Autism Blogs

Asperger's Diary
Lynne Soraya
Positively Autism
Nicole Caldwell
The Autism Spectrum
Lindsay M. Oberman

Classroom Reality TV? Teacher Votes Out Child with Autism

By Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed. on June 03, 2008 in Positively Autism

The Autism community has been buzzing this week about a Kindergarten teacher who held a class vote to decide whether a child, who was in the process of being evaluated for an Autism Spectrum Disorder, should be voted out of the class. According to reports, the Kindergarten students were asked to say why they didn't like the child, some calling him "disgusting" and "annoying." Each student was then asked to vote whether the child should remain in the class. He was voted out 14 to 2 and spent the remainder of the school day in the nurse's office.

The reaction that I heard most often to this story was, "Looks like someone has been watching too much reality TV!" But, was this the real reason for the teacher's actions? As appalled as I was by the teacher's behavior, I thought that there must be more to the story. As a teacher myself, I could not imagine anyone in our profession doing this to a child. A new article has been published, with the teacher providing her side of the story. The teacher reported that the vote was only intended to decide whether or not the child should remain in class for the remainder of the school day, not permanently remove the child. (Note: this would NOT be legal anyway). The goal of her actions was to show the child how his behavior was affecting his classmates. She reportedly felt that it would make a greater impact on the child if he heard about the effects of his behavior from other children, rather than adults.

I found the reports overall to be very disturbing. I can't imagine how traumatic this must have been for the young man, and my heart goes out to him and his family and classmates. But was the teacher so off base with what she was trying to teach? It is important for children, particularly children with Autism, to learn how their behavior affects others. Of course, I don't think that humiliating and "voting out" a child is the way to teach it. A strategy called "Class Meetings" provides a better opportunity for teaching these social skills, in a supportive and loving way.

In class meetings, often held weekly, students can share concerns about things happening in the classroom, and brainstorm solutions to help solve problems. Donna Styles, author of "Class Meetings: Building Leadership, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills in the Respectful Classroom," says that class meetings help create classrooms where students are "supportive of one another, [can] work together cooperatively, encourage one another, assume responsibility for their own learning and behavior, and are allowed to make decisions."

In the case of a child with behavioral challenges, students could learn ways that they could help each other. For example, if a student has difficulty transitioning between activities, classmates could provide support by telling the student, "Okay, Joey, in five minutes we'll be going to P.E. class," and then giving a similar one-minute warning. A student that the child gets along with could be a "line buddy" or "lunch room buddy" standing or sitting with the child in these situations to provide a consistent routine for the student. Of course, children should not take on the function of managing another child's behavior, or be put in harm's way if a student exhibits aggressive behavior. Many children do, however, enjoy helping a fellow classmate. Children often come up with great ideas to help each other and their classroom, and this can be done in a way that creates policies for all students, if the teacher does not want to single out a particular student.

Let me know what you think of this strategy. Has it been used in your classroom or your child's classroom?

For more information about class meetings including a brief "how-to," please read the article "Class Meetings: A Democratic Approach to Classroom Management" at http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev012.shtml .

References

"Class Meetings: A Democratic Approach to Classroom Management" - http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev012.shtml

"Florida Kindergarten Teacher Defends Having Class Vote 5-year-old Out" - http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/977845,kinder052908.article

"St. Lucie Teacher Has Students Vote on Whether 5-year-old Can Stay in Class" - http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/23/st-lucie-teacher-has-class-vote-whether-5-year-old/

Share/Email

Comments

Formatting Issue

Submitted by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed. on June 3, 2008 - 11:00pm.

I apologize for the strange formatting on this blog post. I have tried multiple times to correct it, but it has not worked so far.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this issue!

Thanks,

Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-autism

Teacher?!!

Submitted by Rick Woods on June 4, 2008 - 7:36am.

What kind of lesson in social skills could be learned? How about tolerence,compassion,and a true oppertunity to really learn about something that could effect them as parents of an autistic child.

We tend to run away from social problems instead of working as a social group to deal with the issues.

As someone with AS and the

Submitted by Lou on June 4, 2008 - 8:22am.

As someone with AS and the mother of a son on the spectrum whose behaviour was very often challenging at school, I was horrified to read reports of this story in several places all over the web. Utterly stunned.

It seems to me that the only thing this teacher has taught impressionable young minds is how to ostracise another person.

I'm glad you raised this issue, Nicola, but I certainly do not believe that pre-high school children (still less kindergarten children) can participate in the type of round table you consider. This is a far too complex and subtle process for young children to grasp.

This whole business smacks of an inexperienced and even incompetent teacher whose commonsense did not extend to asking colleagues for help and support with this child.

It also points to a failure of the school authorities to provide sufficient special needs support in the classroom and, most likely, to a failure of the school to work closely with the parents.

Instead, this poor child had been subject to 'cruel and inhumane' treatment for a condition that he cannot help having nor can he control without wise direction and kindly guidance. I only hope he hasn't been damaged beyond salvage.

In other words, this child has been pilloried because of the failure of those who should be caring for him and providing him with the support and education he needs.In my humble and disgusted opinion.

Formatting Fixed

Submitted by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed. on June 4, 2008 - 9:14am.

The formatting has been fixed! Thank you for your patience.

Rick, I agree. It breaks my heart to see inclusion go poorly like this, because it can be such a wonderful experience for all of the children involved.

Lou, you make some great points! There is certainly more training and support available for teachers regarding Autism, but I do think there is a need for more.

Regarding the age of the children, I think it comes down to modifying the strategy to the needs of the students. For younger children, the meetings will probably be more teacher-facilitated, but the students can still take part and contribute. The level of structure and support the teacher uses will depend on the age and development of the students, but I think that the strategy can be used at a variety of ages.

Thank you for your insightful comments!

Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-autism

http://www.PositivelyAutism.com/

Sickened

Submitted by Dawn Aldridge on June 4, 2008 - 6:51pm.

I find the incident sickening as well. I have an 11 year old step-daughter who has Aspergers. She already knows that she is 'different' from other kids. It would be horrifying to have her teacher put her through such an ordeal. Children are already mean to one another about this and that, but to have the teacher not only condone but start an incident like this is awful.

I to agree that this teacher needs to be given some strong disaplinary repercusion. I certainly hope she doesn't have children of her own. No telling what she might be teaching them.

Needs more details

Submitted by Patty Rockwell on June 13, 2008 - 1:18pm.

I would like to know the details of events leading up to that day when a kindergarten teacher decides to vote a child (any child) out of a classroom. I have found that in my small community inclusion has been implemented without proper education to the "normal" teachers on what to expect with our children or how to deal with them. I feel that some of these teachers went into the field not expecting to deal with "special children" and are overwhelmed at the problems that can arise. Is that the case with this teacher and community?

It is important for children, particularly children with Autism,

Submitted by Suzanne on July 5, 2008 - 5:02am.

"It is important for children, particularly children with Autism, to learn how their behavior affects others."

I am disappointed that you saw fit to add "particularly". Certainly, all children (people) need to learn how their behaviour affects others. However, there is no mention of non-autistic children receiving training in how their behaviour affects an autistic child. There is definitely no mention of adults receiving training in how their behaviour is understood by an autistic child.

Autistic children (NOT children with Autism), spend a great deal of time in adverse environments. They do not benefit from being further isolated in such a manner. In order for a lesson to be learnt, a child needs to feel safe and to understand 'why' the behaviour is a problem ... and to then be provided with opportunities to learn appropriate ways to communicate and address their own needs while not causing distress or offence to others.

Autistic children do feel pain. We do feel humiliation. We do experience grief. We simply do not identify or express them in ways that are typical for others in our peer group.

We learn by example, but only when we are able to identify cause and effect, and that can take a long time ... or be learned in a moment. That is what Alex learned from his experience. He learned that other people are cruel but he did not learn why.

The other children learned that it is ok to reject people who are different, to insist that other people conform to their expectations, and to punish those who actually want nothing from us.

Hi Suzanne, Thanks for

Submitted by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed. on September 15, 2008 - 10:45am.

Hi Suzanne,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You said, "I am disappointed that you saw fit to add 'particularly'. Certainly, all children (people) need to learn how their behaviour affects others. However, there is no mention of non-autistic children receiving training in how their behaviour affects an autistic child...In order for a lesson to be learnt, a child needs to feel safe and to understand 'why' the behaviour is a problem ... and to then be provided with opportunities to learn appropriate ways to communicate and address their own needs while not causing distress or offence to others."

I think that we are certainly in agreement. Perhaps "including" might have been a better choice of words. I just see so often that children with autism are treated as though they can't learn, can't get along with others, etc. Hence the inclusion of the word "particularly."

I hope that blog post will continue to open a dialogue about ways that this situation could have been better handled in the classrom. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this as well. Thank you again for sharing.

Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-autism

http://www.PositivelyAutism.com/

School's need better special education programs.

Submitted by Rachel Greening on September 3, 2008 - 7:49pm.

I have a child with asperger's in 1st grade and have been recently shocked by a serious lack of adult understanding and kindness.
She is incredibly bright and academically way beyond her grade level. However, she is not eligible for the "gifted" program. She has mild to severe behavior issues and has an aid in her inclusion class for herself and 3 other children. She recently licked another student while they were pretending to be dogs. The week before she had "over hugged" and hit this same child. They actually seem to like each other and most often play very well together. This other child's parents have rallied the parents of other students in class to have my daughter removed from the inclusion class permanently.
I am obviously upset by this "witch hunt" style attack on my 6 year old. I was more shocked by the school's desire to side with the parents to keep them happy. A week before this all fell into my lap we had had a meeting with her special needs teacher, her inclusion teacher and her principal and we all decided that full inclusion would be the best option for her. We agreed that she needed positive role models to help her learn proper classroom and peer interaction. I was shocked by how quickly the school caved to the demands of these parents, simply to avoid the aggravation of having to field the annoying phone calls.
What kind of a society have we become that we have lost our understanding of those who are a little bit different and need our special attention? Are we comfortable tossing them in a secluded room where they don't get the opportunity to thrive and learn like everyone else does?
I am now looking into moving closer to a school that can better handle my child's needs.
I can't imagine what that teacher was thinking. How awful that must have been for that child to see his peers shun like that. The school's really need to educate the inclusion teachers better and all teachers for that matter on how to deal with thee children in a better fashion. It's time for a change.

Hi Rachel, Thank you for

Submitted by Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed. on September 15, 2008 - 10:52am.

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for your comments. I'm so sorry to hear about your family's school troubles. I am hopeful that with the increased focus on autism awareness in the media, issues like this will become less frequent. This is one of the reasons I like to focus on positive news.

I have a list somewhere about how inclusion benefits all children. I'll post it when I find it.

I wish your family the best.

Nicole Caldwell, M.Ed.

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-autism

http://www.PositivelyAutism.com/