Shocking video shows school worker punching autistic boy after racial remark

originally posted by: Restricted
The kid punched him first.

Fair game.

Hardly.

Autism, even high-functioning like Aspy, changes how the brain processes and reacts to stimuli. Aspys have trouble with normal social functioning as a result. It's heart-breaking that Aspys often won't meet your eyes because they can't figure out how long is appropriate to hold eye contact, so they avoid it.

Hitting any kid who has issues with how he processes the world around him is inexcusable.

originally posted by: Kandinsky

The autistic angle is overly emotive imo. Would it be any better if he punched an 11 year old without autism? Course not.

There are two ways of looking at that, while I fully agree with your example. Look at the video again, the child has another female teacher or assistance in attendance there and standing behind, and also another child sitting beside him. To me that's there is already some issue on the go. the teacher or assistant, has a correct stance, upright and non-threatening even though she is not facing the the child, the male teacher's stance is at best ambiguous for an autistic child, and even his facial expression would be important in that scenario. If that child is in the TEACH system, and there was an issue ongoing, I would expect to see some use of the card system, a series of pictograms.
Here's a link that gives a much better understanding for the role of teachers, and well, everybody really.

www.google.co.uk... urceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&gws_rd=cr,ssl&ei=rtkGV_WgH4TparaditgL

Use the PDF link at the top of the page.

This link is an general overview for teachers from the NAS.
www.autism.org.uk...

The thing is, as you should find out, that blow could have affects way out of proportion for an Autistic child to just the attack, perhaps even more so when there appears to be some other issue already ongoing.

I also note that the other teacher/assistant's reaction was immediately protective of the child, that WAS someone doing their job, rather than turning a blind eye.
Sometimes I think, in this day and age, a person like her deserves a medal.

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: Restricted
The kid punched him first.

Fair game.

Hardly.

Autism, even high-functioning like Aspy, changes how the brain processes and reacts to stimuli. Aspys have trouble with normal social functioning as a result. It's heart-breaking that Aspys often won't meet your eyes because they can't figure out how long is appropriate to hold eye contact, so they avoid it.

Hitting any kid who has issues with how he processes the world around him is inexcusable.

Thank God somebody understands!

a reply to: ketsuko

I've got one of those little violins.

You go ahead and take crap from children. I'll stick to what I know.

The retirement thing is the way that many senior level public employees avoid getting in trouble. Instead of getting punished for what they do, they are basically told to "retire". It happens all the time in small towns (police, fire, schools, etc.).

a reply to: TrueBrit

Ah, something that we have in common--a son with Asperger's.

Yes, it can be difficult--very difficult--when they aren't capable of reading facial expressions (or withholding theirs when they think that something you're saying is ridiculous).

And yes...I, like you, would be calling a lawyer for a similar reason, and I'd be okay with that.

We've been homeschooling our son for the past four years, but are really considering public school next year. S**t like this makes me question such a decision, but I know that these don't happen often, so I'll just keep training hard in Krav Maga in case it does

a reply to: Restricted

Having a normal child myself and having also worked with children who have disorders like Aspergers, the things that will work with a normal kid and the reactions you will get with a normal kid don't exactly apply.

No one expects you to "take crap" as you put it, but you do have to modify how you deal with them and how you expect them to react to everyday situations and things.

Someone who is getting paid to handle this outside the norm circumstance has no business losing their cool to the point where they strike the kid. No one has that right with any kid if you are an adult (talking about a full punch). But hitting a kid who isn't capable of perceiving the world like you or I would and communicating like you or I would is really lower.

originally posted by: Restricted
The kid punched him first.

Fair game.

Most asinine thing I've heard in a long time...and it's a voting year.

a reply to: smurfy

It's a hard topic to nail down because people see 'autism' and think of severe autism. In practice, autism is a hard to define condition with no working consensus on what the term means.

With it being a spectrum disorder, the kid could easily be 'quirky' amongst 'normal' kids. Out on the edges, he could be someone who has a vocabulary that amounts to phrases off TV shows. The video isn't enough to get an idea off.