New York Police Handcuff First-Grader

[Thorne]

It doesn’t matter what we say or what our feelings are, the bottom line is the teachers were not up to scratch to handle a simple incident. The child was standing on a desk throwing a tantrum, well I don’t know about the rest in this thread, but an autistic child doing that is as basic as it is ever going to get.

I don't know about autistic children, but having raised two boys I know that it can sometimes be like training mules. Sometimes you can entice them with a carrot, but sometimes you have to (metaphorically) whack them between the eyes with a 2x4 to get their attention. A tantrum is just that, after all; a bid for attention. Teach them that they're more likely to get negative attention from that behavior, and provide positive attention for good behavior, and you've won the battle.

Take away the audience and he will eventually quieten down.

Until the audience returns. You've just shown him that he can get his way by being disruptive.

But he was disrupting the whole class and they would not get their eggs pained. Oh dear I mean to say the life of a seven year old is short and we can never go back. I suppose they can’t paint when they are eight, conclusion....the teachers were on a time schedule and pass the buck we need to get home today.

Part of what they have to teach is proper behavior in a social situation. Let him get away with such behavior in a classroom at a young age and you'll have him throwing tantrums as an adult as well. After all, he's learned he can get his way and plenty of attention that way.

That being said, it seems rather obvious that calling the police and sending the kid to a hospital was going way overboard. But when teachers are no longer allowed to discipline unruly children, what recourse do they have? Teach him, and the other children, that you will evacuate the class and turn your back on such behavior and you wind up with a class full of potential Saddam Hussein's.

[thir]

I don't know about autistic children, but having raised two boys I know that it can sometimes be like training mules. Sometimes you can entice them with a carrot, but sometimes you have to (metaphorically) whack them between the eyes with a 2x4 to get their attention. A tantrum is just that, after all; a bid for attention. Teach them that they're more likely to get negative attention from that behavior, and provide positive attention for good behavior, and you've won the battle.

Do you mean you never had to call the police??

Joke aside, as other have pointed out, these are not your everyday kids and what is termed a 'tantrum' could be a child in serious distress. They do not react like others, and the world is different to them and sometimes very frightening.

[Thorne]

Do you mean you never had to call the police??

I never said THAT! But they were dire circumstances. The little bastards wouldn't turn off the Nintendo so I could watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Damned heathens!

I do understand that dealing with autistic kids is different. I've never had to deal with the situation myself, though. I did grow up with an uncle, only a couple of years older than myself, who was born with cerebral palsy and had a rather severe mental handicap. While we had to make some allowances for his slow learning speed, for the most part he was rarely treated any differently than the rest of us. Just like other kids he had to learn that there were some forms of behavior which were unacceptable, and which earned swift punishment. And he did learn, just as we did.

[leena]

Without knowing the special needs of this child, I wouldn't even begin to comment on how the teachers handled it. We just don't have enough information on this child. Articles like this are written to provoke emotion which is drawn on giving the reader as little actual information to get them there as possible. However, if the mother was upset, then that is my first indicator that police involvement was not part of his IEP, or at the very least, handcuffs were not.

But basically, without all the facts, and with the severe ranges of special needs, and the level of violence that can accompany many of them, I don't assume autism just because that's the most talked about...even within ASD there is a huge range of children and their tendency toward violence. Where there are special needs involved, you learn pretty quick that sometimes, there is no such thing a "typical" tantrum. I can tell you as a mother of two special needs children that people who stand back and make assumptions about me and the way I handle my children, when they have less than 1/2 the story, if any real facts...are annoying. Most people wouldn't be able to take a step in my shoes, never mind get the running start I need each day, to care for my children.

[Thorne]

However, if the mother was upset, then that is my first indicator that police involvement was not part of his IEP, or at the very least, handcuffs were not.

From what we've read here, I would hesitate to base any opinion on the attitudes of the mother, too. I've seen too many instances where parents have blamed the school, teachers, administrators, coaches and anyone else they can think of because their child was caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. I even had a parent swear to me that her child would NEVER lie after he lied right in front of me.

I would like to hear the teacher's/police side of this story but, as noted elsewhere, the unions and board of education are not likely going to allow that to happen unless and until the case winds up in court.

[IAN 2411]

From what we've read here, I would hesitate to base any opinion on the attitudes of the mother, too.

Wait a minute! the mother was called at the same time as the police, but from what i gather the police took him away before she arrived at the school. So there was not really any point in wasting her time, they should have told her on the phone tough shit your boy is locked in cuffs and on his way to lock up. How can she lie about what happened she was not there? I also think that leena had some very good points that were not missed by me.

Be well IAN 2411