New Special Ed teacher is an idiot!

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Hello,

I need to vent about the new Special Ed teacher at school.

I have 2 sons with Asperger's who attend the same school. Last year they had the most fantastic, wonderful Special Ed teacher, Mr Guthrie.

Mr Guthrie used fun activities to teach them eg Cooking classes, Drama classes, Board games etc. They loved him and their time at the Special Ed Classroom. Both boys went to the Special Ed Classroom every day.

The new Special Ed teacher has expressed her strong disapproval of 'frivolous' activities like cooking and board games.

Four weeks of school have passed and she hasn't bothered to meet the boys. They have not spent a single minute in the Special Ed Classroom.

I have had 2 meetings with her already and she made all these promises of what she could do ... always stated how incredibly busy she is and how many students she has.

Nothing has happened. So this morning I went to see her. She was saying, 'Oh the boys are fine. They don't need anything'.

No, the boys are not fine. My 9 year old is absolutely exhausted and crying after school (not yet back to full scale meltdowns). My 7 year old is underachieving academically ++.

So she asks me, what do I want her to do. I was frustrated. I've met with her twice and told her what I want her to do. They have IEP's from last year.

So I go over again what I want (and what we'd previously agreed to in the other 2 meetings). She then gives me reasons why we can't possibly do what we'd already agreed to.

For example, no my 9 year old can not possibly have time out from the classroom when he's overloaded. She can't possibly have students wandering around the school unsupervised and he can't possibly come to the Special Ed Classroom for time outs.

And she reckons my 7 year old is doing just fine and doesn't need her input.

I started arguing with her and then she drops in a little bombshell ..... their is no record of my 9 year old having Asperger's, therefore no funding, therefore no support.

Bullsh*t. He's been having 6 months of support and last year's Special Ed teacher told me he had all the paperwork and it had been submitted, but the Education Department was being slow.

If there really was no paperwork, then she could have contacted me weeks ago. Anyway, I told her that my son is entitled to full support and he is not to be disadvantaged because the school has lost the paperwork.

I asked for her e-mail address which she gave me, saying there's no point in sending her e-mails because she doesn't read her e-mails because she's so incredibly busy.

Anyway, I was so angry and when I got to the car I cried for a couple of minutes - tears of extreme frustration and anger.

I'm about to send off an e-mail to the Vice Principal.

Helen

I didn't know my son's special ed teacher was commuting to Australia. Maybe that's why she's too busy here too.

That is crap, she sounds like she doesn't care at all. Is there any way you can get hold of Mr Guthrie and talk to him about what is going on?
The teacher there now sounds like she shouldn't be a teacher let alone a Special Ed teacher!
All the best, hope you get somewhere with the Vice Principal!
(((((HUGS)))))

That's disgusting. If I were you, I'd go straight to the school district head office with your complaints. Then contact the Education Department in your state/region to confirm that your son has the paperwork.

Hi Helen,

I was expecting you'd post something like this sooner or later since I doubted that anyone could live up to "Mr Guthrie".

My son has also had a change of Special Ed teacher (and his Tutor died suddenly - drowned? - in her pool on Jan 2). It's been a pretty tough start to the year.

Kaelan's new teacher was in school for one day, then went off to have an operation and has been off for a week and a half. He's apparently back now.

I haven't met the new teachers yet but am planning to - I'm not really happy with the way things are going and I'm not happy about how we seem to have to re-introduce our children every year. Don't the teachers pass eachother notes about the kids?

To top it all off, we're in the middle of moving house (moved a lot already but will probably still be going until next weekend) - so the kids really are copping a lot of change.

I agree. It's so frustrating!

The last teacher I clashed with ended up having lots of 'counselling' from the Vice Principal because he was such an idiot and I kicked up a stink.

Helen

That sounds very strange. Is this Special Ed teacher a classroom assistant or a main teacher? And does she teach multiple children at the same time or is she specifically designated to one or two people in a class?

All the supporting staff I know/knew were either very respectful and caring or they patronised me; but they never treated me like the one in your situation. I don't know how she can call herself a Special Ed teacher.

BTW, is this forum exclusively for parents? As I don't have any children but I'm intrested in how other people with AS are treated by elders.

Smelena, is the IEP considered a binding contract in Australia as it is in the United States? If so, her excuses are simply hot air. It sounds like Mr. Guthrie's activities that she views are so 'useless' were actually trying to build real-life experiences that your kids need.

This Special Ed teacher works in the Special Ed Unit full-time and she has 14 students. The 14 students spend most of their time in the classroom, and the Special Ed teacher is supposed to support/enhance their learning.

This forum is not exclusively for parents at all. I love it when other people post advice - people with Asperger's give me a much needed perspective.

Helen

It is a legally binding contract.

By the way, I spoke to the Vice Principal and my 9 year old will get support - she is looking into the paperwork. That's one issue sorted out.

The official IEP meeting for this year is in 2 weeks (IEP from last year are still supposed to apply).

I am going to bring the boys' psychologist to the IEP meeting. In the past I didn't bring her because the last Special Ed teacher was so good, but I need her now to advocate for the boys. My husband sits through IEP meetings and doesn't say anything.

It will get sorted. It's just annoying that you can't 'relax' and presume people will do the best for your kids.

... always got to be ready for the fight.

Helen

Hi Smelena,

sorry to hear that the new Special Ed teacher is so hopeless. It's sooooo frustrating, isn't it . Where do schools get these people from?!

I liked the part where you mentioned that one of the teachers needed counselling after you kicked up a stink - .

Keep up the good fight,

Temma

That really stinks! I'm sorry to hear your sons are having such a hard time. My heart goes out to them and to you. The teacher does sound like an idiot.

Smelena, when I read posts like yours I get really fired up because it is obvious the Special Ed teacher doesn't know what the hell she's doing and I get fed up hearing about teachers who get these jobs, yet have no inkling about how to educate kids on the spectrum.

All of my kid's therapists used kitchenetts, doll houses, play houses, work benches, and tons of board games to build upon a variety of deficits that ranged from speech to cognition to life skills. Some of those toys that we take for granted are used to get spectrum kids understanding and utilizing skills in every aspect of thier lives. Why on earth would any teacher say these aren't important and yank them away? Plus, any teacher who doesn't know the benefits of boards games to spectrum kids needs to have her ass fired yesterday. Board games zone in on the most important deficits: attention, concentration, patterning, sequencing, follow-through and cognition. And, that's just to start. Then, you have speech aide, vocuabulary, annunciation, rhyming, word identifical, spelling, even math. We even use board games at home to work with him.

I don't want to bash teachers, but all too many of them get their credentials, yet, don't know the first thing about Autism or teaching the kids. Hell, I could walk into a classroom and do a much better job at teaching spectrum kids just from what I've witnessed in my own kid's therapies.

And, the part about the teacher not wanting to read your emails? You're communicating with the teacher, which is something teachers complain that parents never do. You're taking time out to communicate and she choses to ignore that. Let me stop now.

I'm curious, what did the Vice Principal say about the teacher not reading parent e-mails?

I sent a loooong e-mail to the Vice Principal but haven't heard back from her. I've been at work.

However the IEP meetings start in 2 weeks.

Poor AussieBoy (my 9 year old) met the Special Ed teacher today. I haven't said one word about the new teacher to him.

AussieBoy came home and said he doesn't like the new Special Ed teacher. He said she asked him about what he did in Special Ed last year. He told her about the cooking classes, board games, drama activities etc.

She said, 'Oh, so you didn't actually do any work then? With me you'll have to do work. None of that stuff.'

Obviously this women think you're not allowed to have fun.

So now I'm thinking I'll want mostly teacher aides to work with my sons and not her.

The teacher aides at the school are fantastic. I feel sorry for them having to work with her. It will be interesting to see if any quit this year.

I was so disappointed yesterday, thinking .... my god .... can't I relax for one minute without having to fight.

But now I'm psyched up to go into battle for my beautiful boys.

I'll keep you all posted about what happens. Thanks for your words of support.

Helen

Hope the VP actually reads emails - btw is it a private or public school? There may be other agencies you can ask for help.

Good luck with the IEP.

We're really annoyed with the situation at our school this year too.