April 22 Summary

Below are the items shared on April 22

How kicking a trash can became criminal for a 6th grader

Diagnosed as autistic, the sixth-grader was being scolded for misbehavior one day and kicked a trash can at Linkhorne Middle School in Lynchburg, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A police officer assigned to the school witnessed the tantrum, and filed a disorderly conduct charge against the sixth grader in juvenile court. More
 
Teachers Quick to Label Black Students Troublemakers

The study showed that teachers tend to view black students more harshly than white students even when their disruptive behavior is exactly the same — possibly triggering a destructive cycle. More

Me As a Boy: On Raising an Asian American and Autistic Son

Every day we try to figure out the future for Charlie. He is on the moderate-to-severe end of the autism spectrum, minimally verbal (speaking in one to five-word phrases), with numerous cognitive delays—he is unable to read more than a few words and attends a county autism center where he receives vocational training and learns “skills of daily living,” such as washing his face. He can have some extremely severe behaviors of the “textbook autism nightmare without end” sort, including,when extremely agitated, head banging.  More


Autism Resources for Spanish-Speaking Families

When my son Norrin was diagnosed with autism, I was completely lost. The pediatrician who diagnosed him recommended a list of services but offered little hope. I found myself feeling like Alice in Wonderland and I had just fallen down the rabbit hole. Navigating the special education system is complicated. It's been nearly seven years since Norrin's diagnosis and I feel comfortable in searching for resources; I know who to ask and where to look. But like so many parents, in those early years, I spent many hours scrambling, searching and scouring the internet for autism resources. More