Posted on 09/23/2007 7:43:27 PM PDT by Graybeard58
A six-year-old autistic boy has been charged criminally after an incident inside his school where he allegedly assaulted a teacher's aide.
It's a story you saw first on 9News.
The incident happened earlier this month at Taylor Elementary School in Brooksville, Ky., located in Bracken County.
He is in kindergarten at Taylor Elementary, but 9News was told that due to his autism and other conditions, his mental capacity is the equivalent to a child half his age.
But despite that condition and his age, it still hasn't stopped a school employee there from holding him accountable: criminally.
Whether it's playing outside with his parents, or coloring SpongeBob Squarepants pictures, Nathan Darnell isn't much different than other kids his age.
But two things that do make him different from many other six-year-olds is his autism – and his criminal rap sheet.
"We are not denying that he did what they are saying, but we are denying he is culpable," said Tony Darnell, Nathan's father.
It was just last week when Nathan's teacher's aide, Glenda Schiltz, filed a juvenile fourth degree misdemeanor assault charge against him.
"What human being with a heart would do that to a six-year old?, asked Cathy Darnell, Nathan's mother. "Seriously, who would do that? I know I wouldn't."
According to the affidavit which 9News obtained, Schiltz alleges that on September 5, Nathan grabbed her by the shirt, pulled her backwards and began punching and kicking her.
"He admits to shoving her down, but he says he didn't pull her backwards," said Tony Darnell.
"She is no small person, she can defend herself," said Cathy Darnell.
So what does the school have to say about the matter?
Superintendent of Bracken County Schools Tony Johnson would not appear on camera but did say in a statement, "I believe we followed proper procedures and I have full faith in my staff".
Despite being autistic, Nathan is integrated with all kindergartners at Taylor Elementary.
His parents believe Schiltz and other teachers there are ill-prepared to handle special needs students.
His mother openly questions Schiltz's credentials.
"[She believes] you need to take him behind the woodshed and teach him something," Cathy Darnell, said. "That is her mentality, beat it out of him."
"Most of the time it [Nathan's behavior] is whining and screaming. I am sure that is hard on teachers and stuff, but we find a way to deal with it," said Tony Darnell.
On Wednesday the family went to the county courthouse, where an inquiry was held and it was decided the criminal case against Nathan will indeed move forward.
It's likely then that Schiltz will have to be there.
But until they get a chance to tell her personally, Nathan's family, in the meantime, does have something they want to say to her.
"She is a cold-hearted woman, that she has made every teacher look bad," said Cathy Darnell.
Repeated attempts to contact Glenda Schiltz were unsuccessful.
9News also was in communication with several school board members and none wanted to comment on the matter.
This is all heading to a proceeding scheduled for next week in which six-year-old Nathan will appear in juvenile court as a defendant.
By, gonna go play with the kids, they are more fun and more enlightened than some here...
First, it is “typical” children, as in typically developing children, or very specifically neurotypical children. Not “normal.” My child is not abnormal, he is autistic.
sigh!
Revisionist-semantics.
Each time a word becomes offensive with its accuracy, the offended group picks another name to draw a line in the sand.
You lost me there.
You certainly are lost.
"Complexity:
The human brain contains about 50 billion to 200 billion neurons (nobody knows how many for sure), each of which interfaces with 1,000 to 100,000 other neurons through 100 trillion (1014) to 10 quadrillion (1016) synaptic junctions. Each synapse possesses a variable firing threshold which is reduced as the neuron is repeatedly activated. If we assume that the firing threshold at each synapse can assume 256 distinguishable levels, and if we suppose that there are 20,000 shared synapses per neuron (10,000 per neuron), then the total information storage capacity of the synapses in the cortex would be of the order of 500 to 1,000 terabytes. (Of course, if the brain's storage of information takes place at a molecular level, then I would be afraid to hazard a guess regarding how many bytes can be stored in the brain. One estimate has placed it at about 3.6 X 1019 bytes.) "
You need to think I'm lost.
I hope it makes you feel compensated or vindicated.
Oh my, did I strike a nerve?
Agreed 100%
[way you have been twisting it, it is now a tangled web...]
I’ve been twisting it?
LOL. How’s Jimmy “Ponzi Scheme” Lewis enjoying being a guest of the Federal Prison system? Not a very clean house you guys are running over there in Deseret.
I’ve been handed a wonderful life, and that seems to make you very angry--but your silly spinning attempts can’t take away the facts.
How sad for you.
Wow, are you high?
I have been handed a pretty wonderful life myself. How very odd and bizarre of you to suggest differently and to think I care or even gave a passing thought as to what your life is like. I think you have some serious issues, and your posting in this thread is clearly demonstrative of that.
Let’s take a peek at the post you made that I reponded to shall we?
_______
“”My sisters regularly have mainstreamed special-needs children in their classes. I believe that many—if not most—elementary teachers do. They are not special education teachers: Their missions are to teach traditional courses to students who are within the “normal” ranges.
In a classroom, one special child can disrupt the class for the entire group of children. This isn’t fair to the other students: It takes away from the learning of their traditional lessons.
If this were a rare, occasional event, it might be a good lesson for the “normal” kids; but—on a daily basis—it robs them of too much educational time.””
______
Here you are speaking of things you know absolutely nothing about, and for what reason exactly?
You crave attention or do you just enjoy speaking from ignorance?
How interesting that you suggest that teachers “know nothing about it.”
I never said that a mother “knows nothing about it.”
Your sisters being teachers correct? Have your sister log on and I will discuss this with her.
I logged in.
“My sisters regularly have mainstreamed special-needs children in their classes. I believe that many—if not most—elementary teachers do.”
So it is you now that is a teacher? Your experience with autistic children is what exactly?
True.....under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)these places are the public schools.
Actually my local school system does an excellent job with these situations, but most do not. The task of properly dealing with this massive bureaucracy and its ever growing demands is awesome and many school systems are just not up to the task and never will be.
There is a whole process dictated in instances such as this wherein it must be determined if the offense is or is not related to the student's exceptionality and that will determine the outcome.
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