Teachers aides are supposed to know how to handle autistic children or else the child was assigned to the wrong class.
I’ve seen and experienced so damn much that it seems a waste of time to get angry. What would I do? Shake my fist at the sky and scream?
My criticism was primarily at the writer of this “article.”
Concerning the situation? Clearly a whole lot of people screwed up. The parents should have fought tooth and nail to get the kid where he can do his best. He was not ready for a “normal” classroom. The school screwed up by not insisting the kid go where he could get the most benefit. The real teacher screwed up by not making damn sure the aid was acting accordingly. The aid should have insisted on having the necessary training instead of getting placed in a vulnerable situation.
The mother’s comment that the aid was “big enough to defend herself” is inexcusable. Her child was out of control. Had he attacked another student in that manner the situation would have been much worse!
OKIEDOC, I really respect what you do. I worked with some special ed kids when I was in high school (they were elementary school age). They genuinely wanted to learn. I’m sure that damn fine people like you got them to that point with more patience and devotion than I could even imagine.
Regardless you must admit the article was written to evoke a particular emotional reaction. Reread my comment at # 6 and then reread the article (particularly the first half) and tell me my assessment of the article was wrong.
Thank you for the civil reply.