AS boy voted out of classroom by classmates

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Once again, he was not being ridiculed "for a disability", since it was not yet proven that he had Asperger's Syndrome.
Oh, and here are some other examples of someone "being singled out for discrimination": refusing to hire a person who is proven to be mentally ret*d because you know that their disability will prevent them from contributing to the organization they are applying for, and refusing to let a cripple join a football team.
However I'd say that in this boy's case his disability should not play into the matter. If the teacher wanted him out of the class because he was playing with his pencil or because he stuttered or was twitchy, that would be different. However, he had a history of disruptive behaviour.
Another thing that should be pointed out (I know this from my experience in elementary school) is that children often want to be sent out of class, and the more manipulative students (I was one of them) will often behave as badly as possible just so that they have an excuse to leave the classroom.
Therefore sending him out of class would not be just, as it would not properly qualify as a punishment.
In fact, some students might even consider it a reward, which wouldn't exactly make very much sense.
Notice also that the articles on this matter are very unspecific about the events leading up to this, but they must have been pretty severe if the teacher had to ask the class to vote the student out.
I brought this issue up with my father, by the way, and he agreed that the teacher handled the situation appropriately, and he's usually the sort of person who'd take the child's side in cases like this.

If someone is eating mucous or licking their toes in public should you just pass them by and "respect their differences"?
I doubt it.
This has quite a lot to do with his being a disturbance.
Why aren't you more specific about why and how he was spinning (which btw does pose a danger to others), eating crayons, and hiding under tables?

Maybe because a certain selfish part of you refuses to acknowledge that there was an actual purpose in those lessons aside from the sadism you seem to attribute to them?
It would do you some good to think about the actual feelings and motivations of those who taught you those lessons.

I've read that his disruptive behavior included spinning, picking his nose, and crawling under the table. He also seemed echolalic to me, which could be discrimination if that was a reason for his removal from the classroom. Also, younger kids generally don't want to be removed from class, especially in that manner. They tend to like school because it's a new thing to them.

Yupa, I'm sick of arguing with you on this. Obviously you're not getting that this child was deeply traumatized (and rightfully so) because of what this so-called teacher did to him. He's just a little boy. He doesn't have the same mental capacity that we do, because we're older. We know that spinning around can hurt people. He doesn't. Even though I created this thread, I'm going to respectfully step out of it, because you just don't seem to understand how hurtful Ms. Portillo's actions were to Alex, and, honestly, I'm tired of trying to explain it to you. Many people have tried to explain, using many different words and points of view, and you don't seem to be listening to any of them. So I am stepping out of this thread, and out of WP altogether.

Which is exactly why he'd be less likely to experience the trauma that most of us imagine we would suffer in the situation, despite the fact that there are about a million worse things that could happen that actually would cause someone genuine trauma.

Yupa, why the hell are you taking the side of the stupid lowlife "teacher" for?

Either you say that on purpose of disregarding or you're not quite informed about what a 'genuine trauma' can be, especially in a 5-year-old? Because psychs agree as well as literature agrees that this is first and foremost, a very strong trauma.

If you think different, you are entitled to your opinion, but that does not mean that it is factually correct as of today's standards and you should take that into mind.

By what you said earlier: You seem to identify too much with the child and the mention of disruptive behaviour. That is not a very good thing to do in a discussion.

Mainly because those of us who were labelled such as a child were not acting on the same impulse on intentional misbehaviour and because there are many reasons result in a teacher speaking of disruptive behaviour.

If that someone was a five-year old? Well, I'd try to help him reduce unsanitary behaviors, but I certainly wouldn't subject him to exile. Have you ever been in a kindergarten classroom, Yupa? It's hardly a haven of order.



Uh, possibly because I don't know the details of this? From my own experiences and knowledge about autism, I'd guess he was doing so because his environment is so overwhelming. Plus, spinning is fun and is usually perfectly harmless. (Many of us on the spectrum don't get as dizzy as normal people do, and spinning is quite pleasurable. I'm not saying he should be allowed to do nothing but spin, but breaks are hardly unheard of for kindergarteners.) Environmental stressors need to be addressed, but it's not a teacher's place to unilaterally have a kid "voted out." This is kindergarten, not the military.

Mine was.

I can assure you - that your's most definitely WAS NOT the norm.

This was on CNN. I still hope the teacher is fired.

Deja vu... that happened to me.