Justice

Here's a piece I ran into about a little five-year-old boy who didn't fit someone's mold. Sometimes, folks, the right answer isn't the obvious one. I'm thinking parent conference -- referral for evaluation -- many other options. This teacher needs to sit in the corner wearing a dunce cap.

In May 2008, classroom disrupter Alex Barton, 5, was finally made by his teacher at Morningside Elementary kindergarten in St. Lucie County, Fla., to sit down and listen to the accumulated complaints of his classmates, who then were asked to vote on asking Alex to leave the class. (He lost, 14-2.) Shortly afterward, Alex was diagnosed with a form of autism, and his mother filed a federal disability discrimination lawsuit, citing Alex's "humiliation" by the voting incident. A settlement was reached in February 2011 when the school district agreed to pay Alex $350,000 (which included legal expenses). Said Ms. Barton, "Money can't take care of what (the school district) did to my family." [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2-3-2011]