Teacher tells autistic kid she hates him

[Roofus]

On May 21, Alex Barton, age 5, was escorted out of his kindergarten classroom at Morningside Elementary in Port St. Lucie, Fla., by the local police department's "school resource officer." Alex, who is autistic, was taken to the assistant principal, to whom he promised he would "not kick students, throw crayons, eat crayons, crawl under the table, kick the table of other students ... [or] disrupt the class," according to a police report. (See excerpts below and on the following six pages.) The assistant principal tucked in Alex's shirt, put his "shoes on the right feet and tied them," and sent Alex back to class. During Alex's absence, his teacher, Wendy Portillo, "gathered the students to talk with them" about the youngster's misbehavior.

When Alex returned, Portillo, who has been teaching in Port Lucie for 12 years, directed the youngster to the front of the room and "asked him to listen to what the children didn't like" about him. According to Alex, the children complained that he "eats paper, picks boogers … and bites his shoelaces," and Portillo herself said, "I hate you right now. I don't like you today." (Page 2). Portillo next "polled the class" about whether to let Alex back in (Page 4). Alex lost the class vote, 14-2, and spent the rest of the school day in the nurse's office. That night, Alex "did not eat dinner [and] would not sleep in his own bed." (Page 2).

The day after Alex's kindergarten show trial, his furious mother contacted the police school resource officer to report Portillo for child abuse. The police officer interviewed Alex ("Mrs. Portillo is very mean," Page 2); the teacher ("http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/213 ... y-2.jpgthe students in class were all her priority," Page 3); and several child witnesses (Pages 5 and 6), and in the end concluded there was no "probable cause" for criminal child abuse (Page 6). The St. Lucie County Public School District is still investigating whether any department regulations were violated.









Source: Slate

[|darc|]

Child abuse? No, I don't think so.

Should she be fired? Yeah. I've worked with kids this age before... there's no way you should ever tell a kid you hate them, even if you really do.

[AgentGreen]

If you want to email the bitch and tell her how horrible a person she is, her email address can be found on the school's website:

http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/mse/staff/ ... arten.html

[gamedudex2]

good job Wendy. maybe next time the kid will learn to man up and grow up for once. damn whats wrong with these kids today. sure it starts all simple like eating paper, picking boogers and bitting shoelaces, but then whats gonna get him off in the next few months to a year? buying a copy of gta4 from gamestop and getting hooked on blow and hookers, then beating the hookers for coke and cash?

but in all seriousness i don't think it would be so much of a big deal, but then again this kid is autistic so thats kinda wrong for here to do what she did. should he learn not to fucking piss people off? sure. should she learn not to be such a bitch to someone who is in need of special attention? fuck yeah.

[Jeeba Jabba]

He shouldn't have been in a normal class to begin with. It's the parents' fault for not recognizing his condition, or making it known to the education system. It can be detected as early as 1-2 years old.

[Nico0020]

She should be fired, but the parents are to blame here for having the child in a normal class.

oh yes and just for laughs