Harassed by Teacher During Meltdown - READ

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She had an excuse for not leaving.

If it was me, I wouldn't have left the room either.

Which one, of being an aspie or that she doesn't like her counselor?

If it was me, I wouldn't either, at the time I would not think, but later, I would acknowledge that and try to understand that the world does not revolve around me.

And, I was bullied at school too and some teachers didn't like me as well btw.

Agreed.


Me too, because while throwing rants and blame, they really don't know how the situation was exactly to really tell.

This could have been handled in so many different ways.

I understand both sides quite well, but what didn't happen was validation and effective communication.

The teacher could have minimized the situation by coming over and quietly speaking his request, and explaining that it was he who was being disrupted from teaching the class. this might have been more easily understood, and made sence, giving you the more reasonable option of making a decision.

My daughter also hates to bring attention to herself so i understand quite well how the escalation of this only made matters worse.

The training alot of teachers seem to get is focused on controlling behaviors rather than understanding the differences. What controlling does is exacerbate behaviors. What effective communication does is validate the student while communicating the needs of all involved. Understanding is what needs to be taught.

Since the statistics now show 1 in 150 kids has autism, and clinicians feel it is under diagnosed, then something is going to have to be done in the way of a societal tilt. We don't expect blind people to see becasue it's inconvenient for the world that they don't. There is that understanding of what blind means. There will need to be such an understanding of Autism as well.

Teachers have a hard job, if she was quite capable of saying 'I'm having a meltdown', then it wasn't much of a meltdown was it. I have freaked out, but I have left the room. It is not fair that 30 or maybe 40 other children have to take a test whilst one child sits wailing.

The needs of many etc, will always outweigh the needs of the one. That is a fact of life. If she wants to be accepted in mainstream schools then a modicum of effort is required on her behalf too....e.g. crap I can't stop this feeling happening, so I best remove myself.

My son can be problematic at school, he was given a pass so that when he is getting upset he can just walk to the desk show the teacher the pass and leave the room, no fuss no questions asked and no scene. That way as far as the rest of the class is concerned it may be a dental appointment.

At the end of the day teachers have their qualifications and you don't, so it's only you who will end up hurting, and if you want to be in mainstream schooling rather than special needs you must make at least some effort to fit in.

By shouting I have AS therefore, you need to accept me and my actions regardless of how disruptive they are. You are infact adding to the countless NT's feelings of ...'spoilt brat syndrome'. We only have your side that you were not disrupting the rest of the class.

If I had to take a test in a room with someone crying non stop. I'd freakout quite possibly and chuck them out myself.

*Edit*

Your actions may also cause resentment from your peers too, as in..."Oh god we don't have to put up with this crap all the time do we?, because no one is allowed to tell the AS girl she's pissing us off".

Acceptance is a two way street, and as your in the minority you will have to work harder than the majority, fact of life.

Last edited by Argon on 02 Aug 2008, 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Reading this was like reading my entire last three years of school. In my school for a total of one year, i was given a small red card which had 'this student requires time out' written on it. All I had to do was get the teacher's attention, show it them and leave the room, no questions asked, no laughter or unneccessary attention. I suggest you or your parents campaign for something similar.

Similar to the card my son was given, terrific idea.

This is outrageous! It's not called disability harassment, it's called discrimination and he needs to be punished for it! I would file a discriminatory complaint with OCR (Office of Civil Rights) naming the teacher and the school. He obviously needs some major training that the school needs to provide him with! Don't let him get away with what he did. He needs to be taken down a notch and if OCR contacts the school, he will be.

Ok all I can say to that is LOL!! !.

*edit*
I did write 'grow up', but I have no doubt you are not an adult yet, to have written this. Most children dislike teachers. Teachers have a tough job and having to tread on eggshells with every student would make life almost impossible for them.

The class cannot revolve around one childs tantrums. I am thinking not to post here or come to this site again because it seems being aspie = being up ur own ass. The entire site is full of....oooo I'm so hard done by, evil NT's and we are so superior because we are aspie/autie. I think I'll keep any hint of asperger's to myself now, because I don't want people to be scared to say boo to me incase I start a law suit against them for discrimination.

We're not talking about a lawsuit. This is just a complaint so that the teacher can be educated on different disabilities and shown how to handle certain situations when they arise. We're not talking about walking on eggshells here. He obviously did not cause her meltdown. He just made it worse. And yes, I am an adult. Sorry, it wasn't just a matter of saying "boo." This was extremely humiliating for her and it should have been handled differently. Why do you think IDEA and OCR exist? If you can't support people when they are venting, then what are you doing here and why do you have to be rude to others that are trying to help? Not very adult of you.

I'll only discuss the sections with probative value:

2) First of all, this is dangerous. Civil rights are won with unity, not with selective representation. In the Black Civil Rights struggle, there was MLK, but there was also Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, and (most likely) black people who fit the n-word stereotype that racists put on them to the T. Would it have been easier for MLK to say, "I have a dream today that my children will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character, unless they are extremely poor, unemployed, very vocal about their anger with white supremacism, communists, or anything else that white people don't like."? Most certainly. But that's not what civil rights in any sense is about. Autistic Rights is about rights for ALL autistics, whether they act in a way that makes autistics look good or not. As far as whether it's a one way street, I don't know what isolated situation you grew up in, but I've spent my whole life being trained to be accepted by NTs. I'm not saying it should be a one-way street, but right now, it is: we have to learn to be NT. So should I look at this teachers actions with sympathy? No; he's an NT Supremacist (and a narcissistic sadist) who wants all non-NTs to know his superiority. His actions speak to that.

3) Yes, that is possible, but he would not let it go, no matter how much evidence was thrown in his direction. Why? Because his classroom is his castle and he is KING! When Katie said, "CTFO, I'm autistic.", he took it as a challenge to his authority, dug in his heels, and started piling up the s**t.

4)Yes, the PTA and the school board, those champions of disabled rights. Pardon my cynicism, but I don't think that these bodies that are often the embodiment of NT Supremacism would give us their free promotional pens if we didn't demand it. If anyone is supremely interested, I'll relay my own experience to speak to that.

5)Ergo, we can't get anyhing, so we should just take whatever s**t the world gives us? No go for me. Maybe I'm foolish, but I'd rather fight for myself than just be society's perpetual b***h.

7)What about when personal pragmatism necessitates idealism for a group. I'm sorry, but how is fighting for the ideals of basic rights, in the long run, not the most utilitarian?

Hey I was sent back to the special ed room whenever I start to have one of my episodes. Was that wrong of my aid to do that to me?


Aspergers/autism is no excuse for that behavior in class, if we are going to act that way, we should leave the classroom or the teacher will have to ask us to leave. He gave her two options and she refused them both. She should learn how to control her meltdowns like learn to leave the classroom when she is starting to have one. She is using AS as an excuse if she thinks AS gives her the right to act that way and shouldn't have to leave the room and everyone else should tolerate it. I used to use my AS as an excuse too in my teens. Then I realized at 18 I should start taking responsibility about my condition and not to use it as an excuse or expect special rules like not having to enter the classrooms quietly when I am doing recycling.

If any student acted that way, he would ask them to leave too, so it was not discrimination.

As for venting Cori, there is a thread for that, also a forum for teens.

She was in the wrong. She used her AS as an excuse to get preferential treatment.

I suggest you read full what the OP wrote. The way she constantly refers to the teacher as 'Crawford' rather than Mr. Crawford...showing disrespect for his job as a teacher and authority.

The use of wording like 'he sighed sarcastically'...he probably just sighed in exasburation of what to do with a child refusing to work and also refusing the offer to leave the room.

As I see it he did his best in a bad situation, he does have 25 odd other kids to worry about too. The world cannot revolve around 1.

If she wishes to continue in mainstream schools then she will have to accept that she is not the exception to the schools rules because she has AS.

Again I'll repeat she was offered the opportunity to leave the room, she decided to stay and make a fuss.

Well, thank you for letting me see it from a different perspective. You're right, she should have left the room and should have had an already established area where she should go to whenever she has a meltdown. I guess from a parent's point of view and upon reading that the teacher actually moved the entire classroom to a different location and the things he said to her, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I think they both handled the situation incorrectly. But as the adult/teacher, he really should have been less humiliating, don't you think? I was very fortunate that my son had great teachers and during meltdowns they were very compassionate. But he also had a teacher that would refuse to let him enter his classroom until his schedule was changed.