WV - Teacher swipes mic from autistic boy set to perform in Thanksgiving play

New Posts

I saw this once on the news and as it replayed again I had to look away.

I hope this woman is looking for work now. Disgusting.
 
Really? said:
I saw this once on the news and as it replayed again I had to look away.

I hope this woman is looking for work now. Disgusting.
Click to expand...

No, she doesn't appear to be looking for work. The superintendent was just going to have a conversation. I hope some people write some letters. Her behavior was appalling. If she is willing to do that to a child with everyone looking, what happens when adults are not around? Hmmmmm. I wonder.
 
Is it possible she didn't see him, and didn't realize he still had to speak? The video included in this thread has audio and video out of synch.

One child says, "Happy Thanksgiving", the next says "Thank you for coming". Is it possible the teacher believed that was the end of the program? It sure sounded like the end to me.

It's a little hard to believe a teacher would be purposely so cruel in a cafeteria full of parents -

[video=youtube;T8b_JxXqCw0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8b_JxXqCw0[/video]
 
the superintendent is handling this very poorly.

i think most people get the impression from the video that the woman took the microphone quickly on purpose, but you have to allow for the possibility that it just appears that way, or that she didnt see him, or she was distracted and rushing etc... just to be fair.

but then when you hear the superintendent talk about it things start to sound like she did do it on purpose to keep him from speaking;

the superintendent mentions;

the boy's parents did not turn in a permission slip

the boy had other speaking lines in the play

the play was actually over already

there was some concern about what the boy might say

after hearing those things it makes me think that the way i initially perceived the video was correct, the woman is grabbing the microphone quickly to keep the child from getting to say anything else.
 
So, okay - this kind of got confusing.

"The play was over already" makes me think he was planning to ad lib a gobble gobble at the end of the play, unauthorized?

In that case, I agree that the teacher probably pulled the mic on purpose before he could say whatever it was he was planning to say.

Sad for him. His sweet little face. :(
 
This is sad no matter what happened.
I have an autistic child who probably would not even have known when and how to participate, sad that this little guy was disappointed by what appears to be thoughtless staff. :(
 
WDTV reports that the school superintendent claims it was all a mistake.

"It's a mistake that was made. There was no malice," Harrison County Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin told the station. "This teacher, as all our teachers, truly care about these young boys and girls. The program was over, at least as I understand, and the teacher had taken the microphone."

http://www.clickorlando.com/family/...istic-boy-set-to-perform-in-thanksgiving-play

Swiping the mic is a very accurate description of what happened - imo. Malice was most certainly achieved.

Since when does a teacher rush to the stage and remove the mic at the very a moment she 'thinks' a play, put on by the students for their parents, is over? What did she do with it? Did she address the parents while using the mic?

There is no mention of that, so have to go with she swiped it from this child.

To rush and make excuses for this teacher is excusing the behavior of a bully - in my experience the bully usually wins as people are too embarrassed and confused as to what to do about bullying behavior.

Shameful intended behavior imo. I would not trust her alone for a minute with any child - she isn't even afraid to be a bully. B should most certainly be looking for a new job.
 
my first question is....what does autism have to do with this? or what she did?

wouldn't it have been the same if it were any other child without so called "autism"?

so why bother mentioning autism at all?

that being said, i don't think the adult/teacher did this on purpose, i don't think she realized that kid was going to say anything into the mic, give her a <modsnip> break,

i don't believe in autism anyway, IMO its just an excuse for kids to act out because they have never been told not to do so, or have not been raised properly,

http://addictinginfo.org/2012/02/27/dr-humphreys-autism-isnt-real-its-just-bad-parenting/
 
That is one of the most ludicrous and offensive things I've ever read on Websleuths and that's saying a lot. I think it's time to educate yourself, JohnPaul.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
It is very sad to watch. :( That being said, my son had a little boy with autism at his school and he said the boy would sing along with the songs for the Christmas program when they were having reheasals, but sometimes he would yell words like "c_cks__ker" and "m_therf____r" at the end of the song. The teachers asked him not to do it and explained that it was inappropriate but I guess he didn't understand. My son was an anxious little guy at the time and was actually pretty stressed out about the possibility of his classmate yelling out bad words during the Christmas program. I explained to him that the boy couldn't help it and that it was certainly no reflection on HIM, but the day of the program he had a tummy ache so I didn't make him go. I never did hear if the program went off without a hitch!
 
JohnPaul said:
my first question is....what does autism have to do with this? or what she did?

wouldn't it have been the same if it were any other child without so called "autism"?

so why bother mentioning autism at all?

that being said, i don't think the adult/teacher did this on purpose, i don't think she realized that kid was going to say anything into the mic, give her a <modsnip> break,

i don't believe in autism anyway, IMO its just an excuse for kids to act out because they have never been told not to do so, or have not been raised properly,

http://addictinginfo.org/2012/02/27/dr-humphreys-autism-isnt-real-its-just-bad-parenting/
Click to expand...

Did you read the article you linked? It calls the opinion of "Dr." Humphries that autism doesn't exist "pure drivel".
 
I think it is unfair to the teacher to jump to the conclusion she is a bully and wanted to be mean. After working in the public schools for many years, I know that a hot mic is something teachers keep an eye on. It makes total sense she would go and grab it at the very end of the play. They are expensive and easily broken. And you never know what kids will say into a hot mic. I don't think that means she is a mean bully at all. She was just doing her job.

It seems as though there was no planned comments by the boy. If it was not in rehearsal, how would she know he had his heart set out speaking after the play was over? People are asking for her to be fired? I don't get that at all.
 
When I watched the video, I saw three kids on the stage. Two speak. The third is coming to the mic. If the teacher was watching (and it appears she was as she knew they were about done), she had to have seen the last child.

Now, as an educator, when we have had children who were unpredictable-- disability or not--- we made a plan before events like these. Parents and students knew the expectations of appropriate behavior. If WE (parent, teacher and child) did not believe that the child could hold to the expectations, they might sit with their parent after their part, not participate, or sit with a teacher to make sure they could uphold our expectations. If this child was not supposed to be at the microphone, why was he there? If the other two were supposed to speak and the third child was not, the teacher should have modeled appropriate behavior-- removing the microphone and gently reminding the child that it was not his turn to speak. If none of the children were supposed to speak, why wait until the last child is at the microphone. If a child who has a disability has a para-professional, that person would have been with him for the event as well.

MAJOR point for me is that the teacher did not acknowledge the end of the show, did not acknowledge or support the child, and it is inappropriate to not acknowledge and support the child.

That said, I think it was purposeful that the last child had the microphone taken away. I read the teacher's action as "he is going to behave inappropriately and I will cut him off at the pass." I can't say if that is what she was thinking but it seems like she moved in really fast when he got there.
 
@ john paul,

Because autistic kids take longer to process verbally.
On average. Making it more meaningful ie potentially hurtful when these misunderstandings occur.

I've noticed a ton of anti ASD rhetoric on the Internet lately and find it sad that some choose to see this disability as a non issue or worse, something the child is doing "on purpose".

Certainly not everyone is cut out to work with kids, self included.
 
Here is another clearer video. [video=youtube;3dKK4o-oSPA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dKK4o-oSPA&feature=youtu.be[/video]

The teacher can be seen smirking. From this angle, you can see that she is grabbing it so he doesn't speak. In fact, after he reacts she ignores him and moves toward the other children. She never speaks to him despite him trying to talk to her. The videographer makes a statement like, "Why would she do that? That is how they treat him here." I think the story is bigger than what we see on the first shared clip.
 
katydid23 said:
I think it is unfair to the teacher to jump to the conclusion she is a bully and wanted to be mean. After working in the public schools for many years, I know that a hot mic is something teachers keep an eye on. It makes total sense she would go and grab it at the very end of the play. They are expensive and easily broken. And you never know what kids will say into a hot mic. I don't think that means she is a mean bully at all. She was just doing her job.

It seems as though there was no planned comments by the boy. If it was not in rehearsal, how would she know he had his heart set out speaking after the play was over? People are asking for her to be fired? I don't get that at all.
Click to expand...

I agree he wasn't supposed to speak. I agree a "hot" mic is an invitation for anybody to be inappropriate. But, I think if she was going to grab the mic, she should have stayed and helped him. After all, she is a teacher, it is part of the job, especially if he has a disability. You can see that he is looming behind everyone and probably harder to handle. But, no excuses from me for her bad behavior of not modeling appropriate behavior-- taking the mic and talking with /acknowledging him.
 
I think for the teacher to have done this so publicly - it does now appear she did time the removal of the mic to prevent him from speaking - she must have felt she had the backing of the others in the room.

It seems like that child may have a reputation for being difficult to contain, and unpredictable, and she imagined what she was doing would be received somewhat gratefully by the audience.

And maybe it was - has there been any outcry from the people at the play (besides the parents who videod it?) In that case, something needs to be done to make the environment less hostile to him.
 
JohnPaul said:
my first question is....what does autism have to do with this? or what she did?

wouldn't it have been the same if it were any other child without so called "autism"?

so why bother mentioning autism at all?

that being said, i don't think the adult/teacher did this on purpose, i don't think she realized that kid was going to say anything into the mic, give her a <modsnip> break,

i don't believe in autism anyway, IMO its just an excuse for kids to act out because they have never been told not to do so, or have not been raised properly,

http://addictinginfo.org/2012/02/27/dr-humphreys-autism-isnt-real-its-just-bad-parenting/
Click to expand...

the superintendent pretty much admits that the woman took the microphone to keep him from using it, he said there was some concern about what he might say.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 173 more.
Total: 3,274 (members: 174, guests: 3,100)

Online statistics

Members online
174
Guests online
3,100
Total visitors
3,274
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,295
Messages
17,966,835
Members
228,735
Latest member
dil2288
Back
Top