Her personnel file shows she is trained and certified to teach special needs children.”
Wow, wonder who’s method this particular “discipline” is from? I don’t remember it being described in ABA, TEACCH, SCERTS, Floortime, RDI or any other method I know.
Ashley Morgan
May 27, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I am sickened by the actions of this teacher and school district. Another example of how we must EDUCATE THE EDUCATORS. I agree with the comments about the other children and the affects this experience will have on them. I hope this district will come around and use this as a teaching opportunity.
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Storkdok,
No I did not. Oddly enough my name is Adam Kralic and I feel no need to hide my identity under a pseudonym.
Why did your parents name you that anyways?
Is your last name Rox?
Because that would make sense. StoryDok Rox sounds pretty bitchin’.
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Ammey and Mikel…
I had thought that perhaps my take on the situation might be taken as a insult to you. I did not mean it to be taken as such. You are a good person I’m certain. Probably most people here are. People can have wildly different viewpoints and not be bad…or even wrong.
I was picked on a lot as a child and often wondered how I would react if the same happened to my child. That is how I reacted…I truly did not know until that moment.
Not everything is black and white. Not all perceived bad people really are. Not all perceived good people really are.
I’d really like to hear the teacher’s side of the story.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 27, 2008 at 10:19 pm
@Adam Kralic,
If I may ask—-have you been a teacher?
I’ve been in the classroom for several years and in every class there is that one student, or few students, who struggles to learn as the rest of the class does and who, accordingly, has “behavior problems.”
In no way is it ever fair, let alone right, to make any student feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. Students are there to learn and they very often feel, indeed, uncomfortable and embarrassed, and this is the last thing they wish the teacher or anyone else to know. Teaching is about creating a community in a classroom; certainly, in my best classes, everyone has grown together and grown to see how they are part of this community. It’s part of the learning experience for all the students and the teacher to understand how to accommodate and learn from each other.
Lisa Cyza
May 27, 2008 at 10:30 pm
This case has bothered me all day. I cried for Alex and his Mom when I saw them on the news this morn. I have sent the following email to the school. To Whom It May Concern
I just heard about this on the news this morning and I’m am extremely
concerned about what kind of precedent this is setting by allowing children
of this age or any age to be subject to this kind of pyschology abuse by a
teacher. What are we teaching our children by this example? Mrs. Portillo as
a person of color should be even more sensitive to the subject of tolerance
of race, creed, age, or ANY disability of another person. As a parent I am
outraged, but I am also very sad for this poor child and his mother who have
to tolerate this inexcuseable abuse of power by such an important role model
for children. What if it were her child and he or she were being voted out
because of their skin color?, big difference you say? I think not, TOLERANCE
is the issue. I will pray for your school, this child’s teacher and
especially his mother who has to try and explain why he is not accepted as
he is over and over again. Please don’t allow this to go away, this is a
subject all our children look to us as adults to learn about. Let’s teach
them what IS acceptable and what IS NOT!
Sincerely
Lisa R Cyza
Adam Kralic
May 27, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I have only taught English to Taiwanese students (in Taiwan) during the summer. The students there are vastly different than students here I’d guess.
A) School is 6 days a week…all year long.
B) I had students who went to private school after their regular classes. (I taught at a private school) (So 6 days a week school…all year long plus 3 days a week night classes. Starting at the age of 9)
So definately not a fair comparison to our children. They are VERY serious students at all ages. From what I gather by visiting my son’s classes…we are a lot less serious about education in America.
Regardless…it may comfort the board to know that my wife is 4000% on this boards “side”. :P Ah maybe balance is key after all.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 27, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I do not take offense easily, so Adam, I am not offended. I am just disappointed to hear you repeating the somewhat reasonable statement that you do not feel the public should put her on trial in the media or blogs with out detailed facts, etc and yet you follow that with misguided comments about children with needs and behaviors that you do not seem to understand.
If a large amount of law suits follow this one, if it goes there, that is because there ALREADY are far too many teachers managing special needs children’s behaviors in manners that are against Federal and State mandated laws. Children can not be excluded from a public education activity due to their disability. Period. Even a classroom. And the mom was not even called for crying out loud. Not even by the nurse?
Think about how many parents, such as myself that have already settled with their School Districts in mediation vs throwing a lawsuit at them. Most parents do not want to sue, they want a free and appropriate public education for their child, which is a right. Look up FAPE.
Banter is a good thing but your comments are questionable.
Chuck
May 27, 2008 at 11:43 pm
“hv nly tght nglsh t Twns stdnts (n Twn) drng th smmr. Th stdnts thr r vstl dffrnt thn stdnts hr ’d gss.
) Schl s 6 dys wk…ll r lng.
B) hd stdnts wh wnt t prvt schl ftr thr rglr clsss. ( tght t prvt schl) (S 6 ds wk schl…ll yr lng pls 3 dys wk nght clsss. Strtng t th g f 9)
S dfntly nt fr cmprsn t r chldrn. Th r VR srs stdnts t ll gs. Frm wht gthr by vstng my sn’s clsss…w r lt lss srs bt dctn n mrc.
Rgrdlss…t my cmfrt th brd t knw tht m wf s 4000% n ths brds “sd”. :P h myb blnc s ky ftr ll.”
The only good troll is a disemvoweled one.
Phil Schwarz
May 28, 2008 at 12:26 am
Re. Adam Kralic:
I think the appropriate action here is THROW BEAR. (See the advice in Bev Schwartz’s (no relation) guide to my all-time favorite classic computer game, Crowther & Woods (1977) Adventure, about how to deal with a troll.)
Adam Kralic
May 28, 2008 at 12:30 am
Chuck. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate the effort.
W/O a different opinion…you’d have 20 people patting each other on the back for being so right. Must make for exciting discussion.
I’ll leave you to it then.
Ammey & mikel kohen
May 28, 2008 at 12:37 am
No one is trying to be right here, just having heart for kids like Alex Barton…
Adam Race, Alex Barton, Nate Tseglin
May 28, 2008 at 12:43 am
[...] “voting out” of Alex Barton, from his kindergarten class; the teacher, Wendy Portillo, has been removed from the [...]
spike of sapphoq.com
May 28, 2008 at 1:27 am
I wouldn’t allow that teacher near my dog, never mind a child.
I am horrified that she did this to a child who is on his way to a broad autistic spectrum diagnosis.
I am horrified that she did this to a five year old boy.
spike
spike of sapphoq.com
May 28, 2008 at 1:27 am
I wouldn’t allow that teacher near my dog, never mind a child.
I am horrified that she did this to a child who is on his way to a broad autistic spectrum diagnosis.
I am horrified that she did this to a five year old boy.
spike
Storkdok
May 28, 2008 at 5:03 am
@Adam, thanks for the clarification. Didn’t know we had so many trolls here. Thought you might be masquerading to make it seem like there were more ignorant people here. The Taiwanese culture is completely different from N. American culture, so you really have no experience in teaching that is comparable to the USA. As your child is NT, you don’t have a clue as to our lives and our children’s lives. It’s obvious you are trolling.
ASDmomNC
May 28, 2008 at 5:58 am
I don’t think Adam is trolling, I think he honestly believes every word he types. I used to be just as smug and sanctimonious about child rearing and discipline. I had all the answers and knew that “those” parents of “those” children who were so ill-behaved were just doing things wrong. If only they did xyz, their children would be well behaved.
Then God laughed and I gave birth to an autistic child.
Karma is not without a sense of humor. Adam will learn one day. Just not today. I let his ignorance roll off my back knowing that the day will come when life knocks him off his high horse, just like it did for me.
Regan
May 28, 2008 at 7:38 am
To say that a child with a learning or other disability can be “snapped out of it” by having the class play lifeboat is boggling. The lesson being taught to young children about tolerance is appalling, especially when the exercise is directed by the classroom teacher…one who has a cited competency in special education.
For those having a hard time grasping the concept because the neurologic difference is Asperger’s Syndrome, substitute blindness, deafness, traumatic brain disorder/injury, or other of the IDEA categories.
Kristina Chew, PhD
May 28, 2008 at 9:21 am
@Adam Kralic,
Taiwan—-yes, a completely different educational environment! I’ve spent a summer there and had many friends who went there and elsewhere in Asia (Japan, Thailand, South Korea, China) to teach. I’m a 3rd generation Chinese American and never had a single behavior problem; “doing good” and “being good” in school were simply “what you did.”
Then I had my son and there couldn’t be a more different student. Struggles to do anything academic (he’s far behind his grade level), doesn’t like books, likes PE (mostly). And lots of issues with behavior; Charlie’s been only in special ed and at one point he was in essence “expelled” from school—-the district could not, would not, keep him due to his behavior problems.
Nonetheless, from my own teaching, there’s always been students in a class who had various needs. They’re there and they have to be taught. Very best—-
Chuck
May 28, 2008 at 9:54 am
“Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate the effort. ”
15 seconds to have a little fun, no problem
Lawrence C
May 28, 2008 at 10:21 am
Hey Adam Kralic,
I like that you are explaining your logic even though we disagree. But I continue to disagree.
You said, about your own 7 yr old, “IF he acted like Alex…he’d be in a special needs school.”
Adam- THERE ARE NO “SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS” because your lawmakers, fellow taxpayers, and insurance companies do not want to pay for them. If you can get someone to set up “Special needs schools” and then have tax dollars pay for them, just like my tax dollars pay for your kid’s normal school, you would be a hero to many of us.
Then you said “Do I need to work two jobs to make it so? If I do…guess what? I get a 2nd job.” Adam-it’s about an extra $120,000 per year- most people cannot afford that even with two jobs. If you can persuade our lawmakers and insurance companies to pick up the cost the problem would be solved. And they should. My taxes and insurance premiums currently pay for things that other people do that I don’t do- like accidentally getting pregnant, making yourself fat, clogging your own arteries, hurting yourself by consuming cigarette/drug/alcohol, cosmetic implants, and sexual enhancements - yet they won’t pay for a disability that a kid did not choose to inflict upon himself. Unfortunately, some marketing sleaze sees the numbers of potential customers out there and will lobby for an autism pill that makes millions for the usual crowd and drugs our kids, rather than paying for therapy and searching for the cause. It will be like the many unecessary Ritalin-doped kids over the years.
Then you said “IF I had to home school him after work…I would.” How would you? Would you never sleep?
Then you said “It is MY responsibility. Not the state’s.” Wrong- it is the state’s. That’s old and well-settled law.
Then you said “I expect a call if he misbehaves.” - No kidding, Adam. The Barton’s expected a call when their kid misbehaved. They did not expect teacher Portillo to have the other kids join her in psychologically tormenting and humiliating their kid.
Another thing - you keep saying it is a matter of undisciplined kids, as if it is as simple as the parents are not disciplining their kids. You won’t believe otherwise until your own kid is autistic. I used to think like you because I’ve achieved a lot due to my disciplined, work-ethic upbringing and I figured it would work on my kids. It doesn’t cure autism. Stop doubting us and stop thinking that the problem is that we do not properly discipline our kids. We can’t all possibly be wrong.
yes,but
May 28, 2008 at 10:25 am
What happened was wrong, no question. It defies belief and sickens the soul.
But let me tell you a story from the other side. My son was in a classroom with a child from kindergarten through 2d grade who had an undiagnosed problem that the parents refused to acknowledge, and refuse to, to this day. The disruption in the classroom was so severe my son would come home crying every afternoon, saying he just wanted to learn but could not. I went into the classroom and saw it in action. In the music room the boy was so out of control he knocked over a zylophone, which landed on another child and broke the instrument. At special events, the boy is completely ignored and allowed to wander on his own, because he is not able to function in a team or grou