Vent by special ed. teacher regarding double standard about who a student hits (graders, class)
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It seemed to be getting better for a few days----not the student getting better-----but how administration was treating the situation.
They actually scheduled the autism specialist to come to observe (it had been on and off several times).
The principal came to the classroom when called on the walkie talkie during emergencies. Last year the previous principal would "forget" to turn on her walkie talkie in the morning or "accidently" forget it someplace during the school day. The principal even called the mom to get him one day after he was out-of-control for two straight hours. He wasn't "suspended" but the mom wascalled to take him home.
The principal demonstrated several times how to block blows from the student with a 3 foot by 6 foot cushioned mat so that the adult wouldn't get (as hurt). The principal even asked the teacher if she was bleeding when the student hit the teacher hard on the hand with a metal & wood tambourine (it wasn't bleeding, but her hand was numb later in the day).
What a day today! Don't read farther if you don't want to read about poop.
From 11 AM to 2:30 PM (when the principal made the parent take him home) two to three adults at all times were needed to keep him from injuring anyone.
The principal finally decided to call his mother to get him when he stripped off all of his clothes, grabbed the poop out of his diaper with both hands and threw it at the teacher. He then took his dirty hands and rubbed them on his (removed clothes), the carpet and walls to try to get the poop off of them (remember he is 11 years old so it was a lot of poop). It certainly isn't something that you see very often in a public school.
Luckily, the other children had been moved to another classroom long before the naked, poop incident.
BTW, he wasn't suspended, (ARRRGGG) just sent home because his clothes were dirty (covered in poop) and he didn't have any spare clothes.
Legally, you can only suspend a special education student for 10 days before you need to meet to discuss if it is an appropriate placement. You can "send a child home" for other reasons an unlimited amount of times.
Why isn't the mom pursuing alternative placements? She cannot really be in denial about an 11 year old who is still in diapers and playing with his poop.
I know it would cost the district money to place him in a special school, but it seems to me that the needs of the other students outweigh that.
Why isn't the mom pursuing alternative placements?She cannot really be in denial about an 11 year old who is still in diapers and playing with his poop.
I know it would cost the district money to place him in a special school, but it seems to me that the needs of the other students outweigh that.
Mom is 'happy as a clam' and certainly is not even thinking about a different placement. Her son is gone from home everyday from 8:15 AM to 4:45 PM, Grandma watches him every weekend from after school Friday to late Sunday night. Mom doesn't seem to care what he is or isn't learning in school as long as he isn't home. It appears that she doesn't really care if he hits adults and other children at school as long as he isn't hitting her and his sister (which he does when ever she asked him to do anything that he doesn't want to do).
From what he has told the teacher he just watches his own TV and plays computer games on his own IPad (which tells you that he really isn't that low functioning) at night. She said that he has his own TV and IPad because "he doesn't like to share ot take turns". He doesn't have any chores or responsibilites at home- he still drinks out of a sippy cup or sports bottle (mom said that she is "too busy" to teach him how to drink from an open cup, just like she is "too busy" to work on toilet training). He takes food from his mom or siblings plate or from the refrigerator if he is hungry, goes to sleep whenever he wants to sleep, etc.
On the bright side he is always washed and clean, fed and comes to school in clean, appropriate clothes.
The district has sent other very low functioning or extremely disruptive students to other schools as well as deaf and blind students to special schools when it is appropriate. Many of us think that are things going on behind the scenes regarding this child. Perhaps they are trying to get his teacher (20 years experience plus a masters degree) thus expensive to quit so that they can hire an inexperienced (cheap) teacher right out of college.
The teacher is so stressed out that she is starting to have health problems. I'm a substitute teachers aide in the classroom and I was so stressed out one day that I thought that I was having a heart attack (and I'm not even the person in charge in the room).
Something else is definetly going on but no one can quite figure it out it is.
Last edited by germaine2626; 10-06-2012 at 09:35 AM..
This mom sounds clueless. Does she understand that when he is 21 and no longer in school, there will be no place that he can live except with her most likely? Grandma will die and she will have to care for him alone.
This mom sounds clueless. Does she understand that when he is 21 and no longer in school, there will be no place that he can live except with her most likely? Grandma will die and she will have to care for him alone.
I agree.
Mom thinks that he is the school's responsibility during the day and Grandma's responsibility all weekend. She once told the teacher that "the state will take care of him when he is 21 and she can visit him" so maybe she is just thinking that she can give him to "the state" (? put him in an institution) when he is older.
As a side question---can a parent of a handicapped 18 or 21 year old do that? Or do parents of handicapped adults have a legal responsibility towards their offspring?
I know several responsible parents who have various legal documents/trust funds/financial and legal arrangements with other relatives/siblings,etc but can a less responsible parent just kick a helpless, handicapped child out of the house when they turn 18 or leave school at age 21?
Last edited by germaine2626; 10-06-2012 at 04:42 PM..
Why doesn't the teacher at least consult with an attorney about her legal rights?
Several of us have suggested that. Perhaps the teacher is in denial as well as the parent. The teacher is worried that if she does anything other than what administration tells her to do they will fire her.
The rest of us are worried that if we contact an attorney or make waves admin will take it out on her (and us).
Since unions were taken away in our state, this school district has been quite vindictive towards teachers. The district has fired or non-renewed some teachers for very, very minor things. Things that wouldn't even have been serious enough to rate a letter in your personnel file when we had union protection.
Mom thinks that he is the school's responsibility during the day and Grandma's responsibility all weekend. She once told the teacher that "the state will take care of him when he is 21 and she can visit him" so maybe she is just thinking that she can give him to "the state" (? put him in an institution) when he is older.
As a side question---can a parent of a handicapped 18 or 21 year old do that? Or do parents of handicapped adults have a legal responsibility towards their offspring?
I know several responsible parents who have various legal documents/trust funds/financial and legal arrangements with other relatives/siblings,etc but can a less responsible parent just kick a helpless, handicapped child out of the house when they turn 18 or leave school at age 21?
While I think that parents can *try* to place a disabled adult in an institution, she is going to find that there are not many institutions that will take him. And she will still be responsible for paying for it unless she is totally indigent.
I have a hard time with it given that in most cases, the parents are trying to get the kids into group homes for independent living, not the kind of institution that this person may need especially if he has never had services that help him to do anything for himself.
Of course, he could end up homeless and the state would probably not go after her.
New statutory language (s. 46.279) prohibits long term institutional placement for a person with a developmental disability unless the institution is the most integrated setting.
The most integrated setting is a setting that enables an individual to interact with persons without developmental disabilities to the fullest extent possible.
This determination must take into account a community placement plan developed for the person by the person's county of origin. This is a new requirement for counties.
Exception: emergency placements and temporary placements.
Quote:
Families feel they are not receiving services because of the Initiative. Some (especially those who are single) parents of very medically involved children are complaining that they are forbidden by their counties to admit their child to an ICF and are expected to keep the child at home, but their support services are inadequate and/or are being cut, and their employment status is at risk because they continually have to stay home because of lack of in-home support staff and/or the lack of reliability that those who are scheduled will come to work.
While admission to an institution might resolve the work related problem some parents face, it is unlikely to be a satisfying, long term solution for children or their parents. Part of the problem identified in the comments above relates to the funding imbalance in our current system. This initiative, along with the expansion of managed long term care, creates one of the first opportunities in decades to transfer and combine institutional and other funding sources to expand community services. This will improve the ability of counties and providers to offer the kinds of services that families want and need without it being necessary to default to institutional care for the reasons noted in the comment.
While it is admirable that this teacher is working 12-13 hour days as well as on weekends in order to best teach this student, is it worth it? Not in regards to the student, but in regards to her own health and well-being. She is battered and assaulted every day, subjecting herself to possible concussions, broken bones and the like. The student throws his sh#t at her. Administration has witnessed this, yet she receives no support from them.
Is all this worth her developing paralyzing stress, deteriorating health and no time or energy for her family, friends or anything else? Is the salary worth the demeaning and degrading working conditions? Not just for this school year...I'm assuming the student is a sixth grader. Wouldn't she then have this student for two more years until he goes to high school?
Again, she needs to consult an attorney, ASAP. How would admin find out if the consult were confidential? Since finances are an issue, maybe she should also consult a financial planner as well.
The rerqal;ity is just like police handling mental adults or violent people ;its part of the job. A perosn acceptig th3e job should know this when takig the job. Reality
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What a day today! Don't read farther if you don't want to read about poop.
