An addition to my writing of a few minutes ago. I just read the comments on the news cast website, and I am all the more horrified. Here is my most recent post on my message board.
Post Four: You know, the comments on the news video...VOMIT! More parent blaming for the child with the disability...more wah, wah, we adults lose it because we aren't allowed to discipline and we have no idea how else to relate to children with disabilities other than to discipline (punish) them into submission. More, no one understands how bad it is for teachers and how this child is surely the devil himself.
Not to mention more excusing the teacher's behavior with the notion that teachers are overworked and underpaid. BELIEVE ME. My wife was a preschool teacher, the most overworked and underpaid of them all. And at one point in a preschool with HUGE discipline issues. But being overworked and underpaid still is not a justification for abuse of a child. It is just not.
I appreciated the person who commented, "Did she really think she could bully him into better behaviour?" Well, given the way we have historically misunderstood and mistreated people with disabilities, it is possible she thought she could. But she was WRONG (and unprofessional and abusive).
Someone commented on the news cast website:
"The teacher explained that this student had been a major disruption in her classroom all year: yelling, touching and bothering others, rolling around on the floor, etc."
All of these are actually types of behavioral communication that make sense for a child with aspergers. It is a discipline issue until the teacher figures out what the child is trying to communicate and responds appropriately. The behavior will stop when the need is met. The child is trying to regulate his neurological system. The child is trying to communicate with other children when words fail him. The child is trying to respond to his environment when it overwhelms him. That's hard work, but all this he has had to do all year under the duress of this emotionally unsafe classroom environment.
I just can't get over it.
Saying (as one person did in their comments) "the teacher explained that this student had been a major disruption in her classroom all year: yelling, touching and bothering others, rolling around on the floor, etc." about a child getting evaluated for aspergers is like saying about a child being evaluated for visual impairment: "the teacher explained that this student had been a major disruption in her classroom all year: running right up to the chalk board while the teacher was writing, running and bumping into other students, putting her hands on the walls when walking down the hall, sometimes even causing other students' artwork to fall."
Showing posts with label Behavior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Behavior. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
This Is NOT Okay
So a couple days ago, one of the parents on a message board I frequent posted a link to this article:
Post One: I am sitting here sobbing at the thought.
Literally, I could see this happening to my son. I am TERRIFIED of putting him in school.
What does the teacher think this is, an f'ing Survivor episode?!!
Seriously, that was so emotionally damaging for this boy AND all the students in this class. And really, those two little ones who voted against the crowd...you have got to be impressed because at that age, how hard would that be?! Incredible.
Post Two (After someone wondered whether the teacher was engaging in a misguided attempt to teach him natural consequences-- as in, if you behave in a particular manner, you will upset other people and they won't want to be around you):
If it was a natural consequence of his behavior, then I am sure he was already experiencing it.
Where did the IEP come into all of this? That's what I want to know. Because if the kid had an IEP as a result of aspergers, then there likely had to have been some kind of plan to address these types of issues with this kid.
Post Three (When someone reminded me that there wasn't yet an IEP in place): Right. I got so wound up about this that I started forgetting some of the details. Still...
Then someone reminded us of this, from the original article:
Of course what this teacher did would have been awful no matter what student was the victim: a student of any age, with any disability or none at all. But this teacher attended the IEP meetings. She knew what was up. This is disabilism. This is horrific!!
And now, listen to the tape (go to the following link, scroll down to the video box, and click on "watch this story"):
How on earth can the school district say this doesn't meet the standards for emotional abuse? This is absolutely NOT okay, and as for me, I am taking this very personally. Because this is a blow to all human beings who have any sense of decency at all, not to mention all of us who have children and especially those of us with "disabled" children.
But the worst of it is the fact that the damage has been done, to this child and to all the other children in that classroom. Serious damage. It will take a lot of hard work to help these children heal these wounds. The only silver lining I see is that this child is learning in a major way (albeit under unfortunate circumstances) that his parents will protect and stand up for him. May all children come to be so blessed.
Here's a photo of this little guy, lest we run the risk of thinking of him as a hypothetical.
Of course we all-- meaning all the moms on the message board who read the story-- went straight up in arms about it.
Here is some of what I said:
Post One: I am sitting here sobbing at the thought.
Literally, I could see this happening to my son. I am TERRIFIED of putting him in school.
What does the teacher think this is, an f'ing Survivor episode?!!
Seriously, that was so emotionally damaging for this boy AND all the students in this class. And really, those two little ones who voted against the crowd...you have got to be impressed because at that age, how hard would that be?! Incredible.
Post Two (After someone wondered whether the teacher was engaging in a misguided attempt to teach him natural consequences-- as in, if you behave in a particular manner, you will upset other people and they won't want to be around you):
If it was a natural consequence of his behavior, then I am sure he was already experiencing it.
Where did the IEP come into all of this? That's what I want to know. Because if the kid had an IEP as a result of aspergers, then there likely had to have been some kind of plan to address these types of issues with this kid.
Post Three (When someone reminded me that there wasn't yet an IEP in place): Right. I got so wound up about this that I started forgetting some of the details. Still...
Then someone reminded us of this, from the original article:
"Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspberger's, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February for an official diagnosis under the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marsha Cully. Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disabilities, Barton said. The school and district has met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan, she said. His teacher, Wendy Portillo, has attended these meetings, she said."
Of course what this teacher did would have been awful no matter what student was the victim: a student of any age, with any disability or none at all. But this teacher attended the IEP meetings. She knew what was up. This is disabilism. This is horrific!!
And now, listen to the tape (go to the following link, scroll down to the video box, and click on "watch this story"):
How on earth can the school district say this doesn't meet the standards for emotional abuse? This is absolutely NOT okay, and as for me, I am taking this very personally. Because this is a blow to all human beings who have any sense of decency at all, not to mention all of us who have children and especially those of us with "disabled" children.
But the worst of it is the fact that the damage has been done, to this child and to all the other children in that classroom. Serious damage. It will take a lot of hard work to help these children heal these wounds. The only silver lining I see is that this child is learning in a major way (albeit under unfortunate circumstances) that his parents will protect and stand up for him. May all children come to be so blessed.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Last of My Autistic Allie Series...For Now
The following post is the final post for now from my series called "Journey of an Aspiring Allie." If you have just started reading, I hope you will go back and read the series in order. The first post of the series was on 1/27. The series is in the form of a guided video tour. It's just the way MY mind works.
I do also hope you will watch the videos exactly as posted in the text, as a break before reading further. I had attempted to learn to imbed videos in my posts but was unable to do so. Like recent posts in this series, this post contains a number of videos of varying lengths. I will wait a week or so to post again so that I can give folks time to get through all this.
I suspect that you may find it possible to get through this post only in parts, depending on how much time you have available to you at any given moment. __________________________________________________________
JOURNEY OF AN ASPIRING ALLIE, FINAL SERIES POST (FOR NOW)
So this is the deal:
This matters.
This post is about the difference that how we view and respond to neurological diversity makes.
There is a school in MA, the state where I am now living, that practices among other abuses, electric shock behavioral management on those children with "mental retardation," "autism," and other related "issues."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvLXwlr0S-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9-xXfgQiTU
What types of behaviors are being managed in this fashion? The "worst of the worst?" If you don't have time to watch the whole video that follows, watch the first 2 minutes and fifty five seconds, so you get the context of what the video is talking about, and then the last part of the video, 8:20-9:59.
We're talking about electric shock for hand flapping, as an example. Yes, that is right. Shocking children when they flap their hands as they speak. The video clip at the end is directly from the school itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghheuvDQD2Q
Even non-autistic people occasionally flap their hands. Remember this video, featuring Bill Gates? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15JexiQt4U Do we or do we not live in the 21st century?!
This is not an issue that can be isolated, however, to the abuses of just one school, an issue affecting a minority of children and individuals. This is a part of an ongoing but historic disregard for the humanity of individuals who do not conform to the "norm" and/or individuals with "disabilities."
The following is a video on the work of a man named Ivaar Lovaas. His story is one of a historical nature, but it continues to play out in our current times. Ivaar Lovaas pioneered an autism "treatment protocol," known as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), that is still widely used and-- despite many controversies- very much considered "mainstream."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuohTq7zw0I
The breadth and scope of impact from this disregard for humanity can not be covered even in a series of posts. But what I can do is at least indicate the severity of the matter. This is where the pieces start to come together in a big way. Check out the following written tribute, largely highlighting DAN (Defeat Autism Now) from a magazine for which I have deep respect and for which I have even spent four or five years of my life volunteering. Note the connection between ABA and DAN: http://www.mothering.com/sections/news_bulletins/november2006.html.
I respectfully disagree with a great deal of the stuff written in that tribute.
On rare but significant occasion, children have died because of DAN-recommended treatment protocols (take chelation...a response to concerns that heavy metals in vaccines were causing autism). Children have been subjected to scientifically unsound or experimental and very stressful treatments (take, for example, medicinal regimens involving countless injected and oral supplements and medication...some children taking 40, 50, even 6o medications and supplements daily...along with all the side effects. Or, as another example, take hyperbaric oxygen chambers).
When I can stop crying long enough, I can sometimes laugh at the absurdity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAlfXQTOBcg
After all this, one has to return to the question, just what is it we are trying to defeat, anyway? Far from a turn toward reason, this question leads straight to some of the most dark and frightening aspects of the entire conversation. The following video is a marketing tool for an organization called "Autism Speaks," which contrary to its name, is not the voice of autistics speaking out in any form (if you want to know why I say that, see: http://autisticbfh.blogspot.com/2008/01/autism-speaks-silences-autistic-child.html and http://autism.about.com/b/2007/06/07/autism-speaks-problems-grow.htm and http://www.autism-hub.co.uk/autism-speaks-dont-speak-for-me/index.php. Otherwise, proceed to the video posted below).
Last I heard, unlike the largest Down Syndrome organization in the United States, Autism Speaks (which is the largest autism organization in the United States), does not allow autistic adults to serve on its board or participate in its organization in any meaningful way other than to present to the outside world a negative view of their condition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDMMwG7RrFQ
Now watch this. It is, at least, the voice of one autistic adult:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYo3UW0nwEA
And think about this (image...not a video): http://autistics.org/images/lotto-numbers.jpg
But worse, while this video is a powerful marketing tool for Autism Speaks, it is devastation rhetoric (to which young people as well as parents of newly diagnosed children are especially vulnerable). It contributes to the pervasive negative societal images of autistics. It contributes to those conditions in our culture that create bullying and other peer-to-peer abuse for autistics. And within days after it came out, at least one autistic child was killed by her mother, possibly after viewing the video.
Autism is not a "painful disease" as it is characterized in this film. It is a condition that makes some neurotypical folks uncomfortable, but it also represents another way of being in this world. It is wonderful there are so many diverse ways we can be present in our bodies and in our environments. What are we so afraid of? Handflapping? Seriously?!
I ask again, what is it we are trying to defeat?
Am I anti-cure? I don't know. But I do know that it matters how we view autism. It matters for all of us.
I do also hope you will watch the videos exactly as posted in the text, as a break before reading further. I had attempted to learn to imbed videos in my posts but was unable to do so. Like recent posts in this series, this post contains a number of videos of varying lengths. I will wait a week or so to post again so that I can give folks time to get through all this.
I suspect that you may find it possible to get through this post only in parts, depending on how much time you have available to you at any given moment. __________________________________________________________
JOURNEY OF AN ASPIRING ALLIE, FINAL SERIES POST (FOR NOW)
So this is the deal:
This matters.
This post is about the difference that how we view and respond to neurological diversity makes.
There is a school in MA, the state where I am now living, that practices among other abuses, electric shock behavioral management on those children with "mental retardation," "autism," and other related "issues."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvLXwlr0S-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9-xXfgQiTU
What types of behaviors are being managed in this fashion? The "worst of the worst?" If you don't have time to watch the whole video that follows, watch the first 2 minutes and fifty five seconds, so you get the context of what the video is talking about, and then the last part of the video, 8:20-9:59.
We're talking about electric shock for hand flapping, as an example. Yes, that is right. Shocking children when they flap their hands as they speak. The video clip at the end is directly from the school itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghheuvDQD2Q
Even non-autistic people occasionally flap their hands. Remember this video, featuring Bill Gates? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15JexiQt4U Do we or do we not live in the 21st century?!
This is not an issue that can be isolated, however, to the abuses of just one school, an issue affecting a minority of children and individuals. This is a part of an ongoing but historic disregard for the humanity of individuals who do not conform to the "norm" and/or individuals with "disabilities."
The following is a video on the work of a man named Ivaar Lovaas. His story is one of a historical nature, but it continues to play out in our current times. Ivaar Lovaas pioneered an autism "treatment protocol," known as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), that is still widely used and-- despite many controversies- very much considered "mainstream."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuohTq7zw0I
The breadth and scope of impact from this disregard for humanity can not be covered even in a series of posts. But what I can do is at least indicate the severity of the matter. This is where the pieces start to come together in a big way. Check out the following written tribute, largely highlighting DAN (Defeat Autism Now) from a magazine for which I have deep respect and for which I have even spent four or five years of my life volunteering. Note the connection between ABA and DAN: http://www.mothering.com/sections/news_bulletins/november2006.html.
I respectfully disagree with a great deal of the stuff written in that tribute.
On rare but significant occasion, children have died because of DAN-recommended treatment protocols (take chelation...a response to concerns that heavy metals in vaccines were causing autism). Children have been subjected to scientifically unsound or experimental and very stressful treatments (take, for example, medicinal regimens involving countless injected and oral supplements and medication...some children taking 40, 50, even 6o medications and supplements daily...along with all the side effects. Or, as another example, take hyperbaric oxygen chambers).
When I can stop crying long enough, I can sometimes laugh at the absurdity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAlfXQTOBcg
After all this, one has to return to the question, just what is it we are trying to defeat, anyway? Far from a turn toward reason, this question leads straight to some of the most dark and frightening aspects of the entire conversation. The following video is a marketing tool for an organization called "Autism Speaks," which contrary to its name, is not the voice of autistics speaking out in any form (if you want to know why I say that, see: http://autisticbfh.blogspot.com/2008/01/autism-speaks-silences-autistic-child.html and http://autism.about.com/b/2007/06/07/autism-speaks-problems-grow.htm and http://www.autism-hub.co.uk/autism-speaks-dont-speak-for-me/index.php. Otherwise, proceed to the video posted below).
Last I heard, unlike the largest Down Syndrome organization in the United States, Autism Speaks (which is the largest autism organization in the United States), does not allow autistic adults to serve on its board or participate in its organization in any meaningful way other than to present to the outside world a negative view of their condition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDMMwG7RrFQ
Now watch this. It is, at least, the voice of one autistic adult:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYo3UW0nwEA
And think about this (image...not a video): http://autistics.org/images/lotto-numbers.jpg
But worse, while this video is a powerful marketing tool for Autism Speaks, it is devastation rhetoric (to which young people as well as parents of newly diagnosed children are especially vulnerable). It contributes to the pervasive negative societal images of autistics. It contributes to those conditions in our culture that create bullying and other peer-to-peer abuse for autistics. And within days after it came out, at least one autistic child was killed by her mother, possibly after viewing the video.
Autism is not a "painful disease" as it is characterized in this film. It is a condition that makes some neurotypical folks uncomfortable, but it also represents another way of being in this world. It is wonderful there are so many diverse ways we can be present in our bodies and in our environments. What are we so afraid of? Handflapping? Seriously?!
I ask again, what is it we are trying to defeat?
Am I anti-cure? I don't know. But I do know that it matters how we view autism. It matters for all of us.
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