Just for clarification, I don’t see anywhere that it says that the parents demanded that the boy be mainstreamed. In fact, it seems to imply that the parents might prefer specialized classes - they made a statement about the teachers not being prepared to deal with a boy like this.
I can tell you all, I have a friend at church who has an autistic 3 year old, and he is very difficult to handle. She is a single mom and is doing her best to raise him and teach him, but “NORMAL” methods of discipline and training do not work with him. A spanking doesn’t really teach him anything - you can see it in his eyes - it just doesn’t really register with him why he’s being spanked. That’s not to say there are not times when he gets one, but it just doesn’t have the same effect on him that it does on other children.
The sad thing about autism is that so many people think that the parents are at fault. I’ve seen this girl try to handle this situation, and she’s doing the best job anyone could be asked to do, but there are times when it just overwhelms her and it makes me very sad to see it.
Excellent comments.