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rats_and_cats
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11 Aug 2016, 1:53 pm

I just wanted to get this off my chest because I've been kind of ranty for a while so maybe writing it down will help me move on to other, happier things to annoy my family about.

*Spending entire speech therapy sessions forcing kids to make prolonged eye contact is not helpful. At best, it will teach them to stare. At worst, it will exhaust and overwhelm them and cause them to have meltdowns in the middle of the school day.

*Telling a kid to stop stimming in class, when nobody else even noticed and it obviously helps them concentrate, is not helpful.

*Refusing to help a kid until they are close to failing the entire semester, is not helpful.

*Telling a kid not to worry about third grade bullies... because things will get worse in fourth grade... when at this point bullies were already destroying their things and threatening violence... is not helpful.

*Telling a kid to just stop making themselves a target for bullies is not helpful.

*Promoting the teacher who did half of these things is not helpful.

*Punishing a kid publicly for doing something socially taboo, without explaining what they did wrong, and letting the class cheer you on, is not helpful.

*Deliberately not following the 504 is not helpful.

*Assigning kids to a nosy aid who does nothing but call them out publicly for every little mistake and rearranging their lockers to a way that makes sense for the aid but not for the kid is not helpful.

*Yelling at a kid for reading when their work is done is not helpful.

*Pulling a kid out of gym class to play with the other special ed kids is not helpful. (I enjoyed spending time with them, but it would have been nice if the teacher had asked)

*Using sensory problems as punishment is not helpful.



TallSmartBrooding
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12 Aug 2016, 12:52 pm

*Spending entire speech therapy sessions forcing kids to make prolonged eye contact is not helpful. At best, it will teach them to stare. At worst, it will exhaust and overwhelm them and cause them to have meltdowns in the middle of the school day.

IF I remember some of my lessons on this correctly the idea is to get the kids to focus on the face to mimic the instructor to learn "proper" speech pattern. My mom was from New Jersey and my dad was from New York I went to school in the south, took them 6 years to figure out I didn't need speech therapy I just spoke like my parents lol. However, that is a side topic was the therapist aware of the issue with eye contact?

*Telling a kid to stop stimming in class, when nobody else even noticed and it obviously helps them concentrate, is not helpful.

Okay this a perception issue, often while stimming we who stim think no one else notices, when we are distracting them. So the teacher "may" have noticed a distraction we were unaware of.

*Refusing to help a kid until they are close to failing the entire semester, is not helpful.

With public education the keyword is document document document. As one in college to be a teacher that goes double. What attempts were made to receive assistance?

*Telling a kid not to worry about third grade bullies... because things will get worse in fourth grade... when at this point bullies were already destroying their things and threatening violence... is not helpful.

Wow, why were no police reports filed?

*Telling a kid to just stop making themselves a target for bullies is not helpful.

While somewhat accurate, better ways to present that lesson. Perhaps assist the students in learning social skills that would diminish that target as well as the bulling, also use of proper classroom management skills to prevent bulling.

*Promoting the teacher who did half of these things is not helpful.

Depending on the state promotions are not always based on classroom performance.

*Punishing a kid publicly for doing something socially taboo, without explaining what they did wrong, and letting the class cheer you on, is not helpful.

Again, wow, basic child psychology make sure the child understands the reason behind the punishment. There are laws actually against publicly embarrassing a student.

*Deliberately not following the 504 is not helpful.

Having reviewed and worked with these, sometimes they are not helpful either, however document why you didn't and what you did. Were formal inquires made?

*Assigning kids to a nosy aid who does nothing but call them out publicly for every little mistake and rearranging their lockers to a way that makes sense for the aid but not for the kid is not helpful.

Did the school have anyone ASD certified? If not the school may have just may not have known how to properly assist the student. Again document and inquiries.

*Yelling at a kid for reading when their work is done is not helpful.

Yelling is never helpful, however, was the student informed that reading was not allowed?

*Pulling a kid out of gym class to play with the other special ed kids is not helpful. (I enjoyed spending time with them, but it would have been nice if the teacher had asked)

What was the logic behind removal from their mainstream class?

*Using sensory problems as punishment is not helpful.

Examples?



Sweetleaf
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12 Aug 2016, 1:08 pm

^Normal kids do things like tap their pencils on the desk, shake their leg around and such like...so what's it matter if an autistic kid is stimming? It seems rather unfair to call out the autistic person to stop stimming since its related to autism but continue allowing repetitive movements from normal kids. If a kid is doing something very distracting whether stim or not I could see the teacher requesting they stop....but the impression I got is autistic students being watched for stimming to be corrected regardless of the stim which is ridiculous.


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rats_and_cats
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12 Aug 2016, 4:17 pm

I remember I was doing something with my hands under the desk. Twiddling my thumbs or playing with a pencil or something. So it's not like I was flailing around.

We didn't learn any other speech skills in the school-sanctioned speech therapy, just eye contact.

My mom documented everything and presented the evidence to the principal. She went over the 504, talked to the teachers and the principal, everything she could think to do. They wouldn't budge.

The teachers pretended not to see the bullying and figured as long as there was no visible bruises they couldn't be sued.

Kids will bully for a number of trivial reasons. Even if I spontaneously developed social skills, I would still be teased for reading all the time, the clothes I wear, my glasses, etc.

Promotions may not be based entirely on classroom performance but isn't that still a factor? Like, if a teacher is bad at handling kids, especially special needs kids, maybe they shouldn't be put in charge of even more kids?

I don't remember if any formal inquiries about the 504 were made because this was in elementary or middle school, but I know my mom meticulously kept all paperwork so I think she stayed on top of it. The administration kept finding loopholes, I think.

I'm not sure about certification but being able to listen to and work with kids is kind of important if you want to be an aide I should think.

There are no rules against reading when work is done, especially if the work is handed in.

I have no idea what their logic was for pulling people out of gym class. Maybe they thought nerdy physique = physical health problem?

Using sensory problems as punishment means: yelling, forced eye contact, deliberate invasion of personal space, removal of books/sensory toys that help kids cope (and are being used legally and quietly)



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14 Aug 2016, 8:09 am

There are many administrators out there who don't give a crap about the kids they're supposed to be watching over. They only care to have butts in the seats when the yearly attendance count for funding comes along and will ignore anything and everything going unless they are actually sued or find themselves in the middle of a scandal. Worse, they will passively encourage the bullying of those who are different because in their twisted minds the "outsider" "deserves" it. I've had to deal with those blights upon the human race before and it sounds like you did too and I'm sorry for the pain they caused you.


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TallSmartBrooding
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16 Aug 2016, 1:06 pm

rats_and_cats

Sounds like a rough time. Sadly there were several things you and your guardians could have done, however, they are not general knowledge. Whenever it comes to bullying, violence, etc. Call the cops and child abuse hotline. All reports have to be investigated and teachers are normally held to even higher expectations than non-educators. In some states, if abuse/bullying/violence is going on and the teacher is found to have not reported it they can be charged, fined, and have their certification removed. If there are issues with educators and administrators find out what your state department of education's line is for their ESE department. Also, there are many groups that can provide legal aid as well. The hardest part is making enough noise without sounding hysterical. Accommodations, denial of them, lessons plans, etc etc all have to be documented and the guardians and students have every right for justifications based on educational theory (normally having to be supported by peer review, given as one that has to read it the education "science" is very soft and trend following so do not expect anything great from it). Likewise, if a guardian or student feels something is missing the best way is to provide a peer review study to support their opinion. Many states allow guardians and students to request a specialist consult too, at the expense of the school system. Sadly, for you this is not going to help change the past, but can hopefully help someone in the future.



rats_and_cats
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16 Aug 2016, 7:53 pm

I'll have to tell my mom about this because my little sister unfortunately has to go to the same district (local private school closed) and she's odd enough to attract bullies as well.



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16 Aug 2016, 11:08 pm

All I have to add here is that in my personal experience - first as a pupil and second as a parent - a lot of educators are on a power trip. They will dump on the most vulnerable because that is safest for the teacher (or aide). Certainly I have had some very good teachers, but they are the minority.


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