So have you folks heard about that 5 year old kid?

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I've heard different things- I really don't think it was handled properly, but on the same note, the kid hasn't been fully diagnosed yet, and he was being very disruptive.

I still stand by it, and told my girlfriend "this is why I want our kids home-schooled".

I agree. If I ever have kids they will be homeschooled.
But yes, we've heard. Original Thread Here.

It doesn't matter WHAT the kid was "doing", it was still a horrible, thoughtless, cruel, nasty way to handle it, one that seriously traumatizes children. My parents are both retired teachers and my mom believes that that woman (I refuse to call her a teacher) should be immediately fired. My stepdad, alas, is in a nursing home with dementia at a fairly young age (early sixties), so he doesn't know what's going on but my mom and I both know that he would agree as well, as would all of their colleagues I've ever known. And I've known a lot, having grown up in an education family. This poor child will be badly traumatized for a long time. You just do not do things like that in a classroom.

And before everyone starts singing the praises of homeschooling, there are plenty of parents who would do even worse than this so-called "teacher". It's not a guarantee of anything.

Please tell me what happened

a kid was forced by a teacher to lisen to his classmates who were forced to say what they don't like about him and to have a vote weather to kick him out of the classroom. it ended up with the parents complaning and the kid traumatised.

I was horrified. I couldn't get through the article without breaking down in tears. I don't care if he was autistic or neurotypical or anywhere in between, that was unacceptable, inexcusable, and that teacher should never be permitted to be in a position of authority with children again.

I agree with Mikomi. Shunning (and this was a form of it) is an incredibly harsh form of punishment, even for adults. To put a 5 year old through it ....!
The kid's going to need counseling whether he's autie or not.

Why did the other kids vote him out? Doesn't anybody care about that?

Poor little guy. I wonder if he'll ever want to go to school again. I hope this won't turn him against people. I wouldn't blame him. I hope he eventually makes friends. -Power Girl

It sounds like the teacher and the other kids were taking their cues from reality T.V. If the boy has trouble, he would probably be better off in another classroom or even homeschooled.

No. That really doesn't matter. I mean sure, IF he tortured the pet gerbil or beat up another kid he's got some problems. The solution to those problems is NOT public humiliation.

Yes, and I found this utterly disgusting and inexcusable. The school should issue a written apology to the family and the teacher fired.

I strongly disagree.

I think public humiliation could help a kid like that in a "tough love" kind of way. I don't have much sympathy for a little snotnose who terrorized kindergarten. But what was it that led up to the incident? Do we know, or are we just blowing smoke? So sick of it, how autistic kids get free passes do to whatever they want with no consequences. This needs to change. We need to teach autistic kids that actions have conseuquences, and they are not immune to punishment. Blegh!

Experiencing consequences for inappropriate behavior, and being public humiliated are not, and should not be, synonymous. There are other ways to handle misbehavior besides traumatizing a child.

Regarding autistic kids and "free passes," it is always important to determine whether a behavior is within the child's control or not. For instance, if a typical child bites a teacher, barring special circumstances, that probably deserves punishment. However, I work with one child with autism who bites when he is frustrated, and he has never been punished for it. Why? There would be no point. He does not bite to hurt another person. I highly doubt he understands that he has hurt someone else when he bites. He bites simply because that type of oral stimulation is calming for him. If he received punishment, (1) he would not understand its purpose and (2) he cannot change this behavior on his own. Our solution is to monitor his frustration levels carefully, back off when he is feeling overwhelmed, and provide him with appropriate things to chew on (chewy tubes for example). When a kid cannot be held responsible for their own action due to a disability, it is the responsibility of the adults to reduce the behavior by modifying the environment.

Now, obviously the above is an extreme example. I'm sure the boy in the article is much higher functioning. However, if he is extremely impulsive, or has other problems commonly associated with AS, he may be causing problems in class that he has little or no control over. In this case, an environmental intervention (probably in conjunction with a behavioral intervention) will probably be much more effective than punishment.

Why couldn't the teacher have just kicked him out herself instead of needing the backing of a class of 5-year-olds?

Well,I think people on the teacher's area should get a voting to get her fired.