JFActivist

Kindergartner with Asperger's Voted Out by Classmates

From CBS News (May 27):

Kindergartner Voted Out By Students

A  Port St. Lucie, Fla., mother is outraged and considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

Melissa Barton says Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo had her son's classmates say what they didn't like about 5-year-old Alex. She says the teacher then had the students vote, and voted Alex, who is being evaluated for Asperger's syndrome -- an autism spectrum disorder -- out of the class by a 14-2 margin...

...Read more.

Combat Vets Face Hurdles as Students

From The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina, April 27):

Combat vets face hurdles as students
Colleges learning to deal with PTSD, lost limbs, brain injuries

By Martha Quillin

RALEIGH - Spc. Natasha McKinnon survived losing part of her left leg to an improvised bomb in Iraq. Now that she's back, she's trying to find her balance in college life. Sometimes she can't recall a professor's name. She loses track of test dates. Occasionally, she forgets she has pulled off her prosthetic leg to rest her stump during a long lecture, only to tilt off balance when she tries to stand.

As tens of thousands of veterans of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq try to collect on their promised college benefits, McKinnon and others are finding that their combat experience complicates the transition from soldier to student...

...Read more.

Young Special Ed Teachers Post Unprofessional, Offensive Content on Personal Web Pages

In today's Washington Post, in a story entitled "When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web," author Ian Shapira cites examples of young teachers' personal web pages and asks whether  the content of such personal websites really matters so long as the teacher's performance is not hindered and parents, students, and school officials don't see them.

According to the article, due to a recent Supreme Court decision, teachers claiming free speech protection may not have much luck holding onto their jobs. The Court ruled that state governments can terminate employees if their speech harms the mission and function of the workplace.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

From the article:

Erin Jane Webster, 22, a long-term substitute teacher in Prince William, keeps a page similar to other teachers'. Portions are professional, but some parts suggest the author is in the throes of sorority rush.

Under a "Work Info" heading, the page reads, "Employer: Prince William County Schools. Location: Parkside Middle School Language Arts Teacher." The section lists where she attended college (Radford '07) and high school (Osbourn Park High '03).

But the page features multiple "bumper stickers," including one that uses a crude acronym for attractive mothers and another that says: "you're a retard, but i love you."

Teensy problem: Webster teaches students with emotional and learning disabilities. In an interview, she acknowledged her use of "retard" could be misconstrued. The word, generally considered offensive, circulates among some young people as acceptable derogatory slang.

"My best friend, she always calls me that because I say ditzy things," Webster said. "My best friend and I would never go around calling people that. All of my [students] have emotional disorders or learning disabilities. . . . I love them."

...Read the entire article.

Students with Autism Leave School After Bullying

From the Washington Examiner, Washington, DC (April 24):

Autistic students pulled from school after bullying
By Leah Fabel

WASHINGTON - As the number of autistic students in Montgomery County swells, the district has funneled some of them into programs where the most socially vulnerable students sit in desks alongside the most emotionally disturbed.

The situation at a program at Gaithersburg High School has proved dangerous enough for some parents to pull their children out of the school system and to seek legal counsel.

According to his mother, Alec Carlson, diagnosed with high-functioning autism, started to be bullied on his first day as a ninth-grader...

...Read more.

Student with a Disability Beaten Unconscious on School Bus

From KDKA (CBS affiliate in Industry, PA) - April 22:

Local Special Needs Student Beaten On School Bus

INDUSTRY, Pa. (KDKA) ― Cell phone video recorded by students captured the beating of a special needs student in Beaver County on a school bus.

A 17-year-old student allegedly beat a 16-year-old student unconscious on a Western Beaver school bus last week.

"It was just shocking and appalling that students would videotape it and that someone would even think about hitting someone who was disabled," Linda Lamantis, a parent, said...

...Read more.

School Put Student with Autism in Isolation "Closet" 78 Times

From The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY):

School put autistic boy in time-out 'closet,' mom says
Mother complains that school isolated son in room 78 times

By Deborah Yetter
April 13, 2008

An Oldham County mother has filed a complaint with the state after learning that Crestwood Elementary officials put her 8-year-old autistic son in a small, empty room nearly 80 times last fall because of his behavior -- sometimes locking him in.

"They keep calling it a time-out room," said Jeanie Montgomery of Centerfield, who has pulled her son from Crestwood. "It is a closet."

Montgomery has filed a sworn complaint with the state Department of Education, alleging the school has violated her son's rights when it locked him in the 32-square-foot room built specifically to deal with disruptive behavior...

...Read more.

Students with Disabilities Design Less Institutional-Looking Products

From The News-Gazette (April 14):

Disabled students helped design products featured in exhibit
By Melissa Merli
Monday April 14, 2008

URBANA – University of Illinois senior psychology major Ji hae Lee, who uses a wheelchair to get around, said most products designed for people with disabilities focus on function.

"They're really ugly and institutional looking," she said. "I am not willing to use the products because they're so stigmatized."

That's not true of two products designed by UI students in collaboration with Lee. She finds them "functional and cool-looking," like merchandise in an IKEA store...

...Read more.

Maryland First State to Pass Sports Equity Law for Students with Disabilities!

From The Baltimore Examiner (April 10):

Blazing new trail

By Dave Carey

April 10, 2008

BALTIMORE - Atholton senior and wheelchair athlete Tatyana McFadden has won races against some of the best competition in the world, but her most recent victory came away from the track.

McFadden’s testimony in front of the General Assembly was pivotal in it unanimously passing a bill that requires schools to provide disabled students with access to high school sports teams, either among themselves or with able-bodied students...

...Read more.

Life after Special Ed Has Challenges

From the Associated Press (March 31):

Life After Special Ed Has Challenges

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Graduating from high school is typically a moment of great joy for young people and their parents, but for students with disabilities it is sometimes described in dark terms.

"It can feel like sinking into an abyss," said Cathy Healy, the mother of an adult son with Down Syndrome, who recently completed his studies at an Alexandria, Va. high school.

During their public school years, children with disabilities are entitled to a menu of special services, such as music or occupational therapy, extra reading help and door-to-door transportation. The law also requires they be given an Individualized Education Program, a blueprint tailored to their needs with involvement from educators and parents.

It's a comforting safety net that often ends abruptly when students leave school...

...Read more.

After Virginia Tech Mass Shootings, Schools Monitoring Certain Students More Closely

Moderator's Note: The following article (and title) contains some stigmatizing language.

From the Examiner (March 28):

After Va. Tech massacre, colleges are keeping closer watch over strange or troubled students
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer

On the agenda: A student who got into a shouting match with a faculty member. Another who harassed a female classmate. Someone found sleeping in a car. And a student who posted a threat against a professor on Facebook.

In a practice adopted at one college after another since the massacre at Virginia Tech, a University of Kentucky committee of deans, administrators, campus police and mental health officials has begun meeting regularly to discuss a watch list of troubled students and decide whether they need professional help or should be sent packing.

These "threat assessment groups" are aimed at heading off the kind of bloodshed seen at Virginia Tech a year ago and at Northern Illinois University last month...

...Read more.