My panties in a Bunch

Yes - I have my panties in a bunch this morning and am going to have a heck of a time getting them out! We all have childhood memories. Some that were wonderful and a few that were not. One of my earliest child hood memories is of my frustrations with my speech impediment. I remember getting so frustrated (yet not really understanding what those feelings were that I was feeling) when I would say something, and then the person I was talking to would look at my sister and say "what did she say?". My sister, God bless her, was my translator for years. No one else could interpret what I was saying except her. One would think that she would go in to Speech and Language Technology, but instead she became a Neurologist. I can remember having to go to speech therapy while my sister got to go swimming. I missed out on a lot because of my speech therapy. It was a half hour drive there and a half hour drive back - plus my actual time in therapy. There were many things that my sister was able to do that I could not because I had to go learn to talk so other people could understand me. Don't get me wrong. I am SO grateful for my parents for getting me help. Especially my mom. I grew up during an era that early intervention was not the norm. My mom was told repeatedly that I would eventually learn and if I had not learned by the time I was in kindergarten, for her to come back. My mom did not give up. My mom knew that her baby needed help. She finally found a program through the Easter Seals that accepted me (even though I was under their age limit). After that program ended, she got me in to another program at Marshall University. It was a joke in our home that I went to College before I ever went to kindergarten. By the time I was in the 4th grade, I had mastered every thing but the Rs. The therapists thought that perhaps I needed a break from all of the therapy and hoped I may eventually pick it up on my own. Well, I did finally master my Rsss. To this day, while I am alone, I often use some of the tricks they taught me to help me make the r sound. The speech therapy worked so good for me that my husband did not even realize until I told him, that I had a major speech impediment. I remember in kindergarten, all of the kids getting a chance to talk in to the microphone of a tape recorder. I remember hating that - because I knew that the children would laugh when my voice played back. I guess because of my experiences with my own problems, what happened in Florida with a 5 year old boy has got me all worked up. It has me wondering if we need to have some type of test for the teachers to see if they have compassion and common sense. Let me explain what has me so worked up.
It has to do with this Kindergarten teacher, Wendy Portillo, from Port St Lucie, Florida.

And this little 5 year old boy, "Alex":


This little boy is in the process of being diagnosed with asperger syndrome. For more information on the diagnosis, please click here: http://www.aspergers.com/ Anyway, the teacher (after sending the little boy to the principal for an undisclosed reason). Decided to have a type of poll, election, jury - whatever you want to call it. She decided to let the other children in the class (these are FIVE year olds remember) take turns saying what they don't like about this child and then casting a vote of either evicting the child or letting him stay in the class room. Well, I don't know about you, but I think that teacher needs to get a life and stop watching so much reality tv! Can you imagine being 5 years old and your classmates are allowed to stand up and say all the reasons why they do not like you? And you have to listen to all of the mean things they are saying.... means things that are being encouraged by the teacher that should be keeping them from saying mean things? What on earth was this teacher thinking? I think what she did was HORRIBLE. As if children do not get enough bullying from their peers without it being coerced by a teacher.
This child has not been back to school since the incident and when he rides with his mommy to drop off the other siblings - he screams and cries. Can you imagine what this poor child must be feeling. I am trying to have enough faith in our educational system to believe that this teacher will be relieved of her duties - and soon. Heaven help this woman if she would have done this to one of my nieces or nephews. I am not sure how she sleeps at night or how she looks in a mirror. She has yet to make a public apology - she has only verified that the incident took place. I have racked my brains trying to figure out why an adult would behave like this. Why an adult who has chosen a career of teaching our children would do such a horrible thing. It saddens me at what she is actually teaching the children......