Monday, April 16, 2007

Teddy’s Turn

Teddy wasn’t allowed to speak about his autism to his class at Goodnoe Elementary in the Council Rock School District.

Principal Eileen Dwell says the school is marking autism awareness month, but she doesn’t think it would be appropriate for Teddy to share his story with regular education classmates at morning meeting, a pre-class activity where the kids practice social skills.

She is worried about it indirectly violating the privacy of other students.

�There are other children in classrooms who don’t realize they are different than anyone else,� Dwell explained. �I need to look at the privacy of others.�

I am not sure how talking about himself invades the privacy of others.....this principal is a piece of work. Oh, wait, this district is the same one where the superintendent pissed and moaned about sending our kids all to some kind of special dumping ground school. No wonder.

�What is sort of striking about this situation you’re describing is, for me, it’s unusual to hear of a situation where a student and his family have said they want to be part of explaining disabilities to other students,� Rieser said. �Not every school, in a way, is lucky enough to have kids willing to do this.�

If schools can find ways to let students learn from each other about disabilities, it may have a greater long-term impact than adults delivering the message, he said.

No Duh.