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

A rather strange thing just happened.

I came into this thread believing that Aspergers was a real condition.

However I read further into it, and it is posited that 0.5% of men have Aspergers to some degree or the other.

Added to the huge list that Rasobasi has been rattling off, it makes me wonder if this is a misdiagnosis of genius.

Could "Aspergers" be a more serious form of the old Briggs-Meyer "Introvert" category?

Furthermore, if anyone is truly interested in this syndrome rather than the usual mud-slinging, please read this really interesting powerpoint presentation:

www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/disability/annlecture/disabilitylecture05.ppt

reply to post by Rockpuck


It doesn't look like he's had the chance. This idiot teacher ostracized a child in her care. Whether he had Asperger Syndrome or not, that is out of line. Even more so if he does have the syndrome.

And we should really avoid calling him Autistic since it's not as severe as that.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Sure, maybe the teacher went over board.. but considering how much I hate lil kids I think she had restraint. I would have put the kid outside and locked the door.

I think this comment explains a lot, you can hardly expect someone who feels like this about kids to show any sympathy what so ever for this kid.

Hmm.. I have a hard time caring for other peoples feeling

Another classic Aspergers trait.

LOL, I was tested for a lot of things, I don't think Autism was one of them

Not that it would make any difference now, but maybe a test would sure explain a lot!

Gonna bow out of this thread now, some of the comments here sound like it's my Aspergers blessed step-daughter posting online.......an angel who i love to bits, but when it comes to compassion and understanding for others, she lacks slightly shall we say!

CX.

reply to post by Rasobasi420


If every kid developed long lasting emotional dysfunction because of something mean said to them when they where 5, I would assume we are all emotionally scared!

Who here remembers Kindergarten??? ..

Who here has NEVER been publicly kicked out of a class for some reason or another?? Does it still wake you up at night? NO.

Kid's got issues, he needs a new class, new teacher who is trained to deal with Autistic kids. The teacher snapped, how that is not apparent I don't know, but the typical reactionist will scream bloody murder about it.

A kid getting his feeling hurt, hardly enough to even make the news. The sensationalist eat it up though.

reply to post by CX

I think this comment explains a lot, you can hardly expect someone who feels like this about kids to show any sympathy what so ever for this kid.

Guess that's why I am not a teacher eh?

reply to post by Rockpuck


And I don't think you understand what you're talking about. Aspergers isn't the same as autism as you may understand it. How about this. Spend some time in a mental health institution. Maybe volunteer. Then, after you've worked with some of these children come back and give us your stance on whether they're just 'normal kids'. Then, maybe your opinion might hold some water with me.

Until then, you're just talking out of your Assperger.

Edit: I think it's obvious that I don't respect your opinion in this matter since you seem to be far from an expert in child development or developmental disorders.

And even if you're not an expert, some first hand experience is absolutely necessary before making sweeping judgments. Isn't that what you always say about people who talk trash about Freemasonry without any knowledge or facts to back it up?

[edit on 28-5-2008 by Rasobasi420]

To Rockpuck,

Just a quick note to say i respect your opinion, despite the fact i obviously disagree with it.

I think this thread may have made me come across a bit hotheaded in my replies, which i guess can happen when you have a passionate opinion about a subject.

Anyway, it's obvious we disagree, but just wanted to say no hard feelings or disrespect meant, at the end of the day it's just another in a huge site of threads that there is to debate over.......and i'm sure as hell not going to let it effect my evening of watching England hammer the US at footie!

Peace.

CX.

[edit on 28/5/08 by CX]

Who care the kid is in kindergarten , he probably will be playing ball with the kids next week.

reply to post by Rockpuck

Originally posted by Rockpuck
I find Autistic kid to be very annoying..

And I find it difficult to suffer fools.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Nothing wrong with voting the lil fella out of class? .. Perhaps home school will work best for him.

Yes, I'm sure that a bunch of 5 year old babies know how to intellectually and emotionally evaluate a situation whereby a teacher says "OK class, now we're each going to have a turn to say what we don't like about little Alex. Then we're going to have a vote on whether we want him to leave because of what we don't like about him. OK? Ready?"

That's asking too much of 5 year old's. Just as it's asking too much of fools who laugh at he little boy's condition and bad experiences.

People like you, Rockpuck.

reply to post by CX


Nonsense, no harm done. I am perposfully being a bit antagonizing in this thread. Other wise it would have just been a Hang the Teacher thread.

reply to post by jsobecky


Ah here I thought we where friends Becky.... *sigh*..

It's eye opening, to blatantly disagree with the "norm" and watch the pathetic shallow retorts be thrown at you.

Emotions get the best of some..

reply to post by Rockpuck



I deleted you from my Friends list several months ago, Rockpuck. Turns out that was a wise decision.


reply to post by Rasobasi420


Thanks for all the excellent info, Raso. I am very familiar with Aspergers, but your info helped educate more than a few here.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Who here remembers Kindergarten??? ..

I do.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Who here has NEVER been publicly kicked out of a class for some reason or another?? Does it still wake you up at night? NO.

Um...me again!

They kicked the kid out of class, eh? Well good on 'em all. Seriously.

Oh, they all stood up and had to present why they did? even better! I wish this kind of behavior would stay with them. It takes a lot to stand and face a person and say why you don't like them without a monitor or anonymous ballot hiding your identity from the person you accuse. I'd assume its pretty bad if you can get 5 year olds to open up like that.

Someone said it earlier and its true.. how many people here actually remember that age? probably little to nothing of what happened, that's for sure, and nothing that keeps you up at night or even comes to mind, does it?

As for having auspigers, so what? the kid is autistic. to say otherwise is like saying someone isn't black because they're only 5'2" even though their skin is the same color as coal. And give me a break about high functioning.. that basically means that he didn't eat the entire test form and at least acknowleged the test taker instead of staring off into space for 2 hours. There are degrees to this, and the usual list of celebrities that gets so often trotted out is the same. Technically, anyone with a slight lack of socialization and hyperfocus is technically auspigers material, that list is no different.

simply put, if it was so bad that people made a vote, there was probably a reason. that kid's right to be in class ends where those other kids right to an education begins. the autistic kid shouldn't have been there disrupting the class in the first case, but probably some political softie pushed the issue. and heres the result.

reply to post by CoffinFeeder


lol.. prepare to be crucified for not following the norm ... jsobecky may not be your friend now..

In the end I have to wonder what people are really upset about. The fact that no one wanted the autistic kid in the class, or the way the teacher handled it. Some seem to believe the kid should be in a normal class room setting.. even though it was so obvious the teacher was not trained for "special" students.

reply to post by dalan.


And the fact that this post has as many stars as it does shows the lack of intelligent thought and human compassion by some.

Unbelievable. Do you have any clue what kind of challenge that kid faces with his disorder? Then to have his only friend on this planet outside of his house forced to 'VOTE' him in or out is just pathetic. Your avatar is perfect for you. You are obviously cold blooded.

Oh yeah, I thought one line responses were not allowed? Maybe you should get dung by a moderator for that.

What this teacher has done is pathetic. She should be fired and removed from any further possible interactions with young children. She obviously does not understand the disorder and should not be around kids as a role model as teachers are meant to be.

reply to post by CoffinFeeder


It's not about what you 'consciously' remember my friend. Much of how we react to certain environments is instilled in us during our young childhood. This person will never grow to feel accepted in society because of this kind of treatment.

SHortsightedness is a word I am started to use a lot on this site. People on here seem to only want to look to the end of their nose instead of beyond it.

Good training for the kids indeed. Nice.

Originally posted by dalan.

What effect does the disorder have on them socially?

I am no expert on Aspergers syndrome but I believe yes, many are very high functioning. In fact they can be quite brilliant, but it can have a severe affect on their ability to read OTHER peoples emotions.

Imagine if you did not speak Chinese, and people kept talking to you, and when you did not respond appropriately they would get upset and you could not figure out why.

That is one of the problems people with Aspergers can have, they simply do NOT understand the normal social/emotional signals given off by others (such as tone of voice change, facial expression, body language, etc…) They can’t see it and then they are surprised when people get upset. Imagine what a hard time they will have dealing with other kids or teenagers.

I have also heard that many of them do develop some of the skills in their mid twenties. But it is not an inherent trait for them. Many must have horrible social lives as children because they will be ostracized.

It doesn't matter that this boy had any issue at all. There are ways to deal with an unruly child and this was not the way. Was it a free for all? Were all the "annoying" kids called out on their behaviours? No she said we are going to vote on this one kid here (I have a hard time believing not one other 5 year student had ever been annoying or dispruptive)
As for special needs kids (and I have one) we don't get to decide if our school division integrates special needs kids or secludes them. So to say if our kids are disrupting we are taking from your children, think about its not our choice to have our kids facing these issues and I don't make policies for my school divisions. Stating oh I would lock the child out or that he deserved it, what do we do with these kids then? Hey I know maybe we should just lock them away? Why try to help them? Oh ya bc they are just kids, instead of judging them find some way to help or go judge the face in the mirror for a while. My 5 year old son may be disabled but he has a kinder heart then some of the adult posters on this board.

Wow so much love on this thread. Friendships made and ruined. HUGE love affair between Rock and Becky. Becky I didnt know you were from the Pizzle or maybe Im wrong.

As far as the thread If this came from the students I would say it was normal for Im sure we ALL went through crap in school but coming from a teacher something just stinks about that.