Trigger Warning: Abuse
Verbal abuse of autistic student sparks calls for change
I actually think this is a pretty decent article. Seriously. Father notices that son isn't quite as usual. Asks school about it. School says nothing. For whatever reason, his son can't tell him exactly what's going on, so he sends his son to school with a digital recorder, and he gets it on tape that the teachers are verbally abusing his son. That's what happened originally. This article is talking about how someone took a stand against the abuse of autistic kids by their teachers. It even admits that many people think this is a common issue, and that there are calls to change. Maybe the article will bring more people to shout about how wrong this is. For once, an article in mainstream media about autism is pointing out that people are abusing us and shouldn't be, and that some people are aiming to do something about it. And the suffering that parents are talking about here, while not nearly as bad as what the kid being abused is suffering from (abuse), is something you can legitimately call suffering. Watching/knowing that your child is being abused and that the system doesn't really care is something you can suffer from. Asking for advice on how to make a similar recording if you have suspicions something similar is going on is a good idea, because it gives you evidence. When he talks about the challenges that special ed teachers face, and how they don't have the tools they need, it feels like some abuse aplogetics, which is problematic, though. Yes, we need to give special ed teachers the tools they need. Yes, they need to be more patient than regular teachers, sometimes. And that means you need BETTER background checks on them, not fewer. It means they need to be held to a higher standard, not a lower one. Abuse by them should be punished more severely, if anything. And we need more voices demanding properly trained teachers for all our students, special education and not.
Verbal abuse of autistic student sparks calls for change
I actually think this is a pretty decent article. Seriously. Father notices that son isn't quite as usual. Asks school about it. School says nothing. For whatever reason, his son can't tell him exactly what's going on, so he sends his son to school with a digital recorder, and he gets it on tape that the teachers are verbally abusing his son. That's what happened originally. This article is talking about how someone took a stand against the abuse of autistic kids by their teachers. It even admits that many people think this is a common issue, and that there are calls to change. Maybe the article will bring more people to shout about how wrong this is. For once, an article in mainstream media about autism is pointing out that people are abusing us and shouldn't be, and that some people are aiming to do something about it. And the suffering that parents are talking about here, while not nearly as bad as what the kid being abused is suffering from (abuse), is something you can legitimately call suffering. Watching/knowing that your child is being abused and that the system doesn't really care is something you can suffer from. Asking for advice on how to make a similar recording if you have suspicions something similar is going on is a good idea, because it gives you evidence. When he talks about the challenges that special ed teachers face, and how they don't have the tools they need, it feels like some abuse aplogetics, which is problematic, though. Yes, we need to give special ed teachers the tools they need. Yes, they need to be more patient than regular teachers, sometimes. And that means you need BETTER background checks on them, not fewer. It means they need to be held to a higher standard, not a lower one. Abuse by them should be punished more severely, if anything. And we need more voices demanding properly trained teachers for all our students, special education and not.
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