Comments on: This Little Light

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:56:33 +0000

@magicdrgn – Yeah, I think I might have been voted forcibly out of the school if I was Alex’s parent. It seems like his mother has showed incredible restraint. Part of me hopes she wins a huge judgment against the school and can put her son into a better school environment, but they may not be the best solution in his case. I don’t know, and obviously that’s not for me to decide or even have an opinion about since it’s not my business.

@JB – You should read some comments in other blogs. One of them had to turn off comments entirely since people were threatening physical violence against that teacher in the posts. Hell hath no fury like a parent ready to defend their children against any threat.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:50:56 +0000

@Andrea – Thanks for your kind words. It’s important for all of us to sustain this energy and attention, which extend well beyond just the autism community. All parents with special ed kids, whether in separate classrooms or mainstreamed, have to be vigilant. What affects one of us affects all of us.

In all likelihood, further investigation into this will show that this was a failure at many levels of the education system. You’re right – there are other teachers out there who do not get it, and our goal should be to help them understand. Another goal should be to help improve school systems where things like this happen. My bet is that there are systemic problems in those schools that lead to things like this. I believe that this teacher represents just the tip of a larger iceberg.

That said, there are many, many great teachers out there who give unbelievable effort and commitment to the children in their classrooms. My admiration of them is beyond expression because they do so much and give so much of their time for little pay. My belief is that they significantly outnumber those who degrade children who are ‘different’.

Thanks again!

By: JB

JB — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:01:29 +0000

Damn. I had not heard about this since I avoid our TV media assiduously.

And now that I have, I’m just about shaking. I’d say more but the words that I’m coming up with don’t seem appropriate for voicing/typing in public. I’ll spare you further babbling as I need to process this story.

By: magicdrgn

magicdrgn — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:33:08 +0000

This whole incident scares the crap out of me. And I’m afraid I would have throttled that teacher.

By: Update on Alex Barton: From the Police Report

Update on Alex Barton: From the Police Report — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:16:18 +0000

[...] This Little Light comments on Alex saying “‘I’m not special’” repeatedly after his removal from the classroom, and Squid writes about why inclusion is critical. [...]

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:47:24 +0000

“We aren’t some tribal council; we are the entire village. We have spoken, we are speaking, and we will continue to speak until our children are treated with respect and dignity.”

Beautiful post – you’ve brought tears to my eyes! And I hope that those other Portillos out there get the message.