<p>I agree with you soozie, & further I think that there is a downside to too many adult helpers in the classroom – regardless of the reason. I have recently taught in a school which overly welcomes large numbers of parents in the classroom at any given time. (Not a coop preschool, either, a traditional K-8 public school.) It can be distracting, confusing, & counterproductive. (Not a point you brought up, but I experience this as a teacher; multiple authority figures tends not to work unless no centralized teaching is expected.)</p>
<p>I also agree with you on the need to evaluate case by case as to the practical & social ramifications of mainstreaming. This is why hybrid solutions often work well, combining full class periods or full socializing periods with separated, focused learning for individuals & groups with segmented needs.</p>
<p>You can thank the IDEA law, which forces school systems to teach every child in the “least restrictive environment”, so yes, you often have severely mentally handicapped children in a mainstreamed classroom. Or you can have a very mentally ill child, also mainstreamed, if the child is apparently stable.</p>
<p>Our laws are set up to protect the individual and not the majority. Because some child might feel bad going to a separate school, he will be placed in a mainstream class, which might draw enormous energy and attention away from the rest of the children in the class. There is nothing the teacher can do, and privacy laws also protect the individual, not the rest of the class. </p>
<p>We had a stabbing death by an Asperger’s boy at a high school in suburban Boston several months ago, and it wasn’t until after the fact that people realized he was unstable, and had been in five schools in five years. Should this boy have been mainstreamed? Probably not, but the law was on his side.</p>
<p>^^^Then, as you may be hinting AllMusic, the laws need to be changed where change is indicated. Evaluated first with regard to the practical needs of both the individual and the group. Love is never divorced from practicality, nor are wishes & idealism necessarily loving. We need to get away from this pendulum thinking in our society. It particularly plagues education, & in many different areas – curriculum being one (whole-hog methods adopted willy-nilly in reaction to particular deficits in a previous approach, etc.)</p>
<p>Has it really been confirmed he was diagnosed as autistic once in the US? I ask this because things have changed a lot re: mainstreaming since Cho would have been in elementary school in FCPS. When I was in elementary school (I’m 5 yrs younger), my school was still designated by FCPS as the center for kids with autism. There were separate classes and some mainstreaming (though like I said, mainstreaming has become more common since then), but I’m not aware that it was common to mainstream kids at other schools. I also know he didn’t go to my elementary school. Therefore, FCPS was either never aware of this diagnosis, or he was considered so extremely high functioning as to not even need the system that FCPS was using then. </p>
<p>My own evaluation of the situation was that again, this was a fair amount of time ago. This was before the NCLB, everyone who doesn’t speak English must be expected to test on metaphors by the end of the year, movement. It was relatively common for children to move into the school system with no english and be relatively silent for a year. My school had more immigrants than most. I don’t know where he went, but I’m thinking they didn’t serve a high population (relatively) of children without any English skills, based on the behavior described if it went unnoticed or labeled as just poor english skills. Because there’s a difference between not talking and not communicating. His described behavior is non communicative except through channels that didn’t involve direct human contact. This is unusual for any child. I can recall a lot of friends who came to the states with no english skills, but they still…communicated. They still wanted to communicate. </p>
<p>What I recall of the mainstreaming 10 years ago was that the only people mainstreamed definitely should have been. In fact more probably could, and should, have been. So I don’t think you can blame too lax mainstreaming rules…honestly I don’t get the picture that FCPS was aware of a diagnosis. I don’t think he would have been an elementary school without specialized support staff, because FCPS has over 100 elem schools and they’ve always centralized services.</p>
<p>^^Well I think the discussion has broadened beyond just Cho, even though he’s central to it. So as to “blaming lax mainstreaming,” I think that was not what was meant by any of us, including with regard to Cho himself. I think, however, that a differential diagnosis would have helped to determine what options were best suited to him, & what resources were available, & I doubt he received such.</p>
<p>With regard to teacher training, again – we teachers are supposed to know the difference between foreign language obstacles & psychologically based obstacles to communication, ie…, be able to recognize the differences when faced with them. This does not take an advanced degree, but professional self-education, in addition to periodic in-service learning. There are multiple opportunities to notice this in any classroom. Now, it is also possible that many teachers were aware, & communicated to the proper authorities, but that those people/departments dropped the ball. It doesn’t excuse his falling through the cracks but would help explain it. However, at least one teacher didn’t get it right: the one who treated his reticence as a behavior problem rather than something that needed more investigation.</p>
<p>Haven’t those “news” items already been laid to rest many days ago, as pure unsubstantiated rumor, as far as the parents taking/attempting to take their lives?</p>
<p>CHOCOHOLIC - yes they were laid to rest several days ago - it had been announced in Korea - but reversed here - the parents were hospitalized for stress related symptoms - according to resources in the US.</p>
<p>Lucinda Roy went to three sets of authorities–two within the university and the local police. She was told there was nothing they could do about the violent boy until he actually became violent.
</p>
<p>In my experience, teachers do an amazing job of analyzing students–and communicating their worries to parents. Amazing. From primary school through secondary school.</p>
<p>However, they do not have the authority of the law behind them–esp in puclic schools where federal funding dicates their actions. If a parent rejects the teacher’s assemssments–and I’ve seen pbrilliant academics reject a teacher’s accurate assessment–there is little the school can do.</p>
<p>The teachers haven’t reported their findings–but the pastor has.
<p>Cheers, Lucinda Roy is not a K-12 teacher, as you know. She’s college faculty. The responsibility extends to all levels of educators, but much earlier intervention would have had greater likelihood of success – even if the college had not dismissed her concerns. Yes, many k12 teachers make it their business (as they should) to stay ahead of all developments in their & related fields, but the anecdote of the read-aloud teacher exposes this one as way underinformed and/or misguided. And this is really basic stuff.</p>
<p>Quote:
“I felt him a little autistic and advised his mother to take him to hospital. But she did not agree with me,” he tells Newsweek. “I now repent for not urging her strongly.” </p>
<p>WOW - the first line of this quote is disgusting - ''i felt him a little autistic… IMHO - a bit out of his bounds as far as I am concerned - I guess I would question why he referred them to the hospital - instead of to a physician - because someone is different does not give the right to ‘label’ them - as this quote indicates.</p>
<p>Not having the authority of the law behind teachers in public schools - in some senses is a relief to a degree. People have rights - all people - wether they are ‘right’ - or not - wether they are different - or not. I certainly would not want those rights that I enjoy as a US citizen be troden on. </p>
<p>I realize this is a very bad situation - and my heart goes out to the families and victims, etc… but Cho’s family is a victim as well - of our own society in many ways. There are other examples in the world of one not being ‘right’ and the deafening sadness that has followed in the wake of what they have done harm another human being. We in MA had a recent situation of a student with Aspergers killing another student - the rage was very apparent in that town/school. Sure - info was not passed on from school to school - and yes I agree that info should have been shared - but not to punish the student - but to understand and to implement a positive plan so that the student could have been successful there - and to adjust to whatever he needed to adjust to. No one could have foresaw what he ended up doing - but they could have been better prepared.</p>
<p>Even within a school not enough is communicated. </p>
<p>When we had a student who acted ‘strange’ during class (he was autistic), upon leaving the room (he was checked out), the kids snickered and giggled…
Finally teacher said, ‘You need to be kind’
Class was silent.
‘this is why…’
She went on to talk about his condition, lo and behold, it started a discussion about autism, different conditions, etc…
When the student came back there was such a different atmosphere.
It probably wasn’t “appropriate” for her to tell the class about his condition. Maybe it broke some rules. But kids, you know, are beautiful people. They are, in heart, mostly, kind. Loving. When they know what’s going on.</p>
<p>Doubleplay - I agree 100% - kids can be mean - but usually when they are educated about ones differences - it can make all the difference in the world.</p>
<p>I recall a time when my then 3 yo son met a little girl who was very ‘different’ - a beautiful child - in a wheelchair - who also had hydrocephaly - had a very large head - but a very sweet child. She was shunned by all the other kiddos - and to my surprise - my guy went up to her and made friends with her - he was her buddy - and he finally got up the nerve to ask her why she was so different - the teacher heard him ask - and very kindly came over and explained things - his response was that is was very cool kool to be her special friend </p>
<p>Alot of the support system for kids who are ‘different’ needs to come from parents/teachers - to educate and to help kids understand - it can make all the difference in the world.</p>
<p>Tolerance of differences is not enough to understand & manage someone else’s behavior when direction & professional treatment is called for. It may help to reduce the anxiety/anger of such a student, but it is hardly enough.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean, JeepMOM, that you don’t want the authority of the law behind teachers. You want them not supported or directed by law? You want teachers to subvert the law or render it irrelevant? Please explain.</p>
<p>I 100% agree on educating kids about differences - my d lost enough of her sight that she had to start using a cane in 3rd grade. The first week of school was a bit tough for her b/c of the comments. Her mobility teacher came to school with several blindfolds and canes and let the kids experiment while she talked about how my d could still see some things but not others. The difference was like night and day. She’s now considered the mascot of school, and those kids who were present for that talk are her biggest supporters.</p>
<p>Okay, it helps that she is warm and friendly, but for her to go from being a curiosity to a person made a big difference in her development. She now says she doesn’t understand why some new people she meets seem to feel sorry for her because she’s blind. I overheard her say, “But I don’t have a problem, I just can’t see.”</p>
<p>But without that support from kids and teachers, not to mention the tremendous amount of love she got/gets from home, I can’t imagine how she would have turned out. Who can survive being ostracized as a developing child? How do you fix that problem when they are an adult?</p>
<p>"VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – A Virginia Tech freshman who returned home with his family after last week’s campus massacre was killed in a car crash, his father said Sunday.</p>
<p>Jeff Soriano died from his injuries Friday in Senatara Norfolk General Hospital after he was pulled from the wreckage of his burning vehicle, police said.</p>
<p>Enrique Soriano, speaking by telephone from his home in Chesapeake, Va., said he picked up his son in the days after the April 16 slaughter on the Blacksburg campus, which left 33 dead, including gunman Seung-Hui Cho.</p>
<p>Soriano said his son was in the engineering school."</p>
<p>Not having the authority of the law… teachers do not have the authority to do certain things - but they must work within the law - just as health care professionals do. Teachers as well as health professionals must obey the privacy laws - as well as other professions - it is a right that we all have - and cannot be trounced on by breaking the laws that protect our privacy - hope that makes more sense.</p>
<p>Epiphany…Tolerance of differences is not enough to understand & manage someone else’s behavior when direction & professional treatment is called for. It may help to reduce the anxiety/anger of such a student, but it is hardly enough…</p>
- he was her buddy - and he finally got up the nerve to ask her why she was so different - the teacher heard him ask - and very kindly came over and explained things - his response was that is was very cool kool to be her special friend