Intense Support For Spurned Kindergartner

(CBS)  Alex Barton may have been voted out of his kindergarten class, but he's being showered with public support, and from some very far-flung places.

Alex's mother, Melissa Barton, says she's outraged and mulling legal action after his classmates in Morningside Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, Fla. voted 14-2 last week in favor of removing Alex from the class -- an action Barton says was led by his teacher, Wendy Portillo. Before the vote, Barton says, Portillo had the students tell Alex, one-by-one, what they don't like about him.

Since then, according to the Fort Pierce (Fla.) Tribune, Portillo has told local police the vote was only meant to be for the day, not for good.

The newspaper also reports that Alex has now been officially diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism, and with Attention Deficit Disorder.

School district officials tell the newspaper Portillo, who's been a teacher for 12 years, nine at Morningside, has been reassigned to the district offices, and that an on-going investigation of the incident could take up to two weeks.

Portillo's brother was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the newspaper adds.

Barton, who spoke with Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith earlier this week, gave Smith an update Friday, along with Dr. Jed Baker, a clinical psychologist and an expert on autism spectrum disorder behavior and education.

Barton told Smith she's getting hundreds and hundreds of e-mails of encouragement, from places as far away as the Netherlands and Australia.

The writers, Barton told Smith, "really care about the children right here in our country and the education they're receiving. And above all things, they care about discrimination and how it's just not the way to go."

Barton says she's keeping Alex home from school the rest of the year, explaining that, "I still have a lot of things to think about and to find the right program for him and the right school and the right situation. You know, he really needs an understanding and an appreciative teacher who works with differences and he's not like all the other children."

Baker has penned several books, the latest of which is, the most recent being "No More Meltdowns: Positive Strategies for Managing and Preventing Out of Control Behavior."

He says he's concerned about "the message we're teaching our kids. (Are we teaching) impressible, five-year-old, kindergarten kids to accept each other and to value diversity and to teach people to help those with special needs, or are we encouraging intolerance? And I think, when a teacher takes the lead in allowing this to happen or encouraging that, it's a form of bullying, because she has quite a bit of power in that situation."

To see the complete interview from Friday, click on the arrow in image below.



To see Tuesday's Early Show interview of Barton, click on the arrow in image below.

[jamilynk]

As a public school kindergarten teacher, I am very disappointed and outraged at this teacher''s behavior. I was very blessed this past school year by being able to teach a child on the autism spectrum. He brought so much joy to our classroom and helped me to better understand autism. I am so thankful for this little boy. That teacher missed out on an awesome opportunity to not only educate a child, but for that child to educate her. All children are special individuals and should be treated that way regardless of the situation.

[puzzler125]

I was at a local dept store last week and a young boy, approximately seven years old, had a sign on his bigger kid "stroller" that said, "I have autism. Be patient with me." I have never seen that before and have thought about it since. It must have taken a great deal of courage for his parents to put the sign there for the world to see but it really made me think about how I will respond if I am in a line with his family in a store, if he talks to me or if I said hi to him. His parents are educating all of us.

[smyers161]

I am the father of an Autistic 19 year old daughter.
this is commonplace in the world of public schooling. I had to sue our local school system 4 times to procure my daughter''s rights. Anyone who defends this teacher doesn''t know anything about special needs kids. These children cannot help their behavior especially those diagnosed after they start school. The emotional abuse will last years if not a lifetime.
Would you condone doing this to a blind child? Or a down syndrome, or a child with cerebral palsey? It''s the exact same thing! Fire this woman, NOW!

[barbaram99]

I am legally blind with C/P..I did not start school till age 10.. It was sp ed. The sighted teachers would not teach me.. I just sat in class..I had large text book one day..Sighted boy whined about the large print..The next day they were removed from my desk..I can't see reg print..Foster mother took my mangifier.. I was safer at school. That was in the 60s,I am appalled that that teacher pulled that..

[carolsadler]

Regardless of whether the teacher was having a bad day, if she needed help with this student, she should have referred him to special education and requested the school district test him for possible disabilities. This was her federal duty under "Child Find". It is inappropriate to embarrass, intimidate, and bully any child, and is certainly NOT best teaching practices. Let''s hope she is removed and provided the proper training she needs before she is put back into another classroom.

Carol Sadler, IEPAdvocate4You

[Rreindeer]

Sad thing is...this is one case that made national news. My son''s been living this nightmare for 5 years now being kicked out of schools twice not to mention all the suspensions (in school and out) and one time even being intimidated into a meltdown which caused him to put his hand thru a glass window... 13 stitches. School says it''s not their fault! (Of course, it took 1-1/2 hours of them intimidating him to make him blow when his IEP says 10 minutes, get someone else.) Only way I can do anything? If I have $15,000-plus to go due process against the district.

[rwsmith29456]

The teacher, even if not trained for special needs, should know a better way to document and report disruptive behavior.

[klineskid]

Like the first person who posted a comment, I too was an Aide in public school for many years. The bulk of my experience has been as a 1:1 aide for children with cerebral palsy in inclusion programs. It was my job to help them fit into their daily routine in a "regular education" classroom.I have had the opportunity to attend many workshops and trainings over the years and one of the most important things I ever learned was in a workshop outlining the difference between the terms "mainstream," integrate," and "inclusion." Bottom line: INCLUSION IS MORE A VALUE THAN A PROCESS. It was mentioned in this morning''s segment that teachers need ongoing training to effectively include special needs students in their classrooms. That is glaringly true, however, if an individual educator does not hold inclusion as a value in her/his own personal value system, it will be a rocky road for all concerned. I wish the best for the young man and his family in Florida.

[mamaklayer]

I just wanted to say that I am appalled at what that teacher did to that boy. I am an aide in a multiple handicapped room and have worked with kids that have all kinds of diabilities. These kids are inlcuded in regular classrooms for different parts of the day. I don''t know if that particular school has aides that go with these children, but all staff and students treat these kids with the same kind of love and kindness as all the kids in the building. I cannot believe that she was not fired immediately. There are no words to explain how I feel against the teacher except she has no business being in a classroom.

[blue_eyes68]

The mother was not in denial... the orginal story/video mentioned he was in diagnostic stage..no formal diagnoses made, but he was being evaluated.

[cbsreader5]

I am going to take the unpopular stance of defending the teacher based on the lack of information regarding a pattern of this type of unacceptable behavior by the teacher. My son has ADHD and despite therapy and medication, he can be quite a handful at times. I completely understand that a person not familiar with his situation would perceive him as nothing more than a bad child. If I''m not mistaken, the story states that the child in the article was diagnosed after the incident so the teacher appears to have been unaware of the nature of his issues. Of course, the teacher never should have acted in this manner regardless of the reason. However, it is possible that she was having a very bad day and the child''s consistently bad behavior pushed her over the edge. I have seen it happen with my child. I don''t like it, but I do understand. If there is a demonstrated pattern of this type of behavior then the teacher should be reprimanded. If it is an isolated incident then forgiveness may be in order. I also think that the diagnosis will now help to prevent this sort of problem in the future.