Haters Gonna Hate

Well, it appears that this lil ol blog of mine must show up on some Google searches somewhere in the world!  I am quite confident no one was searching for this blog, merely they happened to search far enough within Google search result listings until they saw my kicky little title and thought they just couldn't move on for the evening without reading further.  I know what you are thinking, "Someone ELSE also reads this teacher's random and greatly insignificant thoughts on the state of education?"  Well trust me, I was equally surprised myself!  As much as I was hoping for the great praises of a complete stranger (or a well known acquaintance who is too shy to post under any name other than anonymous), it turns out they were not completely pleased with the work of art you see before you!

Our nameless friend chose to read A World without Autism and Civil Rights Education.  Very little can be said about their thoughts on Civil Rights Education.  They think homosexuality is wrong, it is a sin, and I am a monster for thinking otherwise.  Such a hotly debated topic right now and I do not feel like wasting more energy on it if I do not have too.  However, their response to my thoughts of Autism have to be shared!

U should not be allowed to teach..their has been cases of recovery..that is a lie saying autistic people do not have the capacity to love..just shows how little u understand autism..U can recover autism thru chelation, detoxing,and diet and intensive aba programs but we all know how shitty the programs are here in the states..teachers lack work ethics ..there wouldn't be so many autistic people if they would remove mercury from the vaccines..there is your cure a no brainer. If a child fails a program its not the childs fault its the program and teachers fault..wish they would supervise special education teachers better they Need cameras in the classrooms because some do not have a voice and get abused and neglected in these programs. 

First things first, if you EVER choose to comment on a blog with an author by the name of The Teacher, PLEASE proof read your typing, your spelling, your grammar, and for heaven sakes spell out ALL of your words!  Without differing opinions I could still rip this anonymous friend apart simply for missing all English classes after third grade and feeling to make the word need a proper noun!  I am, however, a bigger person than some, so I shall choose not to pick on petty things such as the letter U rather than the word you.  So lets move on shall we?

A cure for Autism, well I'll be damned!  Seven years of special education training, a Master's degree and an additional certificate in Autism Studies and not one professor at my university let me in on the secret that we can cure Autism.  So many dollars spent on my education and they kept me in the dark...I find this hard to believe!  Just incase I had been lied to all these years, I went to make sure I was up to date on all research at hand.  Yup, still no "cure."  Can people receive treatments and early interventions in order to become more socially appropriate and more successful in school and workplaces, absolutely!  As far as I know, this was never disputed.  I surely never mentioned it.  These treatments in which I speak though are limited.  Current best practices with in the school system are based on ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis.  Sadly, detoxing your child and restricting the diet apart of ABA and really have little to no effect on the matter.  In fact, to date, controlled scientific studies have not proven this true.  So, even if people claim to see improvement in their child due to a diet that is gluten and casein free, it is not a cure, and not scientifically proven.  Well, what about chelation therapy?  The act of removing heavy metals from your body has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Autism.  This is often believed as people feel mercury used in the preservative thimerosal, which is used in vaccines for childhood shots have caused Autism.  The Center for Disease Control has kindly reminded me that Mercury has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001...however the surge in Autism has taken place since then, leading me to believe that everyone who jumped on the anti-vaccine band wagon has been taken for a ride.  12 years of Mercury free vaccines and Autism is still around AND no one has been cured.  Would you look at that.

  

Let us not forget that even though we can cure Autism, our profound reader also knows that while a cure is available, a child with Autism still needs programming.  As far as the claims of the "states" knowing nothing about appropriate programming, I will with hold the information about the year I learned to speak Turkish in order to provide a young child from across the seas therapy as his parents preferred treatment in the "states" to ANYTHING provided in Europe.  Won't even go into that topic.  And as a teacher I do agree, every time a student fails at programming it is ALWAYS the teachers fault.  I would never presume that perhaps the programming that is obviously being carried over at home for the other 17 hours in the child's day as well as 48 hours on the weekend would ever be implemented wrong.  It is strictly the 30 hours spent in my classroom that has failed the child....dammit, why do they even let me keep my certification?!

Wow, even I surprise myself with how witty and sarcastic I can be!  Such a well thought out blog and I bet anonymous never comes back to read how wrong he is!

Civil Rights Education

It is quite obvious that in the state of Missouri we are not as liberal as other states around the country. We carry the color red proudly, and unless you live in St. Louis or Kansas City, you stick to your guns on this matter! (And I LITERALLY mean you stick to your GUNS!)

Lucky for me, I am one of those hippie-liberal types and I push the envelope with my thoughts in a rather conservative state. I was raised to accept all people, regardless of race, religion OR sexual orientation! I clearly remember one family vacation, when I was quite young and being introduced to Uncle Billy and Aunt Paul. I was like, sure, got it...and I think I ran out to roller blade by the beach. It didn't phase me and I was in a family where this was not unusual. Later in life I had a brother openly express his homosexuality to the family...I think our reaction was, "Great, pass the green beans." Yup, no big deal...why should it be.

Sadly, this is not the case for many. Children are actually being raised in families who teach them that this is wrong and this really bothers me. How can something so natural be wrong? To make matters worse, these ideals are then being reinforced in the school systems! A date to a dance automatically means a date of the opposite sex, sex education naturally only covers a man with a woman. We are creating human beings that will carry on this notion that homosexuality is not normal. We can never overcome this cycle unless we teach it differently. I know people will fight this idea. Hell, white people fought desegregation at first, but we overcame and now children of all races can attend school together and are accepted. Granted, they are accepted if and only if they have two parents of differing sexes.

I know this is a hotly debated topic right now and it falls near and dear to my heart. Many people will disagree with me and thats fine. I am hot headed and I love to upset the masses! I would love to leave you on a positive note. There are schools outside of our blood red state of Missouri that take this issue to heart. The District of Columbia has a school who is working hard to teach acceptance and respect starting with day one! This article shows the start of what I hope is an amazing movement that spreads across the country. Read it and be amazed. Major gratitude goes to a school with such heart!