How does your administration support the staff members deal with students that excessively hit, kick, bite adults? (bathroom, teacher)

[germaine2626]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

The teacher should know that he/she is in danger of being in trouble if he/she DOESN'T make waves, if students with special needs are placed in an inappropriate setting for their particular needs, due to teacher/administrator convenience or due to him or her not wanting to have an uncomfortable conversation with higher ups.

I don't think that I mentioned this but the teacher has verbally and in writing stated the problems to the school psychologist and the director of special education. The psychologist responded that she "was too busy to deal with it" and now ignores all calls and emails from the teacher. The director of special education stated that it should be handled at the building level whenever he was contacted.

In this district going to the school board normally results in being non-renewed or imediately fired (now that we don't have union protection). Obviously teachers do not do this unless it is an absolute last resort and they are willing to give up their job for the matter.

The principal has observed JD's outbursts on numerous occasions, but never "assists hands on". She basically blames the teacher for JD's behavior or says "it's really not that bad".

This is a very dedicated special education teacher and very willing to have "an uncomfortable conversation" but is not willing to be fired because of it.
On the other hand she is worried that if JD's behavior continues and he does injure another student she will get fired for that. It is a real Catch-22.

Again, Arrrrgggg!!!

[germaine2626]

Originally Posted by jasper12

I know that parent issues are listened to...once I had a problem...I had two sexually interested young adults...age 19 and 20...-a male and a female. I separated them, had a para supervising the female almost exclusively. But...it was a situation that was going to happen. They constantly flirted, always tried to sit together...wanted to talk about sex....

I told the young girl's parents my concern....she was transferred that WEEK!!!!! The parent's raised heck at the SPED office....did not mention my name....told the district that if their daughter had sex at school, they would say she had been raped on school property...and she was mentally retarded. The media, would have loved it..

So...maybe...quietly have some other parent's raise safety concerns with this child in proximity to their own kids..

This is one of the "under the radar" ongoing plans.

[jasper12]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

The teacher should know that he/she is in danger of being in trouble if he/she DOESN'T make waves, if students with special needs are placed in an inappropriate setting for their particular needs, due to teacher/administrator convenience or due to him or her not wanting to have an uncomfortable conversation with higher ups.

It really is a "no win" situation. I have been on that side of the table...Admin does not want to hear what a SPED teacher has to say, and you are not really the child's advocate on appropriate placement. That is the parent's job. It is a fine line to walk...advocate for kids with disabilities...or employee of the school district? The best thing to do, is have a Franklin Day Planner, a big one...and every conversation you have with anyone regarding a child...you put the child's name initials, the person you spoke with, and a short summary of the conversation. You can keep these, and go back years...every teacher in SPED should learn this...I was deadly with that thing...I could refer back to a conversation that took place, date, time, and summary...CYA.

[germaine2626]

Originally Posted by jasper12

It really is a "no win" situation. I have been on that side of the table...Admin does not want to hear what a SPED teacher has to say, and you are not really the child's advocate on appropriate placement. That is the parent's job. It is a fine line to walk...advocate for kids with disabilities...or employee of the school district? The best thing to do, is have a Franklin Day Planner, a big one...and every conversation you have with anyone regarding a child...you put the child's name initials, the person you spoke with, and a short summary of the conversation. You can keep these, and go back years...every teacher in SPED should learn this...I was deadly with that thing...I could refer back to a conversation that took place, date, time, and summary...CYA.

Thank you. Great Advice!

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by jasper12

It really is a "no win" situation. I have been on that side of the table...Admin does not want to hear what a SPED teacher has to say, and you are not really the child's advocate on appropriate placement. That is the parent's job. It is a fine line to walk...advocate for kids with disabilities...or employee of the school district? The best thing to do, is have a Franklin Day Planner, a big one...and every conversation you have with anyone regarding a child...you put the child's name initials, the person you spoke with, and a short summary of the conversation. You can keep these, and go back years...every teacher in SPED should learn this...I was deadly with that thing...I could refer back to a conversation that took place, date, time, and summary...CYA.

And yet another reason that I will ONLY work for dedicated providers of special education services, preferably private agencies. Being a student's advocate for appropriate placement is absolutely my place, and the primary reason I do what I do. I have worked with public districts in other capacities, and I am absolutely not willing to have my employment be put on the line for behaving legally and ethically and in a student's best interest, as is my job and professional duty.

Which role is my priority...advocate for disabled students or steadfast and loyal team-player employee of an agency that may or may not be acting legally/ethically? Easy answer.

An administrator saying he or she "doesn't have time" to see to providing the most appropriate and least restrictive environment for the needs of disabled students is somebody not doing his or her job. An administrator who ignores behavioral data because he or she is unable or unwilling to spend the time or money dealing with the situation is someone not doing his or her job. That person is denying a disabled student an appropriate setting for education, and quite possibly endangering others in the process.

Nobody wants their livelihood threatened for standing up for what is right. But your livelihood will also be threatened if you opt not to be the squeaky wheel, and passively condone a situation that results in others being negatively and seriously impacted by behavior that nobody wanted to deal with or thought they were allowed to deal with professionally. A district that will fire you for upholding professional ethics and advocating for students who don't get a voice is a district that will also not think twice about throwing you under the bus if their actions (or lack of action) create a large legal problem further down the road, so teachers in caught in these situations need to look pretty long and hard at what it is that they're holding on to.

[jasper12]

Exactly! Anything that goes wrong...the SPED teacher is thrown under the bus. Admin blames the teacher...s#@* runs downhill.

Which is why you document requests for behavior specialists, psych evals, ABA trained paras, and you request meetings with admin, via e mail, with subject line, "very important"...I had an administrator who once cancelled 10 scheduled meetings with me, that I requested, to discuss a problem...yep...it hit the fan....he knew I had documentation of meetings, cancelled meetings...he did not even think of throwing me under the bus.

No other solutions....just CYA.

[Charles Wallace]

Originally Posted by germaine2626

I'll try posting it again.

The district is very careful about legal issues. Everyone who works with John Doe has up to date training in proper physical restraint procedures through an official program and physical restraint, when needed, is clearly stated in his IEP. I was a substitute aide with him last fall and even though I was “just a sub.“ I needed to update my restraint training.

To give you an idea about his strength. I was sitting next to him while he was calmly doing TEACCH drawers (which he enjoys) when he suddenly turned and slapped me in the chest so hard that he pushed my adult size chair and me, a plus size woman, backwards two feet. The pain was so bad that my eyes watered and it left a handprint bruise on my chest (through my shirt). The principal said to fill out an accident report and to write a note home telling the mother. The principal also said that we couldn’t do anything else because he was a “special education student”.

It costs big bucks for the school district to transfer a student to a special school and to pay his monthly tuition. The last time that they did it was because the special education classroom teacher got so angry about always getting hurt that she went to a judge and got a restraining order against her own student! The district finally took noticed and enrolled him in a special school where he thrived.

That student was in my classroom for several years before that and he was extremely difficulty to work with (I was injured by him on two different occasions enough to miss a week plus of work each time). However, I didn’t think that he was as dangerous to others as JD.

Well...there are reasons why he acts out... My opinion is that JD acts out for multiple reasons, he isn’t used to restrictions, rules and expectations and would rather be home watching TV & eating whatever and whenever he wants to eat. Also, I think he may enjoy hurting other people, as he is usually laughing and smiling when, or just after, he hits or kicks others. JD will suddenly, without warning or provocation, just walk over to a peer or adult with what appears to be the sole intent of hitting or kicking them.

I know that I’m ranting and rambling again but the situation is SO upsetting.

How can you get administration to do something?

I am not a SPED teacher, but seriously -- at this level of neglect (of teachers, I mean), I would seriously think of filing a restraining order also, or perhaps pursue filing charges of battery. In my experience, the only person some administrators will listen to is a lawyer.

[germaine2626]

Originally Posted by jasper12

Exactly! Anything that goes wrong...the SPED teacher is thrown under the bus. Admin blames the teacher...s#@* runs downhill.

Which is why you document requests for behavior specialists, psych evals, ABA trained paras, and you request meetings with admin, via e mail, with subject line, "very important"...I had an administrator who once cancelled 10 scheduled meetings with me, that I requested, to discuss a problem...yep...it hit the fan....he knew I had documentation of meetings, cancelled meetings...he did not even think of throwing me under the bus.

No other solutions....just CYA.

Thanks. I'm sure our administrators would still try to throw the teacher under the bus.

[germaine2626]

First, thank you for all of your suggestions I passed them on to the special education teacher.

Yesterday I subbed in JD's school (but not in his classroom). This update is mainly to vent (as I'm not sure what else to do) but I'm still very upset and he isn't even my student

JD went on a rampage that started when his aide asked him to hang up his school bag (not even an academic demand) at the start of the day. He started throwing objects, ripped down a bulletin board, broke the window blinds and hit several adults before he could be safely restrained. BTW the principal didn't even bother to come to the room when the teacher used her walkie-talkie to call for help.

The school psychologist, who is also the district special education director, happened to be in the building at the time and walked by the classroom on her way outside the building. Not only did the psychologist not stop to help, but another teacher who was running to the special ed. room to see if she could help said that the psychologist "rolled her eyes and shugged as if to say 'Who cares?'".

Two trained adults "walked JD while restrained" (I can't think of what that restraint is called) to a conference room for the safety of the other students.
In the conference room JD continued to throw things (there are very few objects in the room). The principal came into the conference just as JD threw a lamp breaking the shade & the base. While the teacher was picking up the broken pieces, 11 year old JD stripped naked and URINATED on the carpet!

The principal said "Deal with him" to the special education teacher, JD's 1 to 1 aide and the teacher of emotional disabled students and WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM! OMG!

Luckily, the three adults were able to settle him down and put his diaper back on. He then got dressed by himself. This was almost two hours after his rampage first started. After JD was quiet the principal came back into the conference room and simply said "Take him back to the classroom".

Later, in the day the special education teacher attempted to discuss the situation with the principal. The principal's pearls of wisdom? "Get used to it. He will be here (in our district) until he is 21." This school district is well known for serving difficult children and rarely sends students to alternative placements. But, come on, is a public school really the appropriate placement for JD?

Thank you for letting me vent. I had to deal with this type of situation before I took early retirement so I know how upsetting and frustrating it can be for the teacher. She feels so helpless. And, yes, administration is starting to blame the teacher for "not being able to contol JD".

[nana053]

Here is an article on teacher's advocating for special needs children.

Fighting the Good Fight: How to Advocate for Your Students Without Losing Your Job | LD Topics | LD OnLine