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I agree. After 30 years in the public school system l retired. Oh the stories l could tell! I then became a substitute teacher. One day l was assigned a Special Ed class. There was a student who was over 6 feet tall crawling on the floor. He kept trying to get to me but the aides held him back. They ask me to leave because they said he “liked me”. I did not ask for further explanation. I just left and was paid for a full days work after on 30 minutes. Some of these children should not be in the Public school system. There are violent autistic students who need intutional care.

I believe you. For years, I’ve seen job openings for paraprofessionals to work with special needs teens and adults. As desperate as I was for work, I never applied for those jobs. I might be able to help young children. But, the teens and adults would be bigger and stronger than I am. I’m not the right person for that job, just like I’m not the right person to be a nurse, a firefighter, or a police officer. It takes a special kind of person, and I’m not that person.

I don’t believe the woman who was attacked is the right person for the job, either. She took that position, but she still doesn’t seem to understand it.

P.S. Most of these kids are sweet. They have more to fear from the “normal” kids, and they’re sometimes abused by teachers and paraprofessionals. But, they should be in separate schools, too, for their own protection. JMHO.