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I could scream....
http://www.neocolours.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7026
I don't care what this kid Jamie's going to do when he's out of school. Nor do I care what his teacher thinks he's going to do when he gets out of school. But it pisses me off that I had to explain THREE TIMES that he (teacher) shouldn't be saying "oh, he'll end up in a second-hand shop" either to Jamie or to anybody else. Maybe he will end up like that. Maybe that's where all the signs are pointing and this guy really knows everything. Maybe the sky is falling, and I never noticed. He still doesn't have any right to tell that to other students, and he doesn't, I believe, have an ethical right to tell that to Jamie. Talk about setting up your basic self-fulfilling prophecy!
And moggy? Stole your Seuss idea... I couldn't think of any openly autistic authors who don't write about autism, not off the top of my head. Sorry about that.
I don't care what this kid Jamie's going to do when he's out of school. Nor do I care what his teacher thinks he's going to do when he gets out of school. But it pisses me off that I had to explain THREE TIMES that he (teacher) shouldn't be saying "oh, he'll end up in a second-hand shop" either to Jamie or to anybody else. Maybe he will end up like that. Maybe that's where all the signs are pointing and this guy really knows everything. Maybe the sky is falling, and I never noticed. He still doesn't have any right to tell that to other students, and he doesn't, I believe, have an ethical right to tell that to Jamie. Talk about setting up your basic self-fulfilling prophecy!
And moggy? Stole your Seuss idea... I couldn't think of any openly autistic authors who don't write about autism, not off the top of my head. Sorry about that.
no subject
I mean, I'm pretty ignorant - a family friend has a mildly autistic kid, and I've read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (which I'm sure has led to an epidemic of people thinking they know all there is to know about Asperger's), but even I know that autistic people can be tremendously high achievers (there's a famous example of a man who got a double first from Cambridge and is trying to redefine autism as a condition, not a disability).
Moreover, surely any teacher should know that telling a kid they are condemned to doing an undemanding/low-status job because they are autistic (or mentally ill, or a certain colour or class) is just not acceptable.
no subject
If this poor kid has only just found out he has aspergers (poor in the way he's been treated, not in his diagnosis) then the last thing he needs to be told is that "oh, this condition we've just realised you have suddenly changes your entire future, regardless of the fact that you've always had it." If he does have poor motivation, or is disinterested in reaching his full potential or *whatever* then hearing something like that could be counter-productive and just make the problem worse. It's also possible that it will motivate him to prove them wrong, but not being the person I can't say whether he has the right mental make up to do that.
Somethign vaguely related just occured to me. The same evil sixth form head who told my brother to drop out (I wonder if she even believed he was dyslexic - he was diagnosed/statemented when he was 9 or 10, but didn't find a teacher who believed it until he was 14) also told me when I was entering 6th form (ie junior/senior years of high school) that if I were to take 5 AS Levels (the norm is 4 or 3) then I would fail. Obviously it has occured to me before now that I did not in fact fail. But I've only just linked "you will fail" with "you got the highest grades in the year, congratulations, I knew you had it in you." Evil, evil woman.
no subject
I mean, I'm pretty ignorant - a family friend has a mildly autistic kid, and I've read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (which I'm sure has led to an epidemic of people thinking they know all there is to know about Asperger's), but even I know that autistic people can be tremendously high achievers (there's a famous example of a man who got a double first from Cambridge and is trying to redefine autism as a condition, not a disability).
Moreover, surely any teacher should know that telling a kid they are condemned to doing an undemanding/low-status job because they are autistic (or mentally ill, or a certain colour or class) is just not acceptable.
no subject
If this poor kid has only just found out he has aspergers (poor in the way he's been treated, not in his diagnosis) then the last thing he needs to be told is that "oh, this condition we've just realised you have suddenly changes your entire future, regardless of the fact that you've always had it." If he does have poor motivation, or is disinterested in reaching his full potential or *whatever* then hearing something like that could be counter-productive and just make the problem worse. It's also possible that it will motivate him to prove them wrong, but not being the person I can't say whether he has the right mental make up to do that.
Somethign vaguely related just occured to me. The same evil sixth form head who told my brother to drop out (I wonder if she even believed he was dyslexic - he was diagnosed/statemented when he was 9 or 10, but didn't find a teacher who believed it until he was 14) also told me when I was entering 6th form (ie junior/senior years of high school) that if I were to take 5 AS Levels (the norm is 4 or 3) then I would fail. Obviously it has occured to me before now that I did not in fact fail. But I've only just linked "you will fail" with "you got the highest grades in the year, congratulations, I knew you had it in you." Evil, evil woman.