St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class

It should be clarified that Asperger's isn't exactly autism as many know it. As a matter of fact, many functional, and brilliant people have had it.

Here's a short list.
www.geocities.com...

* Jane Austen, 1775-1817, English novelist, author of Pride and Prejudice (see above)
* Béla Bartók, 1881-1945, Hungarian composer
* Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827, German/Viennese composer
* AMENDED Alexander Graham Bell, 1847-1922, Scottish/Canadian/American inventor of the telephone
* Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896, Austrian composer
* Henry Cavendish, 1731-1810, English/French scientist, discovered the composition of air and water
* Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, US poet
* Thomas Edison, 1847-1931, US inventor
* Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German/American theoretical physicist
* Henry Ford, 1863-1947, US industrialist
* Kaspar Hauser, c1812-1833, German foundling, portrayed in a film by Werner Herzog
* Oliver Heaviside, 1850-1925, English physicist
* Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, US politician
* NEW Carl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychoanalyst
* Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Czech writer
* Wasily Kandinsky, 1866-1944, Russian/French painter
* H P Lovecraft, 1890-1937, US writer
* Ludwig II, 1845-1886, King of Bavaria
* Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868-1928, Scottish architect and designer
* NEW Gustav Mahler, 1860-1911, Czech/Austrian composer
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791, Austrian composer
* Isaac Newton, 1642-1727, English mathematician and physicist
* Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher
* Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British logician
* George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish playwright, writer of Pygmalion (see above), critic and Socialist
* Richard Strauss, 1864-1949, German composer
* Nikola Tesla, 1856-1943, Serbian/American scientist, engineer, inventor of electric motors
* Henry Thoreau, 1817-1862, US writer
* Alan Turing, 1912-1954, English mathematician, computer scientist and cryptographer
* Mark Twain, 1835-1910, US humorist
* Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter
* Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Viennese/English logician and philosopher

See, this is what happens when teachers watch too much survivor and try to come up with a way to be on T.V. IMO all of the teachers at that school should vote on whether or not they should fire that teacher.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Hmm.. I have a hard time caring for other peoples feeling.. I still see nothing wrong with an entire class deciding that the kid was annoying and needed to be expelled.

Even his mother admitted he only had one friend.

Because he was annoying to the other kids. And it's pretty bad when other 5-6 year olds complain they can't learn with him in the room lol..

If I had a kid in that class, I would say "thank you" to the teacher and support her 100%.

I didn't know the kid had autism, I thought perhaps he was a bully and beating up his/her classmates.

Why would they "vote" out the kid with autism??

reply to post by Rockpuck


Problem is, children are pack animals and can't think for themselves, especially at 5 y/o. They go with the popular vote, and refer to the teacher for guidance.

If their opinions were based in logic or reason, we'd have no voting age limit.

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Interesting list.

How exactly did the researcher diagnose people who are dead?

reply to post by Rockpuck


Very little gets over my head but in this case I must admit it did. My apologies!

I agree that he should be in a special needs class but children that young can not be expected to make such a decision! It's not democratic if you don't fully understand what's going on.

[edit on 28-5-2008 by jbondo]

Originally posted by dalan.
I didn't know the kid had autism, I thought perhaps he was a bully and beating up his/her classmates.

Why would they "vote" out the kid with autism??

It's because they don't know any better. They're just kids and the teacher should have known this from the start.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
It should be clarified that Asperger's isn't exactly autism as many know it.

Excellent info Ras!

As you all can see by Ras's fantastic post ... Aspergers children CAN LEARN. They can be freak'n brilliant! But they most likely will end up with 'issues' when they are treated this way - just as the rest of us would be.

Special Ed should be used when these children are in a condition that they 'act up' a lot.


The teacher INJURED the child with this vote.
The teacher taught the other children WRONG behavior with this vote.
The school was wrong to have the child mainstreamed since the child acted up a lot.

reply to post by dalan.


Again, Aspergers isn't autism as many know it. It's a mild form of autism that usually displays itself as antisocial behavior with enhanced reasoning and logical capacity. Better at math, not so good with the ladies.....

It's not like he's Rainman or somthing

reply to post by Rasobasi420


So do adults. In fact, the difference is slim to none.. I mean hell, your even assuming more then 10% of the American voting population makes an informed vote!

I agree with factions from both sides.

1. This kid has Asperger's, its not his fault.

2. Neither is it the fault of other kids, who need to learn. Learning should be a fundamental right, and it is not something that should be disrupted for anyone or any thing.

So while it is regrettable that the kid was thrown out (the manner of the teacher was not conducive), it is also likely that he needed home schooling.

His continued presence in the class would have been to the detriment of others and himself too.

Good result, bad method.

reply to post by FlyersFan


I would liketo see the PROOF that those people had this form of Autism.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
If I had a kid in that class,....

If i had a kid in that class I would insist that the poor child with the disability be moved to a special education class and I would hope that the school would use the situation in a lteaching manner for the other children - as in teaching them how to properly deal with people who have disabilities.

If that didn't happen, I'd then move my child or homeschool.
(which we did - homeschooled until 5th grade)

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Yeah, one of my best friends has Asperger's, and he is brilliant with computers.

Every time I see him I like to run up and hump his leg because I think it confuses him.

What effect does the disorder have on them socially?

Originally posted by Rockpuck
I would liketo see the PROOF that those people had this form of Autism.

Understandable. Ras is on top of this and doing a great job educating everyone. I'll leave it in his good hands. My degree is psychology but NOT a specialty in Special Ed or anything like that ....

So go for it RAS!!

reply to post by Rockpuck


Not sure what proof you need, but here's a site in addition to the one already posted.
www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com...

reply to post by FlyersFan


So you secretively tell a kid hes a "special little boy" and he has to go to "special classes" and he always wonders why.....

Nothing wrong with being open about it.

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Well I can say King Henry VIII had Autism.

Does it make it true? ..

Do I need proof? ..

I can just say, he was conceded, anti social and had a bad temper.

Guess he was autistic.

See the logic?.. No, cause there is none. So how do you know Thomas Jefferson had Autism?

reply to post by Rasobasi420


news.bbc.co.uk...

Einstein and Newton 'had autism'
Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton may have suffered from a type of autism, according to experts.